Carnival at Candlelight

Lorenzo’s canvas, Annie climbed down the ladder. Jack followed.
    As they walked through the chilly dawn woods, Annie held up Lorenzo’s canvas. The shimmering light and waters of Venice looked just like they had in real life. “So what should we put in our painting?” she asked.
    “Gondolas, of course,” said Jack, “with people in costumes.”
    “Wearing black capes and bird masks,” said Annie, “and fancy dresses and wigs.”
    “And we could paint the clock tower in the background,” said Jack, “with the two men striking the bell.”
    “And the watchtower, too,” said Annie, “with the gold angel on top.”
    “And the ruler’s palace,” said Jack.
    “And the old man and Rosa walking along the canal,” said Annie, “and, of course, Lorenzo.”
    “And the lion flying across the sky,” said Jack, “and Neptune’s spear rising out of the water.”
    “With Neptune himself peeking out!” said Annie. “We’ll show just the top of his head and his mysterious eyes.”
    “That’s a lot of stuff for one painting,” said Jack.
    “We didn’t even put ourselves in yet,” said Annie.
    “We’ll paint ourselves on the back of the lion,” said Jack, “wearing our clown suits and red slippers.”
    “Yeah, with huge smiles on our faces,” said Annie, “like we’re thinking,
Wow! Wow! Wow!”
    Jack laughed.
    A chilly dawn breeze swept through the bare trees. The bells of a Frog Creek church began to chime. Jack and Annie took off running for home.

More Facts About Venice
    Venice has been called a “timeless city,” as well as a city “frozen in time.” This is because so much of the city and its traditions has been preserved through time.
    The festival of Carnival goes back over a thousand years in Venice, but it was most popular during the 1700s.
    Gondolas have glided along the waterways of Venice for over a thousand years. In the 1700s, there were about 14,000 on the canals. Today there are around 400.
    Saint Mark the Apostle is the patron saint of Venice. According to legend, the saint’s corpse was stolen from its grave and brought to Venice in the ninth century. Since the traditional symbol of Saint Mark is a winged lion, that image is depicted all over the city in paintings and sculptures. In Saint Mark’s Square alone, there are no fewer than fourteen!
    In Venice, there are approximately 3,000 alleys and 200 canals. Over 400 bridges connect 118 lagoon islands.
    Many world-famous painters are from Venice. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo is considered the most important of the 1700s. His two sons, Giandomenico and Lorenzo, were also painters.
    Neptune is the Roman counterpart of the sea god Poseidon from Greek mythology. Neptune’s three-pronged fish spear is called a trident. When astronomers named the planet Neptune, they chose the trident to be its symbol.

Author’s Research Note
    Whenever I start work on a new Magic Tree House book, I begin the great adventure of research. I visit libraries, the Internet, bookstores, and museums. I talk to people who are knowledgeable about my subject, and if I’m able, I visit the place where the story occurs.
    I chose to write a Magic Tree House story about Venice because I was eager to visit that wonderful city again. I had been to Venice a few years earlier, and when I returned home, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I especially remembered the warm summer night when I’d first stepped into Piazza San Marco, or St. Mark’s Square. I remembered the beauty and magic of the square’s architecture, the candlelit outdoor-café tables, and the sweet violin music played by musicians in tuxedos. I was dying to go back to Venice. What better excuse than to write a Magic Tree House book about the city and have a good reason to return?
    On my second trip to Venice, I brought my guide book, camera, and notebook. I visited museums and bought books filled with paintings of Carnival costumes from the 1700s. I took photographs of the watchtower and the clock tower. I visited the Palazzo Ducale, or Doge’s Palace, on the Piazza San Marco and took notes on the statues of Neptune and Mars, the paintings of the winged lions on the wall of the Map Room, and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s painting
Neptune Offering Venice the Gifts of the Sea
, which now hangs in a palace chamber.
    My most unforgettable experience in the Doge’s Palace was a visit to the historic palace jail on the ground floor. I walked down a series of narrow, damp passageways and