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The Imagination Station #25
Poison at the Pump
Over 900,000 sold in series!
When kids step into the Imagination Station, they experience an unforgettable journey filled with action-packed adventure and excitement. Each book whisks readers away on the adventure with cousins Patrick and Beth to embark on a new journey around the world and back in time.
In Poison at the Pump, Patrick and Beth travel back in time in the Imagination Station to London, England, during the cholera epidemic of 1854. The cousins join Dr. John Snow, Florence Nightingale, and Curate Henry Whitehead in a thrilling scientific adventure to discover why this disease was killing people around Broad Street. In their quest for truth, Patrick finds himself a prisoner in a workhouse. Will he escape? Can the cousins help Curate Whitehead put together the clues to keep this deadly disease from spreading?
When kids step into the Imagination Station, they experience an unforgettable journey filled with action-packed adventure and excitement. Each book whisks readers away on the adventure with cousins Patrick and Beth to embark on a new journey around the world and back in time.
In Poison at the Pump, Patrick and Beth travel back in time in the Imagination Station to London, England, during the cholera epidemic of 1854. The cousins join Dr. John Snow, Florence Nightingale, and Curate Henry Whitehead in a thrilling scientific adventure to discover why this disease was killing people around Broad Street. In their quest for truth, Patrick finds himself a prisoner in a workhouse. Will he escape? Can the cousins help Curate Whitehead put together the clues to keep this deadly disease from spreading?
144 pages, Hardcover
Published April 7, 2020
3 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 27, 2020
The basic premise of this book and others in the same series is that cousins Beth and Patrick go back in time (in a fictional story) and experience an actual historical event, in this case a Cholera epidemic in London in 1854. While the fictional part of the book is definitely written for elementary students and therefore only so satisfying to an adult, I was still inspired to learn more about this particular historic event. I did some internet research on the subject after reading the book. Therefore, I consider the time I spent reading the book was time well-spent.
November 15, 2021
In this first of a 3-part story arc, cousins Beth and Patrick are tasked with finding a mystery liquid in London during the cholera epidemic of 1854. They are separated at first and meet historical figures like Dr. John Snow and Curate Henry Whitehead who played important roles in history. But when Patrick learns that he drank water from the contaminated pump, he's not certain he'll be able to make it back from 1854 alive.
I actually read part 3 of this story arc (which, in turn, is part of a much larger series) first, then decided to go back and read the preceding stories. I did not like this one quite as much as the third in the arc, which might have been due to the respective subject matters as much as anything. I did still like it, though, and appreciate the way these stories bring somewhat lesser-known pockets of history to life for children. The doctor who first posited that cholera was spread by contaminated water, rather than through the air, for example, is certainly not one that kids this age are likely to have heard about. For that matter, I didn't know about him either, though I can't guarantee I didn't read about him in passing during a history class in school and simply forgot about him. But that's all the more reason this story is a nice way of making historical events and figures more memorable.
I'm a little confused about the premise for the series, the Imagination Station, and how it works. That's likely due to not having read the rest of the series, but I did think I knew enough about the Imagination Station from Adventures in Odyssey as a whole to know that it's...well...all in the imagination. And yet, this story made it seem like the kids were actually sent back in time. So I'm not sure if I misread the book/it was just confusing in that area, or if they've changed the way the Imagination Station works (though then the name wouldn't really make sense either). That confusion aside, I think the book is a great read for kids up to age 12.
I actually read part 3 of this story arc (which, in turn, is part of a much larger series) first, then decided to go back and read the preceding stories. I did not like this one quite as much as the third in the arc, which might have been due to the respective subject matters as much as anything. I did still like it, though, and appreciate the way these stories bring somewhat lesser-known pockets of history to life for children. The doctor who first posited that cholera was spread by contaminated water, rather than through the air, for example, is certainly not one that kids this age are likely to have heard about. For that matter, I didn't know about him either, though I can't guarantee I didn't read about him in passing during a history class in school and simply forgot about him. But that's all the more reason this story is a nice way of making historical events and figures more memorable.
I'm a little confused about the premise for the series, the Imagination Station, and how it works. That's likely due to not having read the rest of the series, but I did think I knew enough about the Imagination Station from Adventures in Odyssey as a whole to know that it's...well...all in the imagination. And yet, this story made it seem like the kids were actually sent back in time. So I'm not sure if I misread the book/it was just confusing in that area, or if they've changed the way the Imagination Station works (though then the name wouldn't really make sense either). That confusion aside, I think the book is a great read for kids up to age 12.
October 28, 2020
I can't give this higher than two stars as I do not consider it well written. Also its suspense ending is unsatisfying -- no real ending 0r clean continuation. This will not go on my gift list.
August 1, 2021
Turtle just re-read this series at her own request. She said: great! Return to library.
April 24, 2024
3.5 kids enjoyed this read aloud. The writing isn’t great and the series seems very formulaic.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews