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I had serious doubts about the author's attempt to combine these two very successful series. It was a very ambitious undertaking, but Collins managed to pull it off perfectly. The result is a book that had me laughing almost as much as the children. There are some serious moments. There is are death and bloodshed, animal sacrifice, and a very cavalier attitude to slavery but this is in keeping with the time period, and the details are not overly graphic. There is a definite sense of adventure in this as well. This book literally has it all, history, humour, adventure and excitement, gore and gruesomeness and yes, plenty of bodily functions. In addition , it has a very likable likeable main character whom many children will identify with, and shows that courage and determination can sometimes beat the odds.

My youngest child is still only 4, and very much taken by the toilet humour, but my oldest, at age 8, is able to appreciate the more subtle humour as well, and the adventure. He also really enjoyed the bit about sacred chickens, as Collins makes some very good jokes about religious practices of the times. I would recommend this from ages 5+ if a parent will be reading aloud and 7+ for independent reading. The text is made to look like hand writinghandwriting, but it is very clear and easy to read, as well as being in a large font and well -spaced. I hesitate to put an upper age limit on this, in large part because I enjoyed it so much myself, but I feel this book would easily appeal to children up to age 14. The very wide interest range combined with an easy to read text makes this book very appropriate for reluctant readers. Of course , it's also a delight for avid readers, and a book that honestly stands out for excellence among the quite literally hundreds if not thousands of children's books we have gone through. This is a book I would not consider parting with, and I expect will be enjoyed many times over the years. I wouldn't go so far as to recommend this for adults without children; it isn't ''quite'' a crossover title, but this is a book adults will enjoy reading out loud, and if your child is reading this independently - it's still worth having a peek when they are finished. It did me leave spending 2 hours on the Internet myself trying to ascertain if a certain fact is historically accurate (if not I would consider it well within the realms of artistic license, but it has me so curious I will be tortured until I find out). I'm afraid I still don't know, but this may encourage you to brush up on your Roman History as well. I would have liked a brief note on the historical facts in this book, but this complaint is far too minor to deduct anything from a five star rating. I did appreciate the section on Roman words, which could be very useful for children who have not read previous books about Roman history, as well as the table of Roman numerals.

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