Attack at the Arena (AIO Imagination Station Books) by McCusker, Paul, Hering, Marianne (2011) Paperback

The Imagination Station #2

by Marianne Hering

Lions and tigers and boars, oh my! “Stop the fighting—in the name of Christ—stop!”Cousins Patrick and Beth are off on their second Imagination Station adventure. Mr. Whittaker’s mysterious invention takes them to ancient Rome, where they must find a special silver cup. Near the city gate, the cousins are separated when Beth is enslaved to the emperor and Patrick meets a wise monk named Telemachus. All three end up in the famous Roman arena. Telemachus wants to share an important message with the emperor. Beth wants to know how to get the cup. And Patrick just wants to escape with his life! The key to adventure lies within your imagination! What to join Patrick and Beth on their adventures? Visit www.TheImaginationStation.com. You’ll find out more fun facts about Vikings and the animals of Greenland. Plus you’ll get the scoop on the next book, and much more! Recommended for ages 7 and upFlesch-Kincaid Grade 2.3

Genres: Historical Fiction, Christian, Childrens, Fiction, Chapter Books, Christian Fiction, Fantasy

Paperback Bunko

First published March 1, 2011

About the author

Marianne Hering is a prolific writer, having written hundreds of articles and a number of books for children and parents. For nine years she worked for several magazines in Focus on the Family’s periodicals department and became the editor of Clubhouse, a Focus on the Family children’s magazine with a circulation of more than 100,000.

As a book developer for Focus on the Family, she and coauthor / creative director Paul McCusker launched the Adventures in Odyssey book series The Imagination Station in 2010. Currently the series includes 19 books, with two more contracted for 2017 release. Paul bowed out of his role in 2015 to pursue other creative avenues. The combined sales are more than 450,000.

Currently Marianne is a freelance writer taking assignments. She and her husband live in Colorado with their twin sons.

Reviews

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, but nice.
There were many interesting tidbits slipped in, so readers will learn seamlessly within the story. I caught one error, but as far as I know, almost no one knows about it, so I'll slightly excuse it. (It wasn't thumb up or down, but in toward the chest or out. 👍)

I want to learn more about Telemachus now!

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

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Attack at the Arena is the 2nd book in the Imagination Station series. In this adventure, cousins Patrick and Beth travel to 5th century Rome in search of a monk's cup. Admittedly, I'm curious who Albert is. The writers have done a great job making a child/adult want to get from one book straight into another! There's little mysteries scattered about, like who Albert is and the ring.

While in Rome, Patrick and Beth meet a monk and Emperor Honorius. We learn a bit more about the world of arena fighting back then. As I mentioned in my post about Voyage of the Vikings, everything is really just touched on, as opposed to great detail. It leaves the parent(or child) open to add as much or as little detail for deeper studying. I've been doing a bit of history reading myself, trying to get people/places/events in the proper place in my brain. These stories have grabbed my interest, and I'm excited to do more studying, not only for myself, but for Grasshopper.

I'll mention briefly that there was one part I didn't care for. The monk informs Patrick that God told him where a certain person would be.

Overall, I've had fun within these stories

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abbie loved the book and looks forward to reading more of the series. She liked the birds in a parade. She liked that the cousins imagined going back in time. The fighting chapter seemed scary, but “kind of in a good way.” This was probably a little over her reading level, so there were times that she didn’t comprehend what was happening due to misreading a larger word. I would like her to wait a bit longer to read more of those until I know she will understand it better.

[Jordyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again a really cute book! I've been starting a few kids booms lately like this series and the Mandie books but still mostly read and look through Christian inspirational, historical etc. Fiction books and a few books that aren't Christian. I'm interested to see what happens next and read the orphan train book!

[Anita Harkness · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed co-reading with my 7 year old.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun historical adventure. Not particularly accurate, but it is for 7-9 year olds. Very very heavy on the Christianity, published by focus in the family. Would only recommend for 2-3graders for very religious families, and only to kids where I know for sure that that is what they believe. Would not recommend for kids where I don’t know the families religious views.

[Moriah Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! I think it’s a little bit scary but only a little.

[weirdo named Henry Parks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good book! I'm gonna get the 3rd one soon!

[Elisabeth Piede · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beth and Patrick are going to Rome to find a Silver Cup. Beth is disguised as a slave girl and Patrick is a monk.
When they get to Rome, they are in the arena with a hungry tiger chasing them! A slave helps them get out in the end. They end up back in the arena, Beth in a birdcage, Patrick with a monk.
Patrick gets the cup and then right in the middle of the games the imagination station appears in the middle of the arena! An ENGLISH knight steps out of it! He tells Beth and Patrick that their next mission is to go to China and find the golden tablet of Kublai Khan.

I would recommend this book because they get to find the cup and Patrick gets to get out of the middle of the arena and Beth can get out of the birdcage.

Written by an 8yo for a book report.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second in a fun and adventurous historical fiction series of beginning Christian chapter books for children. It continues the journey of Patrick and Beth, cousins who in this book go on a time travel adventure on Mr. Whittaker’s Imagination Station back to the Roman Empire during the days of Emperor Honorius. Here we meet the monk Telemachus who influenced the emperor with his Christian witness such that Honorius outlawed the gladiatorial games. I read this book’s 15 chapters aloud to my 5 yr old and 3 yr old, both of whom kept asking each night that we read another chapter. There are a few black and white illustrations throughout the book. We look forward to reading book three in this series!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Attack at the Arena, Beth and Patrick are asked to find a silver chalice. I honestly think these books have the potential to be kinda better then Magic Treehouse. While these are meant for kids, I think adults that grew up with Adventures in Odyssey or maybe even some new to Christianity can appreciate/enjoy these. While this is only the second book they still have managed to teach me some things on Christian history/Biblical text. They’re written well enough that anyone can enjoy the story and me come excited that you’ve possibly learned something new.

Great for kids and even adults.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Child:
1.0 I loved the pictures.
1.5 I like how they made the shading.
2.0 I liked the story.
2.5 I liked how Beth got out of the box (at the end).

Parent:
This series has too many tags for a read aloud. Anyone else omit them?

I wonder how many other books will be redos of AIO episodes—not that that’s a bad thing. I just specifically remember listening to (and learning from) this one.

We lost this book for a while but didn’t go crazy trying to find it. Evidence that it isn’t awesome?!

Reading level is definitely “just right” for kids.

[Artimus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book that I have read from this series, and I am very happy with the morals in this story! The missions that they go on are not kept a secret from their family, and the characters care for each other, and respect one another. This book is also full of historic events, and teach these characters not only the facts, but also help them to make friends, and to become better people.

[Sara Hollar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really don't want to have to read aloud any more Imagination Station books. I think they're great and they will be fine for my boys to read when they're older, but I would not call them high quality works. Lots of, "he said," or "she said," and very simple writing. My son, who is 5, loves these books, which isn't the worst thing in the world. But I will try very hard to avoid them as read alouds in the future!

[Tabitha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A continuation of the series, this story takes the characters to Rome and has a little more intensity (people fighting for their lives in the Coliseum). In this time travel adventure, the two kids travel to the Roman Empire where they interact with slaves, the emperor, monks, soldiers, and random Roman citizens in a quest to find a silver chalice. This made a good read aloud. My niece was so excited by the end that she was eagerly asking about hearing the next one.

[Christabelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

We love Adventures in Odyssey, so we were excited about this series. For the most part the re Jews were positive. The only complaints were that it ended too soon and that it didn’t seem consistent with the radio program (the kids are able to take things out of the machine that runs solely on imagination). We will probably read more in the series.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about two kids who go on adventures in the past through history. And the kids names are Beth and Patrick. Every time they go on adventures they have to find something for Mr Whitaker. I would recommend this book if you like going on adventures and if you like mysteries. I hope you enjoy this book and have a great day! God bless you!

[Haven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn’t as good as the first one, but still 3️⃣ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ out of 5️⃣ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ I absolutely love whits ends, Dairy Queen, and The Chief, have some BIIIIIIIIGGGG competition! 🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍨🍨🍨🍨🍨🍨🍨🍨🍨🍨🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️🧋🧋🧋🧋🧋🧋🧋🧋🧋🧋🧋🧋🧋🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🧃🧃🧃🧃🧃🧃🧃🧃🧃🧃🧃🧃🧃 Whits End is the place to be!!!!!!!!

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beth and Patrick go to Rome. They have to find a silver goblet. They meet Telemachus, who is a monk. They also help stop the gladiator fighting. During their time at the arena, they find the silver goblet.
This book is really good! I like it a lot.

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't actually read this, my 7-yo-daughter did, but she loved it and wants to read them all. I think they are better than the Magic so-boring-to-read-outloud Treehouse Books. If only there were a bajillion, like there are Magic Treehouse books.

[Fernando Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mysterious letter leads the cousins to fifth-century Rome in search of a special cup that belongs to a monk. If found, the cup could keep the mysterious Albert out of prison. At the Roman Colosseum, Emperor Honorius is hosting a gladiator battle in celebration of a war victory.

[Kristin Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read with niece who is almost 11. We both enjoyed the story, stayed engaged, and I learned some history of Rome. (She listens to Adventures in Odyssey, previously learning much about the historical figures in this book.)

[Shinae Wyckoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excitement and adventure for my 8yo, but not too intense for my 6yo. Chapters nice and short. Perfect for an ongoing family read before bed.

The kids are excited to see what happens next to Patrick and Beth.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this series to my kids. They are comparable to The Magic Tree House Books, but without the dark magic. Highly recommend!

[Stephanie Sheaffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the 1st book. My 9-year-old says she thinks this series is better than the Magic Tree House series (I'd have to read more of both to formulate a solid opinion, but I think I agree).

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part 2 of the Adventures in Odyssey series. My 8 year old really enjoys them.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

My sons loved it.

[the_bookish_took · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun!

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reread with 3rd/4th grade library class. ❤️

[Shari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olivia has read and rated it 4 stars.