Journey to the Center of the Earth facts for kids

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Journey to the Center of the Earth
Front cover of an 1874 English translation
Author	Jules Verne
Original title	Voyage au centre de la Terre
Illustrator	Édouard Riou
Cover artist	Édouard Riou
Country	France
Language	French
Series	The Extraordinary Voyages #3
Genre	Science fiction, adventure novel
Publisher	Pierre-Jules Hetzel
Publication date	25 November 1864; rev. 1867
Published in English	1871
Preceded by	The Adventures of Captain Hatteras
Followed by	From the Earth to the Moon

Journey to the Center of the Earth is a super famous science fiction book written by Jules Verne. It first came out in French in 1864.

The main character is Professor Otto Lidenbrock, a German scientist who has some wild ideas! He thinks there are volcanic tunnels that go all the way to the Earth's center. He, his nephew Axel, and their guide Hans from Iceland, decide to rappel down into a volcano in Iceland called Snæfellsjökull. Inside the Earth, they face many dangers. These include falling rocks, underground storms, a huge underground ocean, and even living prehistoric creatures! Eventually, the three explorers are shot back to the surface by an active volcano, Stromboli, in southern Italy.

Even before Verne wrote this book, people imagined stories about going underground. But Verne's novel was special because it used real science from his time. It also had a cool idea: a prehistoric world still existing today! Journey to the Center of the Earth inspired many writers later on. These include Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with his book The Lost World and Edgar Rice Burroughs with his Pellucidar series.

The Exciting Story
Deep Underground
The Way Out
Main Characters
Adaptations
Images for kids
See also

The Exciting Story

The adventure begins in May 1863, at Professor Lidenbrock's house in Hamburg, Germany. Professor Lidenbrock is super excited about his new old book. It's an Icelandic saga written in runic script.

While looking through the book, Lidenbrock and his nephew Axel find a secret message. It's written in runic script and has the name of an old alchemist, Arne Saknussemm. Professor Lidenbrock loves solving codes! He figures out that the message is a transposition cipher. This means the letters are just mixed up.

Professor Lidenbrock locks everyone in the house. He won't let anyone eat until he cracks the code! Axel accidentally finds the answer. The message needs to be read backward! It reveals a paragraph written in old Latin. Axel tries to keep it a secret, but after two days without food, he tells his uncle.

Lidenbrock translates the message. It's from Saknussemm, who claims to have found a way to the Earth's center! The path is through the crater of Snæfellsjökull in Iceland. The message says:

The Runic cryptogram

In Sneffels Yokulis craterem kem delibat umbra Scartaris Julii intra calendas descende, audas viator, et terrestre centrum attinges. Kod feci. Arne Saknussemm.

This means:

Go down into the crater of Snaefells Jökull, which Scartaris's shadow caresses just before the calends of July, O daring traveler, and you'll make it to the center of the earth. I've done so. Arne Saknussemm

Snæfellsjökull

Professor Lidenbrock is very impatient! He leaves for Iceland right away, taking a very unwilling Axel with him. Axel tries to tell his uncle how dangerous it is. He explains that the volcano could erupt! He also shares scientific ideas about why the journey is impossible. But the professor ignores him.

They quickly travel through Kiel and Copenhagen and arrive in Reykjavík. There, they hire a guide named Hans Bjelke. He's an Icelandic eider duck hunter. Then they travel across the land to the base of Snæfellsjökull.

In late June, they reach the volcano. It has three craters. Saknussemm's message says the right path is in the crater touched by the shadow of a nearby mountain, Scartaris. This happens at noon, just before July. The weather is cloudy, and Axel hopes they will give up. But the sun finally comes out, and the shadow points to the correct crater.

Deep Underground

The three travelers go deep into the Earth. They face many dangers and see strange things. After taking a wrong turn, they run out of water. Axel almost dies! But Hans saves them by finding an underground river. They name it the "Hansbach" after him. Later, Axel gets separated from his friends. He gets lost deep inside the Earth. Luckily, a strange sound helps him talk to the others. They are soon reunited.

Édouard Riou's illustration of an ichthyosaurus battling a plesiosaurus.

Following the Hansbach, the explorers go many miles down. They reach a huge cave! It's a real underground world. Gas near the ceiling lights it up. There's a deep underground ocean and a rocky coastline. This coast is covered with petrified tree trunks, old animal fossils, and giant living mushrooms.

The travelers build a raft from old wood and sail across the ocean. The professor names the ocean "Lidenbrock Sea." He names their starting point "Port Gräuben," after his goddaughter. While at sea, they see prehistoric fish and huge sea reptiles. These include an ichthyosaurus, which fights and beats a plesiosaurus. After this monster battle, they reach a small island with a huge geyser. Lidenbrock names it "Axel Island."

A lightning storm threatens to destroy their raft. But instead, it throws them back onto the same coastline they left! Axel discovers this part of the coast is a huge fossil graveyard. It has bones from pterodactyls, megatherium, and mastodons. They even find the preserved body of an ancient man.

Nephew and uncle then go into a forest with very old plants. Deep inside, they are shocked to find a giant human-like creature! It's over twelve feet tall and watching over a herd of mastodons. Axel isn't sure if he really saw it. He argues with Lidenbrock about whether it's an ape-like man or a man-like ape. Fearing it might be dangerous, they quickly leave the forest.

The Way Out

The travelers keep exploring the coastline. They find a passage marked by Saknussemm as the way forward. But a recent rockfall has blocked it. The adventurers plan to blow up the rock with gun cotton. They paddle their raft out to sea to avoid the blast.

When they blow up the rock, they find a super deep hole beyond it. They are swept into it as the sea rushes down the huge gap! After hours of falling very fast, their raft suddenly goes the other way. It rises inside a volcanic chimney. Finally, it shoots them out into the open air! When they wake up, they learn they've been thrown out of Stromboli. This is a volcanic island near Sicily.

The three friends return to Germany. Axel and Lidenbrock figure out that the electric storm at sea had messed up their compass. They hadn't gone backward, but forward to a new shore with giant humanoids. Back home in Hamburg, they become very famous. Professor Lidenbrock is seen as a great scientist. Axel marries his girlfriend Gräuben. And Hans goes back to his quiet life of hunting eider ducks in Iceland.

Main Characters

Professor Otto Lidenbrock: A scientist who gets angry easily. He has some very wild ideas about geology.
Axel: Professor Lidenbrock's nephew. He's a young student who is more careful and realistic.
Hans Bjelke: An Icelandic eiderduck hunter. He's hired as their guide and is very clever and calm.
Gräuben: Professor Lidenbrock's goddaughter. Axel is in love with her. She's from Virland (now part of Estonia).
Martha: Professor Lidenbrock's housekeeper and cook.

Adaptations

This amazing story has been made into many movies, TV shows, and more!

Movies

1959: Journey to the Center of the Earth from the USA. It stars James Mason and Pat Boone. This movie changes some things, like where the story starts.
1978: Viaje al centro de la Tierra from Spain. It stars Kenneth More.
1989: Journey to the Center of the Earth kept only the title and general idea. It had a new story for teenagers.
2008: Journey to the Center of the Earth is a 3-D movie. It stars Brendan Fraser and Josh Hutcherson. This movie is a modern version of the book. It uses Verne's book as the reason for their adventure.
2008: Journey to the Center of the Earth was a movie released straight to DVD.

Television Shows

1967: An animated TV series called Journey to the Center of the Earth was shown on ABC.
1977: A TV special called A Journey to the Center of the Earth aired on CBS.
1993: NBC aired a TV movie version of Journey to the Center of the Earth.
1996: The Wishbone episode "Hot Diggety Dawg" followed the novel.
1999: The Hallmark Entertainment miniseries starred Treat Williams. This version was very different from Verne's original story.
2008: Journey to the Center of the Earth was an American-Canadian TV movie.
2012: The Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom episode "Journey to the Center of the Earth" refers to the novel.

Radio Shows

Several radio shows have been made by the BBC Home Service and BBC Radio 4.
National Public Radio also made a radio drama in 2000 for its series Radio Tales.

Theme Parks and Rides

A thrill ride based on the book, Journey to the Center of the Earth, is at The Mysterious Island section of Tokyo DisneySea's theme park.

Other Cool Stuff

Video games called Journey to the Center of the Earth were made in 1984, 1989, and 2003.
A board game based on the book was released in 2008.
Many audio recordings of the book have been released, read by famous actors like James Mason and Tim Curry.
A concept album called Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Rick Wakeman came out in 1974. It tells the story using songs and music.
The character Doctor Emmett Brown from the Back to the Future movies loved Jules Verne's books. He even tried to dig to the center of the Earth when he was twelve! His two sons are named Jules and Verne.
The DC Comics comic book series Warlord takes place in a land called Skartaris, which is inside a hollow earth. The creator said the name came from the mountain peak Scartaris in Journey to the Center of the Earth.