Ancient Rome and Pompeii

Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #14

by Mary Pope Osborne, Natalie Pope Boyce, Sal Murdocca (Illustrator)

When Jack and Annie got back from their adventure in Magic Tree House #13: Vacation Under the Volcano, they had lots of questions. How did ancient Rome become an emipre? Where did ancient Romans go for fun? What happened to the Roman town of Pompeii? What have we learned from it? Find out the answers to these questions and more as Jack and Annie track the facts. Filled with up-to-date information, photos, illustrations, and fun tidbits from Jack and Annie, the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers are the perfect way for kids to find out more about the topics they discovered in their favorite Magic Tree House adventures. And teachers can use Fact Trackers alongside their Magic Tree House fiction companions to meet common core text pairing needs.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Childrens, Historical, Chapter Books, School, Education

128 pages, Paperback

Published April 25, 2006

About the author

Mary Pope Osborne is an American author of children's books and audiobook narrator. She is best known as the author of the Magic Tree House series, which as of 2017 sold more than 134 million copies worldwide. Both the series and Osborne have won awards, including for Osborne's charitable efforts at promoting children's literacy. One of four children, Osborne moved around in her childhood before attending the University of North Carolina. Following college, Osborne traveled before moving to New York City. She somewhat spontaneously began to write, and her first book was published in 1982. She went on to write a variety of other children's and young adult books before starting the Magic Tree House series in 1992. Osborne's sister Natalie Pope Boyce has written several compendium books to the Magic Tree House series, sometimes with Osborne's husband Will Osborne.

Reviews

[Charissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorites! Thanks to this, I learned a lot about Ancient Rome and Pompeii! It'll be one of the best informative books EVER! And this is one of the two first fact-trackers I bought and read. My mom bought it to me ever since I got addicted on mythologies (especially Greek and Roman thanks to Percy Jackson and the Olympians series). The other one is Ancient Greece and the Olympics.

[Dianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is well and clearly written, a perfect introduction to ancient Rome for an elementary school audience. It does contain topics such as murder and suicide, because that's the way history happened, but they are not dwelt upon. I feel that it is appropriate for most children grades 3 and up.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know how I feel about my kids being so excited about mountains exploding and entire cities being buried in ash but ok.

[Alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book because I don't like fact trackers. I didn't like this book because I didn't like the part when gladiators killed animals.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken]

Eleanor and I both really love to learn about Pompeii and I am glad that she likes history. Eleanor says she was really interested in the parts where they told us the names of the gods.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief overview of life in Rome. I do enjoy the illustrations. I also like that these give research tips and an overview of other useful books and websites, as well as museums and DVDs to extend learning. This goes with Vacation Under the Volcano

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do love the Fact Tracker books that accompany the Magic Tree House books, and I love Ancient Rome and Pompeii, so this was exciting. A tiny little Fact Tracker book can't possibly contain everything I would like it to on these subjects, but this did a pretty good job - I only found the last chapter about the fall of the Roman Empire a bit disappointing - it was only a couple of pages long, and really didn't say much of anything. Oh well.

[Maki · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are just so amazing and packed full of facts, I wish we had these books when I was a kid. They are interesting to read, full of photos and very informative. I love the fiction books that compliment this series as well that teaches kids about history, geography and culture through a story.
I have enjoyed all the books I have read in the Magic Treehouse series.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these books. Even though they’re meant for kids, I always learn a lot. This one covers the history of the Roman Empire in general and the destruction of Pompeii specifically. I especially like the part that highlights famous Roman people amd their stories. Great book.

[Lierin Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great addition to the book Vacation Under the Volcano. This book has so much information about Rome and the Roman Empire and is a great way for children to get involved in learning about ancient history.

[File de Poveste · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book, it was very interesting, the information about ancient Rome and Pompeii was very well explained. In the future I will read more books from this collection, to enrich my knowledge.

[Melissa Namba · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great starting resource on Pompeii and Herculaneum. nice notes about Roman culture. the suggested further readings are good resources and I like that this is not dumbed down for kids.

[Isla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book because i really like history because i like all the ancient things
and people!

[Jaden John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how it showed the history of Rome. and what is left behind.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great basic book of facts about Roman civilization geared towards younger kids. Read aloud with my youngest.

[Beth McCabe]

Good ol' Roman Empire

[Yuandu LI · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book, easy to read, well structured content, learning a lot from it. A must of EU his-geo.

[Foster Hulsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it but it isn’t my favorite

[blueygurl2016 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty interesting book about Ancient Rome and Pompeii but it wasn’t my favorite of the series.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2006, Mary Pope Osborne and her sister Natalie Pope Boyce published the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers entitled Ancient Rome and Pompeii. This book is a nonfiction research guide to the book entitled Vacation Under a Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne which was published in 1996. Osborne’s and Boyce’s book is a well-done introduction to Ancient Rome and the archaeological site of Pompeii. The book uses the archaeological site of Pompeii to talk about daily life in Ancient Rome. Chapter 6 is on “Daily Life in Ancient Rome” (Oborne & Boyce 83-103). The book is for young readers. The book has wonderful black-and-white illustrations. The book has wonderful black-and-white photographs. The book has an excellent layout. The illustrator for this book was Sal Murdocca. Similar to the other books in the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers series, the book has a section on how to do more research for young readers about the time of Ancient Rome and the archaeology of Pompeii. The book has an index and includes photo credits. The book was advised by a professor of Classics and an educational adviser. I believe overall Osborne’s and Boyce’s Ancient Rome and Pompeii is a well-done introduction to the time of Ancient Rome.
Works Cited:
Doane, Seth. 2023, March 12. “The continuing discoveries of Pompeii.” Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) Sunday Morning. YouTube. 5:42 minutes. The continuing discoveries at Pompeii - YouTube

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another informative book in the series of Research Guides (now known as Fact Trackers), companion books to the Magic Tree House stories. This book is the companion book to Vacation Under the Volcano. We have loved these books and read as many as we can get at our local library.

This book offers an in-depth look at the history and culture of ancient Rome. We learn about the politics, sports, architecture, science and many more facets of life in these times. Several famous people are featured and we also learn what life for a commoner or slave would be like. Overall, we found this book interesting and educational.

I think these books are great for elementary school-age children, especially if they are doing a report or want to learn more about a topic. It's a bit long to read all at one time, but we were fascinated by the topic and we read the book slowly. We enjoyed reading it together - it was a fun library ebook read on our iPad.

[Tia Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonah, my 6 year old, is in the process of reading all of the Magic Treehouse research guides. He loves them, and now he wants to go back and read them in tandem with each Magic Treehouse book that they are in tandem with. These guides are so informative, while also being very interesting and readable. We have loved each one we have read. I think it is a great way to introduce research and self-motivated learning early. There are so many junky books out there for children and I am so glad to find exciting and interesting books for young readers that will actually stimulate their minds and teach them something valuable.

[Drusilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Pope Osborne's research guides are fabulous books for children. The research guides each accompany Osborne's Magic Treehouse books. Information presented in an interesting format but simply truly pique childrens' interest. These books are written in a format so that early elementary students enjoy having the books read to them while upper elementary students enjoy reading the books themselves. Highly recommend!

[Marya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping there would be more Pompeii and less Ancient Rome, but Pompeii only warrants a chapter in this book. That's kind of a bummer since the drama of the volcano makes such a great story. And before you disdain the violence and tragedy of the event as being inappropriate for children, note that this book did manage to contain one page summaries of Emperor Nero trying to kill his mother and Caligula being...himself.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before I read this book I would have never gust how mean Rome's enper's were kill or they coumoed seoiced. The Rome pluming setem really was supthing I most say. The next time some boud tell's you the ever ting will be all right you tell them that just wout the enper of Rome sed the day befoer Rome fell.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ancient Rome and Pompeii is an excellent research guide!! (Fact Tracker #14) Roman war machines, famous and infamous Romans, gladiators, gods and goddesses, Mt.Vesuvius and the demise of Rome are samplings of the subjects covered.

Clever illustrations by Sal Murdocca. This book also suggests other non fiction sources about Rome and Pompeii: software, CD-ROMS, books, videos, DVDs and museums!

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been years since I read Vacation Under the Volcano with my daughter, but this non-fiction companion was a nice refresher for us to read with our Ancient History text book. Filled with tons of interesting facts, photos, illustrations, and chronological information about the rise and fall of the Roman Empire; elementary and junior high age students will love and benefit from.

[v'sreadingjourney · Rating 5 out of 5]

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Method: ebook

Rating: 5/5 stars

H rating: N/A

h rating: N/A

Drama: N/A

Thoughts: Love these books. So excited that they were available at the local library.

[Tressa (Wishful Endings) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a good, comprehensible study for kids on Rome. There are a lot of interesting and fun facts. I did feel that the section on important people could have been expanded a little, but that is my only criticism.

[Keshia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have several of these Fact Tracker books in my classroom library. I really enjoyed this one, because I learned quite a bit of new information. I've always been interested in Pompeii especially, so learning more about it was awesome. The book gave me lots of ideas for writing prompts as well!