To be honest, I wasn't completely looking forward to reading the Carnival at Candlelight. After I read it, I was completely wrong. It was a great book and I will definitely use it in my classroom if I work with older elementary students. My predictions were that Jack and Annie would save the Grand Lady of the Lagoon but I had no clue there would be so much to it and that it would be informational. Before reading the Carnival at Candlelight, the only thing I knew about Venice was that it was located in Italy. After reading the book, I learned about how amazing Venice is and all the great things the city has to offer. I thought it was great how informational the book was. It allowed the reader to learn about Venice without feeling they were reading a text book. The information that came out of Jack's research book was in bold which allowed the reader to realize what they were reading. The format of the book was very easy to follow. The illustrations were fantastic. I wish all books had pictures so that all readers could feel as if they were there in the story. Mary Pope Osborne's use of adjectives really brought parts of the story to life such as on page 90 when she was describing the lion having a shaggy mane, golden back, powerful legs, tufted tail, and feathered wings. I could really picture the lion before I saw the illustrations of him. I really enjoyed reading the Carnival at Candlelight.