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Escape From Pompeii
"And then, in one terrible endless moment, they heard mighty Mount Vesuvius roar. Its top exploded in a scream, and flames ripped upward to the sky. A massive cloud of silver ash rose to the heavens, twisting and bubbling in every direction until everything was in total darkness."
Tranio, like most Roman boys, likes to watch whatever is going on: tradesmen selling their goods, ships unloading their exotic cargoes, politicians making speeches in the forum. But one hot August day a very different scene unfolds. The ground begins to shake, the sky to darken. People run gasping for air. Heading for the harbor, Tranio and his friend Livia hide on a boat and witness one of the most terrifying moments in recorded history-the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of their beloved city, Pompeii.
Christina Balit's fictional tale is based on the latest research. With her dramatic illustrations and a historical note, this story makes an exciting introduction to a fascinating subject.
Tranio, like most Roman boys, likes to watch whatever is going on: tradesmen selling their goods, ships unloading their exotic cargoes, politicians making speeches in the forum. But one hot August day a very different scene unfolds. The ground begins to shake, the sky to darken. People run gasping for air. Heading for the harbor, Tranio and his friend Livia hide on a boat and witness one of the most terrifying moments in recorded history-the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of their beloved city, Pompeii.
Christina Balit's fictional tale is based on the latest research. With her dramatic illustrations and a historical note, this story makes an exciting introduction to a fascinating subject.
26 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2003
12 people are currently reading
255 people want to read
About the author
Christina Balit
31 books18 followersChristina Balit is a graduate of both the Chelsea School of Art and the Royal College of Art. A playwright and children’s book illustrator she has illustrated over 20 children’s books and has been been short-listed for the Kate Greenaway Medal twice.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
April 29, 2021
Two children survive the destruction of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, buried beneath the ashes when nearby Mt. Vesuvius erupted, in this engaging work of picture-book historical fiction. An alert and active boy, Tranio was the son of an actor, and was out and about when the earth in his home city began to tremble. He immediately set out in search of his friend Livia, the baker's daughter, and when the sky turned dark and began to rain down ashes, the two fled to the harbor, where they found safety on a ship setting sail. Behind them was their home and their families, soon to disappear forever...
I am a great admirer of the work of author/artist Christina Balit, and have enjoyed many of her books, from the wonderful folkloric and mythological retellings she has illustrated for other authors, to her own Atlantis: The Legend of the Lost City , which she both wrote and illustrated. I tracked down Escape from Pompeii - it had to be requested through interlibrary loan - because of this fondness for Balit's work, and I was not disappointed. The story is engaging - sure to please young adventure lovers, it also gives the basic outline of the historical story of the destruction of Pompeii, something explored in more detail in the author's afterword. The artwork is, as expected, simply gorgeous, with a rich, orange and yellow-dominated color palette, and Balit's trademark stylized figures. Recommended to picture-book readers who enjoy historical fiction and/or stories of survival, as well as to anyone looking for supplemental titles to be used in a teaching unit on Roman history and/or Pompeii. For myself, I will have to see if I can track down a non-fiction children's book about this topic, that could pair well with this fictional tale.
I am a great admirer of the work of author/artist Christina Balit, and have enjoyed many of her books, from the wonderful folkloric and mythological retellings she has illustrated for other authors, to her own Atlantis: The Legend of the Lost City , which she both wrote and illustrated. I tracked down Escape from Pompeii - it had to be requested through interlibrary loan - because of this fondness for Balit's work, and I was not disappointed. The story is engaging - sure to please young adventure lovers, it also gives the basic outline of the historical story of the destruction of Pompeii, something explored in more detail in the author's afterword. The artwork is, as expected, simply gorgeous, with a rich, orange and yellow-dominated color palette, and Balit's trademark stylized figures. Recommended to picture-book readers who enjoy historical fiction and/or stories of survival, as well as to anyone looking for supplemental titles to be used in a teaching unit on Roman history and/or Pompeii. For myself, I will have to see if I can track down a non-fiction children's book about this topic, that could pair well with this fictional tale.
October 15, 2017
Great book. My class loved using it as a part of their topic.
February 9, 2021
This is a sad story, but it's well told and the illustrations are interesting. There was a page of historical background after the main story, which is always nice.
April 11, 2020
A really good example of a historical fiction book. Class really liked it, pictures are fab and there is some great description and themes you can draw out of the book!
March 2, 2015
This is a great historical fiction read with wonderful pictures. It is a good way for young readers to learn about a devastating historical event as the book is based on the latest research of the volcanic eruption in Pompeii.
November 14, 2019
Read this as part of Year 4 literacy class. Great for grammar session - lots of adjectives, adverbials and overall great writing. Ties in well with the Romans topic.
November 20, 2019
A perfect book for cross-curricular links for history, maths and English lessons. Enjoyed reading this to my year 4 class - the suspense had them glued to the story!
February 14, 2020
Read it for my topic Natural Disasters😊Sweet little book but didn’t bring anything new to the topic.
May 12, 2020
Genre: Ancient History/Dramatisation
Christina Balit's account of Mount Vesuvius' eruption and subsequent destruction of Ancient Roman Pompeii is an exciting and dramatic read accompanied by the most spectacular of illustrations - the eruption itself almost explodes out of the page. This is an interesting combination of fiction and non-fiction: the eruption of course genuinely happened and the remains of Ancient Roman civilisation it preserved beneath the solidified lava and ash are a major source of archaeological history for the period. The characters we are introduced to along the way however- children Tranio and Livia, Dion and their families - are entirely fictional, although it would rest upon the teacher to explain this to the class because the book itself does not clarify it. Perhaps however the drama of the event could not be properly told - or the beautiful descriptive range of adjectives and adverbs used to depict it - without such characters being employed, and certainly everything else about the portrayal, including the pictures of Ancient Roman theatre, forum and homes, are faithfully factual. History requires the story to inevitably end on a sad note, although children may find the final page depicting bodies buried underground troubling if they have had any personal experience of bereavement. There is a helpful map of the region and a thorough account of Pompeii's discovery in 1748 and Fiorello's plaster-cast replication of bodies using the hollows they had left behind in the ash: Pompeii provides an engaging way for children to discover Ancient Roman life and culture, still meaningful today in Vesuvius' continued presence in Italy and the fact that it remains dormant but not extinct. My pupils were able to write in role, compile their own script to rehearse and act out the eruption (with one child actually playing the part of the volcano in each group), write a descriptive poem using alliteration, onomatopoeia and personification, and link the story to other literature in the form of Caroline Lawrence's gripping Roman Mysteries series (reviewed previously in my Goodreads account!). Perhaps Vesuvius remains the most well-known volcanic eruption in history among adults even today - so there could be plenty of opportunity to link with the geography and science National Curriculum on seismology, tectonic plates and geology: perhaps pupils may even have their own experiences of visiting mountainous or volcanic regions they could share, similar to those of the characters in the story.
Christina Balit's account of Mount Vesuvius' eruption and subsequent destruction of Ancient Roman Pompeii is an exciting and dramatic read accompanied by the most spectacular of illustrations - the eruption itself almost explodes out of the page. This is an interesting combination of fiction and non-fiction: the eruption of course genuinely happened and the remains of Ancient Roman civilisation it preserved beneath the solidified lava and ash are a major source of archaeological history for the period. The characters we are introduced to along the way however- children Tranio and Livia, Dion and their families - are entirely fictional, although it would rest upon the teacher to explain this to the class because the book itself does not clarify it. Perhaps however the drama of the event could not be properly told - or the beautiful descriptive range of adjectives and adverbs used to depict it - without such characters being employed, and certainly everything else about the portrayal, including the pictures of Ancient Roman theatre, forum and homes, are faithfully factual. History requires the story to inevitably end on a sad note, although children may find the final page depicting bodies buried underground troubling if they have had any personal experience of bereavement. There is a helpful map of the region and a thorough account of Pompeii's discovery in 1748 and Fiorello's plaster-cast replication of bodies using the hollows they had left behind in the ash: Pompeii provides an engaging way for children to discover Ancient Roman life and culture, still meaningful today in Vesuvius' continued presence in Italy and the fact that it remains dormant but not extinct. My pupils were able to write in role, compile their own script to rehearse and act out the eruption (with one child actually playing the part of the volcano in each group), write a descriptive poem using alliteration, onomatopoeia and personification, and link the story to other literature in the form of Caroline Lawrence's gripping Roman Mysteries series (reviewed previously in my Goodreads account!). Perhaps Vesuvius remains the most well-known volcanic eruption in history among adults even today - so there could be plenty of opportunity to link with the geography and science National Curriculum on seismology, tectonic plates and geology: perhaps pupils may even have their own experiences of visiting mountainous or volcanic regions they could share, similar to those of the characters in the story.
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June 14, 2022A picture book that I have particularly enjoyed this year is Escape from Pompeii, Christian Balit. This short picture book details the story of the city of Pompeii through the eyes of a young boy named Tranio. The book features some beautiful illustrations and some fantastic descriptive passages that make it a great book for children to analyse.
The story introduces what it was like to live in the city of Pompeii during this time and then moves on to detail the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of the city. This book would be a great way to introduce the topics of The Romans or Volcanoes. There is a lot to pull apart with this picture book and the focus can range from something literacy based (grammar, story structure, characterisation, word choices) or topical (Romans, geography).
There are many applications for this particular novel:
English:
Writing - Descriptive writing, setting description, diary entry from the point of view of one of the characters, newspaper article
Reading – predictions, inferring meaning from text, comprehension
Drama activities – freeze frames, whoosh
PSHE:
Morals – what would you do? Save yourself/ go back for others?
Science:
Layers of the Earth, tectonic plates
History:
The Romans – exploring the everyday life of the Romans, the historical event of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Geography:
Tectonic plates, volcanoes
The story introduces what it was like to live in the city of Pompeii during this time and then moves on to detail the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of the city. This book would be a great way to introduce the topics of The Romans or Volcanoes. There is a lot to pull apart with this picture book and the focus can range from something literacy based (grammar, story structure, characterisation, word choices) or topical (Romans, geography).
There are many applications for this particular novel:
English:
Writing - Descriptive writing, setting description, diary entry from the point of view of one of the characters, newspaper article
Reading – predictions, inferring meaning from text, comprehension
Drama activities – freeze frames, whoosh
PSHE:
Morals – what would you do? Save yourself/ go back for others?
Science:
Layers of the Earth, tectonic plates
History:
The Romans – exploring the everyday life of the Romans, the historical event of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Geography:
Tectonic plates, volcanoes
May 9, 2022
This beautifully illustrated book is all about a boy and his friend who luckily escape Pompeii when Vesuvius erupted.
This book’s language is lovely in the way that it tells the story of what Ancient Rome was like based on the evidence in a way that children can understand and visualise in their heads. It also highlights the reasons why so many lives were tragically lost by explaining that there were lots of tremors in the past.
This story, whilst the characters are fictional, is very real. Looking at the illustrations, you can only imagine how horrendous it must have been to narrowly escape as everything and everything you once loved is killed and destroyed - it’s heart wrenching.
I love how it doesn’t have a happy ending as I feel like it would’ve done Pompeii an injustice. What happened was tragic and real and no story can change that.
This book is part of my year 3/4 class’s Invaders and Raiders topic from the Stone Age into the Ancient Romans. It lends itself really nicely to pottery-making, mosaics, history and geography and I can’t wait to see how the children interpret this beautiful but tragic story.
This book’s language is lovely in the way that it tells the story of what Ancient Rome was like based on the evidence in a way that children can understand and visualise in their heads. It also highlights the reasons why so many lives were tragically lost by explaining that there were lots of tremors in the past.
This story, whilst the characters are fictional, is very real. Looking at the illustrations, you can only imagine how horrendous it must have been to narrowly escape as everything and everything you once loved is killed and destroyed - it’s heart wrenching.
I love how it doesn’t have a happy ending as I feel like it would’ve done Pompeii an injustice. What happened was tragic and real and no story can change that.
This book is part of my year 3/4 class’s Invaders and Raiders topic from the Stone Age into the Ancient Romans. It lends itself really nicely to pottery-making, mosaics, history and geography and I can’t wait to see how the children interpret this beautiful but tragic story.
June 26, 2023
Fantastic book to help immerse children into writing about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., lots of great opportunities for cross-curricular links as children were enquiring about the amphitheater page and the outfits illustrated. The image of the eruption was particularly powerful and my class of Yr 4s spent ages looking at it and even managed to link it with their knowledge of the pyroclastic flows!
January 5, 2022
An interesting story about 2 children who escape from the Pompeii's eruption.
A very good picture book for upper KS2 and can be used for history to explore the events and facts about Pompeii; Geography to learn about Italy, volcanoes; English to write descriptive pieces, to use VIPERS and so on.
A very good picture book for upper KS2 and can be used for history to explore the events and facts about Pompeii; Geography to learn about Italy, volcanoes; English to write descriptive pieces, to use VIPERS and so on.
October 22, 2018
Wonderfully written, and very intricate drawings! Gave enough history mixed with storytelling. This is a good one to use in the classroom!
November 27, 2018
Very good 😀😃
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2019
Very enjoyable story. A shame that the roman numerals weren't correct in the illustrations (i think) but I love it and can't wait for the term to start!
September 24, 2019
Great as a support text if covering Romans.
February 11, 2020
Great picture book for LKS2.
July 23, 2020
The illustrations in this book are beautiful.
August 29, 2020
Informative yet written in the style of a story. A great, engaging way to teach pupils about the past.
March 13, 2021
A thought provoking book which depicts an awful situation in a child friendly way. Lovely illustrations.
May 5, 2023
Great book to teach from
June 17, 2023
I
ts really intresting
ts really intresting
August 5, 2023
Good for a topic text driver. Nothing particularly interesting about the storyline. More a factual retelling. Nice pictures.
February 9, 2025
Fascinating book explaining to children the horrors of Pompeii, great story one of my year 3s favourites of the year.
July 22, 2025
Read this book with my year 3 class when learning about Pompeii. They absolutely loved it and produced some great writing ☺️
November 9, 2025
Not very good.Could have been better tbh.
December 20, 2025
Great book to teach writing from!
February 26, 2015
Escape From Pompeii is about 25 pages long and has a paragraph or two per page. This story is obviously about the big volcanic eruption and destruction of Pompeii. But what is unique about the book, is that it tells the facts about that event through story of a boy named Tranio. he is a typical citizen of the town and the story points out that earth movement was a part everyday culture to them and it was not taken seriously. There is a sweet girl, Livia, that he is introduced as his friend and they stick together throughout the book. The two of them go throughout their typical days, practicing theater and baking, which shows the reader what a typical young citizen would be doing on a daily basis. Then the eruption happens and the two of them, by chance, escape on a boat only to return years later to commemorate their lost lives. The story line is quite vivid and the illustrations, which seem to be done in some type of colored pencil, enhance it extremely. The culture, environment, and structures of Pompeii and very eloquently depicted through the illustration, providing an added insight to what Pompeii looked like. The vocabulary is a little bit harder so it would either need to be read out loud or be meant for slightly older children, with words like "looming," "tremors," "wriggled," and "pumice."
Overall, this book is a great balance between educational and entertaining. It would be great to have in the classroom when learning about other countries and cultures and what their histories look like. One of the best ways to get through to a child is to tell them a personal story of somebody in the situation than to just tell them about the situation as a whole. The book would be a good asset to a classroom.
Overall, this book is a great balance between educational and entertaining. It would be great to have in the classroom when learning about other countries and cultures and what their histories look like. One of the best ways to get through to a child is to tell them a personal story of somebody in the situation than to just tell them about the situation as a whole. The book would be a good asset to a classroom.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews