BLOG TOUR: Imagination Station Series

Summary
Beth and her cousin Patrick visit Whit's End - the best place in town for ice cream. While there, Mr. Whittaker is trying to fix the Imagination Station. To test it, he sends the kids on a mission to the Vikings. They are on a quest to find a Viking Sunstone to save someone named Albert.

Beth and Patrick go back in time and meet Erik the Read and his son Leif Erikson. Erik wants to treat the kids as spies and prisoners, but Leif defends them, recognizing them as Christians. The children will have to stay out of Erik's reach while they try to find the Sunstone before Leif's ship sets sail with their only means home.

In the second adventure, Beth and Patrick travel to ancient Rome. They are separated soon after their arrival. Beth, dressed as a slave, is accused of being a runaway. She is returned to the emperor as one of his bird keepers. Patrick is rescued by a monk. The cousins meet up again at the arena where prisoners are put into a fight to the death - and Patrick becomes one of those prisoners.

These books are similar in style to the Magic Tree House series, but with a Christian slant.

Blog Tour
Today, Bring on the Books is part of a Blog Tour for the Imagination Station books. As part of the tour, I have a set of these two books available to giveaway to one of my readers. Post a comment here by midnight, Wednesday April 6th to be considered for the giveaway.

Here is some information, straight from the author, Marianne Hering:

Q: What inspired you to write the Imagination Station series?

A:  Paul (McCusker) had always wanted to write stories about the Imagination Station. When looking to do a kids’ series about it, we chose early elementary to introduce new readers to the Adventures in Odyssey world. We also wanted to touch on a group of kids that didn’t have many Christian books written for their level. There seemed to be a gap from picture books to later elementary readers.

Q: The Imagination Station device is well-known to fans of the radio drama Adventures in Odyssey. Why did you and Paul decide to use it in a book series?

A:  It lends itself to stand-alone adventures. It’s a fascinating device. Why wouldn’t he want to write about it? It allowed us to write about settings outside of Odyssey. We’d like some of the books to augment the history kids learn from public school textbooks or TV. The Imagination Station radio dramas are also among the most popular. We thought that kids would like them, that’s all!

Q: The first two books focus on the Vikings and ancient Rome. The next two books focus on Kublai Khan and the War of the Roses. How did you and Paul decide which historical events to write about?

A. They just seemed interesting and we thought they’d be popular with boys. I also looked through the Bennett books on core knowledge to make sure the things we write about would be taught in schools. Also, the Rome book is based on an actual Adventures in Odyssey radio drama. It is one of our favorites, and so we wanted to retell the story. The Kublai Khan book started out to be more about Marco Polo, but Kublai took the stage. He was a fascinating character. We don’t always decide with concrete objectives. Most times the story just sounds plain old fun.

Q: How true to history are the books?

A: Now, this is a spoiler. Mr. Whittaker isn’t real. Neither are Patrick and Beth. Though they are named after Paul’s children. Patrick and Beth are his children’s middle names.

Most of the events are based on sagas, legends, or some sort of historical base—except for book 4. All the characters in the War of the Roses story are fictional. For plot purposes, I sped up the storytelling. For example, the events in the Kublai Khan story took place over months, not hours. Same with the Viking book. I wanted Leif to leave for the New World shortly after he brought back the gospel from Norway. In reality, a lot of time passed between the events. I did make some vocabulary exceptions. For example, Marco Polo was Venetian, but I called him Italian—a more familiar term for the readership. But the basic events of books 1 to 3 are true, and the War of the Roses did occur in England with Lords fighting their neighbors, etc. We really just wanted to write about the jousting. Paul did a lot of great research for the jousting scene. I had to cut a lot of it, and that made me sad.

On the website TheImaginationStation.com, I’ve listed what’s true and what’s exaggerated for each book. There are also nonfiction pages for the kids to read about Leif Eriksson and the other Christian heroes.

 

Q: What do you hope kids will walk away with after reading Imagination Station?

A: A smile and a desire to learn more about history and faith in Jesus Christ.

Q: Can you give us any “sneak peeks” into what we can expect in future books?

A: Book 5 is a Bible story, a familiar Bible story. The title is “Showdown with the Shepherd.” I think that’s a fairly strong clue.

Book 6 is about Miles Standish and William Bradford and Native American relations. It centers on a certain holiday in November.

That will end the first story arc. As for the next set of 6, that may depend on sales of the first set. (That’s a strong hint to readers to buy the books so we can keep developing the series.)

Be sure to check out the click book for book 1 at TheImaginationStation.com. That way you can tell if these books will be at the right level for your kids.

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Recommended for: children in first grade and up, Christian school classrooms and libraries, church libraries

 Cautions: The books might be a little "dark" for more sensitive readers.


Okay, remember to comment on this post by midnight Wednesday, April 6th for a chance to win your own set of the first two Imagination Station chapter books. Happy reading!

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