You Wouldn't Want to Live in Pompeii!

I recently stumbled onto the "You Wouldn't Want to..." series and have found them to be a delightful and painless way to introduce young people to different historical concepts. "You Wouldn't Want to Live In Pompeii" is a standout in a standout series of books. It teaches about the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 that destroyed Pompeii, but it also teaches about Roman culture. The readers will learn that the Romans used enslaved Greek men as teachers for their sons, that the Romans made sacrifices to their gods, foods they ate, types of art, the gladiatorial games and the re-discovery of Pompeii in the 1700s and, more importantly, the archaeological work of Guiseppe Fiorelli in the late 1800s. This would be great for 3rd grade or higher. Even adults can have a good basic understanding of what happened at Pompeii with this little book.

A lively and entertaining book for readers of any age. My middle school students did not find the material too juvenial and I believe that the approach to a tragic event is gentle enough for younger children. I was impressed by the detail provided about both life in ancient Rome and the science behind the eruption of Vesuvius. Excellent!