Vacation Under the Volcano

Magic Tree House #13

by Mary Pope Osborne, Sal Murdocca (Illustrator)

Jack and Annie are ready for their next fantasy adventure in the bestselling middle-grade series—the Magic Tree House! Who wants to vacation next to a volcano?
Jack and Annie are about to find out when the Magic Tree House whisks them back to the days of the Roman Empire. They arrive in Pompeii and soon discover that it is the very day the city will be destroyed. Now Jack and Annie must race against time to find an ancient library before it is buried in ash!

Genres: Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Chapter Books, Adventure, Middle Grade

96 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 24, 1998

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

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew! Not Morgan sending them to Italy when Mt. Vesuvius was about to explode. I don't think my heart has ever raced as much as it did during this specific installment. This was good. I'm excited that we're really getting into this new story arc and I'm interested in seeing the implications that it will have for the rest of the series.

[Book2Dragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another delightful chapter in the Magic Tree House series. Had to get my library to order it for me. Well ... they needed it for their collection ;-).
This assignment takes Annie and Jack to Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius. Do you know what happened there? This will tell, and I won't spoil it. They come out of the treehouse wearing togas. Ane they use their Master Librarian cards.
Everyone, especially children, will love these books.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great adventure!

[Pallavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

****3.5****

Jack and Annie go to Pompeii in Roman Empire. But they have gone on a wrong date, because the city is going to be destroyed the same day by an exploding Volcano. Jack and Annie must get the desired book and reach the tree house in time. Do they?

Of course :)

Happy Reading!!

[Isabel Orama · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a brother and sister named Jack and Annie.They went on a adventure to roam or ancient Times when people believed in "Hercules".their family was taking a vacation.Annie had a nightmare with balls of fire and a volcano erupting,but Jack and Annie does not know that I is going to happen in Roam.

Jack and Annie was walking to Frog Creek woods to see. Morgan Le Fay.She is a magic Librarian.she gave Jack and Annie a mission to go to Roam.Morgan Le Fay gave them a mission to go to to Roam because she wants them to find a lost scroll as a book in Roam's library.when they arrived,Annie felt a shake on the ground.Jack told Annie to forget about it.So when they went into the city an old lady told them "IT IS COMING TO AN END"!!!!!!Jack and Annie ran because they thought she was weird.


Jack looked up the old women in the book and it said that these old women can tell the future.Annie went back to talk to the old women and Jack followed.They both talked to her and she told them again that Roam Is coming to an end.Now Jack and Annie understood what she ment! There was a volcano at the top of the mountain.As soon as the volcano erupted Annie made a wish that Hercules can save them and he did.He took them to the treehouse so they can go home.




Now they can have a good vacation!

[Maddie Dresen · Rating 5 out of 5]

On our drive to nashville to fly to Naples… we reread a classic.

Holds up! Gave us some good fun facts for our trip to Pompeii and even had a thrilling aspect that Stephen king wish he had. I didn’t know they were gonna escape before the volcano erupted!

Lowkey why is morgan le Fay just like dumbledore though

[Shadyside Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book definitely took a different approach compared to all of the previous books in the series. Not only did it include a bit of history/non fiction elements, it also send the siblings on a new type of quest! Now that Jack and Annie have Library cards, they are on the hunt to find books to add to the treehouse library! I like this much better than the whole solving riddles thing. Interested to see where the series goes from here!

[Aviann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read aloud to Addison (5) and Ezra (4.) Both were intrigued although Ezra was most interested in the volcano. Addy followed the plot no trouble, but I continually asked Ezra questions to help him along. Almost everyone knows what to expect from a Magic Treehouse book—the read is fine enough to introduce children to historical fiction. Regardless, they now want to read another.

[Bailey Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack and Annie go back in time to Pompeii to rescue an old book for Merlin/Morgen Le Fay.

[Emily Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

why would morgan le fay just do these quests herself when she can endanger two children instead

[Teri-K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this to practice my Spanish reading - but I really enjoyed the story. It struck me as one of the best so far, and I'll happily suggest this, in English, to my youngest grandson. There were a lot of details about life in Rome but always the threat of the eruption hanging over the story.

[Maggie Atchley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fire! Maddie read this to us while we drove to nashville for our flight to Italy. Can’t wait to be in Pompeii in 2 days and imagine how Jack & Annie felt when they survived Mt. Vesuvius’ eruption!

[Coralinaae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Krótkie, ale fajne. Dla młodszych tym bardziej

[Amanda Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pompeii is kinda scary for 7 year olds! Very suspenseful book!

[.]

"How would you rate this one?"
*thumbs up* "Magnifique! That means in French....perfect!"

[Julesmarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, I appreciate the historical accuracy here. The togas and sandals for Jack and Annie were accurate, as were the descriptions of the shops on the streets and the baths. This might be a very fun way for my students, who have just spent a few months learning about ancient Rome, to get a more first-hand view of it.

The one thing I noticed that wasn't QUITE accurate (and even my students should be able to recognize this, so I'm not worried about leaving this in the classroom library to read) was the description of the eruption.

I think they'd also enjoy the ending and finding out who it was that rescued Jack and Annie at the end.

[Paisley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like how at the end there was Hercules and just when they went to the stone thingy to check the time that just then the Volcano went boom boom haha I love to say that and I can see how the place where the gladiators went that there were no kids supposed to go in there

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fun to read a volume from one of my favorite childhood book series again, this time in Korean! :) this series is seriously the best.

[Della Tingle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the facts in this book! “Almost 2,000 years ago, on August 24, A.D. 79, the seaside town of Pompeii (pom-PAY) was a typical Roman town. Many Romans went there on their vacation. They built large houses called villas and planted groves of olive trees along the slopes of a mountain called Mount Vesuvius (vuh-SOO-vee-us)” (10 & 11). Chapter 3 is titled “Gladiators!” so you know that’s an exciting chapter! Upon seeing a table surrounded by couches, Jack tells Annie, “This must be the dining room…People from Roman times lay down on couches while they ate” (38). At the end of the book is a section called, “More Facts for You and Jack.”

While the factual information is wonderful and written in small chunks in kid-friendly language, this book would be so much better with a prologue. Kids don’t always read series books in order, and picking up this book to read without having read the preceding books may be confusing.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good way to introduce the disaster of Pompeii to young readers, but even for young readers, I think more about Rome, Pompeii and Vesuvius could have been worked in. Also, oh good lord, Jack is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier!

[Kaleigh Basso]

I was not a dinosaur or mermaid kid, i was fascinated by Pompeii and the bubonic plague. It’s not surprising that this ended up on my shelves 😂 if i was 5 or 6 this book would’ve HIT but unfortunately I turn 30 in three weeks so it really needed more plot development lol

[gillian]

read on the train ride back from pompeii!!

now i know this is a children's book, but why did hercules rescue jack and annie from the eruption of mount vesuvius? he's from a totally different time period i was so confused 🤓☝️

[asia (parker’s version) · Rating 2 out of 5]

For what it is, a children’s book, it’s fine. I just read it because of the historical context. I know, I know, there’s better books about Pompeii out there to read but, it’s not like I wasted a lot of time reading this; it’s so short!

[Raven Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonder how historical some ideas are

[Thomas L. Fenner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro para niños es muy bueno para un principiante que estar aprendiendo español. La historia es divertida y emocionante. Me gustó.

[Alice4170 🌙 · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 ⭐️

[Emily McAdoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nostalgic. Very fast paced. Didn’t even need to take a Latin class, this book taught me everything I needed to know.

[Emily]

We didn’t love this

[Martine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morgan le Fay makes some questionable decisions...this book highlights the most questionable yet

[Micah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only kind of liked this book. Lots of people get killed by fire or lava.