Will Osborne (1)

Is there any series of books that I more strongly recommend to the good readers at my primary school than Magic Tree House? And why is this my first venture into the research guides to the series? I don’t know why, but I intend to read more and promote these more. Every piece of information that an eight-year-old would want to know about pirates is in this book. And listen to this piece of advice in the Doing More Research section at the back of the book: “Here are some things to show more remember when you’re using books for research: You don’t have to read the whole book.” Wow. Refreshing. Well, this may be my new most-recommended nonfiction series for good readers. show less

I have never known the truth about the Titanic and this book helped me to find out things that I did not know. There are a lot of unanswered questions about what happened to the Titanic. For example, Why did the Titanic sink? One thing that I liked about this book is that although it is a chapter book it has facts and pictures throughout the book that help to break up the text. For instance, on the first couple of pages it gives a fact that the Titanic was as big as three football fields and show more as tall as a 11 story building. These are facts that can help a reader to get in the mindset of the book and thinking about what they are reading. This book is very well put together because it includes a lot of information and pictures that are very descriptive. There are sidebar notes from Jack and Annie that explain different facts in the book that may be confusing. Having two children to follow through out the book makes the book more relatable for children. This book can be a great book for a child that is transitioning from easy chapter books or picture book into chapter books with more words. A child could also use this book if they were doing a report. This book has all of the components that can capture a child's attention when reading a chapter book. In the back of the book there was also an index that allows a child to search the back of the book and find where the information can located. This book was entertaining for me being an adult so I know that children enjoy this book. I learned a lot from it and would read another book from the Magic Tree House. Overall, this was a wonderful book. show less

I like this book for 3 reasons. First, as a nonfiction companion to an actual Magic Tree House adventure, this book is informational, but it reads like a story. It introduces a lot of unknown facts and is very interesting even for adults. Second, this is a transitional chapter book with illustrations and photographs breaking up the text. The book is visually pleasing, not overwhelming, and has a great combination of text features throughout the book. This includes: Jack and Annie’s heads show more on the sides of the pages giving explanations or definitions; chapter headings and subheadings; maps of the inside of the ship with labels or the route of the ship; diagrams to aid understanding; “fact files” to answer questions and misconceptions; and a “Titanic Timetable” to sum up all of the events. Third, this book is written in a way that children can relate. It is not too sad or serious for children to read. It highlights real passengers and heroes on the Titanic, and stops to summarize at different points in the story to ensure that children are following the content. Overall, the big picture of this book is to teach about the Titanic. show less

I love how the illustrations help show the reader what the armor and castles (etc.) looked like. It can be hard to read so much new information without previous knowledge so it's nice to have the pictures. The margin notes show a great model of what margin notes can do in research and your own work. I learned a lot reading this book and I now want to read the rest of the magic tree house books (fiction and non-fiction).