Meet cousins Patrick and Beth, the Christian equivalent to Jack and Annie from the Magic Tree House series. Their friend, Mr. Whittaker, has created the Imagination Station, that works similar to a time machine. As Whittaker is writing a family history, he discovers one of his ancestors, Albert, is in trouble. Patrick and Beth’s mission? To go back in time and find a certain object to save Albert from a mysterious Lord Darkthorn. Their journeys take them from ancient Rome to China to Corrie ten Boom’s house in wartime Holland.
In this book, the second in this series, Patrick, dressed as a monk and Beth, dressed as a slave, are transported to ancient Rome. Their mission is to find a silver monk’s cup. Soon after they arrive in Rome, Beth is mistaken for a runaway slave of the Emperor and taken back to the palace. Patrick is unable to save her, and runs into a kind and wise monk, Telemachus. Patrick and Beth learn the infamous games will be starting – where the Romans evilly lock hungry animals and prisoners in arenas and watch them fight to the death.
I remember enjoying Jack and Annie’s adventures as a kid, and I know I would have loved this series. I just bought the WWII one (Escape to the Hiding Place) and can’t wait to read that!
In each book, Patrick and Beth meet key historical figures, bringing history to life more and provide a way to do additional research.
Overall, highly recommend this great series for anyone who wants quality books for their 1-3 graders with a positive message and a twist of history!
[…] Reading Challenge, they had quite a few books in the Imagination Station series, and I reviewed one of them already, which I absolutely LOVED, despite it being set in Ancient Rome! Once I found out they had […]