Edith Kunhardt - Pompeii...Buried Alive!

Text copyright 1987 by Edith Kunhardt Cover and interior illustrations copyright 1987 by Michael Eagle All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Childrens Books, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York. Step into Reading, Random House, and the Random House colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC. Visit us on the Web!
StepIntoReading.com
rhcbooks.com Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at
RHTeachersLibrarians.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kunhardt, Edith.
Pompeii buried alive! / by Edith Kunhardt ; illustrated by Michael Eagle. p. (Step into reading. (Step into reading.

Step 4 book) Summary: A simple retelling of the fateful days in 79 A.D. when Mt. Vesuvius erupted and the people in the ancient town of Pompeii perished.
ISBN 978-0-394-88866-8 (trade) ISBN 978-0-394-98866-5 (lib. bdg.) ISBN 978-0-553-51258-8 (ebook) 1. Pompeii (Extinct city)Juvenile literature. 2.

Vesuvius (Italy)Eruption, 79Juvenile literature. [1. Pompeii (Extinct city). 2. Vesuvius (Italy)Eruption, 79.] I. II. Title. III. Series. Series.

DG70.P7 K86 2003 937.7dc21 2002013645 This book has been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient Leveling System. Random House Childrens Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read. rh_3.1_c0_r1 The publisher wishes to thank Michael K. Weisberg of the American Museum of Natural History for reading this manuscript for accuracy.

Once there was a town named Pompeii. Say: pom-PAY. Near the town there was a mountain named Vesuvius.

Say: veh-SOO-vee-us. The people in Pompeii liked living by the mountain. It was a good place to grow grapes. It was a good place to raise sheep. Andit looked so peaceful! But the mountain was really a dangerous volcano. It was like a sleeping giant.

If the giant woke up, it could destroy the town. Did the people know about the danger? No, they did not! A volcano is a special kind of mountain. It has a hole at the top. One dayalmost two thousand years agosomething was happening under Vesuvius. Way down deep it was very, very hot. It was so hot that rock was melting.

As the rock melted, a gas was made. The gas was trying to escape. The gas and the melted rock were mixed together. The mixture was hot and bubbly. The gas was pushing the melted rock up through Vesuvius. The melted rock was about to blast right out the hole at the top! The day started out the way it always did.

The sun rose. People began coming to Pompeii with things to sell. Fishermen were bringing fish. Peddlers were bringing melons and straw hats. Farmers were bringing vegetables. Shepherds were bringing sheep.

Carts rumbled through the narrow gates and into town. The noisy carts in the streets woke up the people in the houses. The family who lived in one of the biggest houses was soon busy. The mother went to pray in the courtyard. She put flowers by the statue of a god. The father began to dress.

His slave helped him. The children were playing. They were glad it was summer. The slaves in the kitchen were making breakfast. No one in the house knew that something terrible was going to happen. After breakfast the children went outside.

The streets were crowded. People were at work inside the shops. Bakers were busy baking flat bread. Weavers were busy weaving wool cloth. Potters were busy making clay pots. Slaves were getting water at a fountain.

A musician was playing his flute. No one in the street knew that something terrible was going to happen. By late morning many men were at the bathhouse. They were having a good time. Some men were playing ball. Some men were talking in the steam room. Some men were talking in the steam room.

Others were soaking in the hot pools. The father from the big house was there. His slave was rubbing oil on his back. No one at the bathhouse knew that something terrible was going to happen. By noon the town meeting place was full of people. Some people were looking for things to buy.

Some people were talking to their friends. Lawmakers were meeting to make new laws. Visitors were looking at the beautiful buildings.