Civil War On Sunday

Civil War on Sunday
“Civil War on Sunday” is a Magic Treehouse book by Mary Pope Osborne. Young readers will enjoy this book as though it is for entertainment; however, the book is full of factual information. Jack and Annie’s adventure leads them to the battlefields of the Civil War this time. The language is descriptive to provide depth to the history incorporated and brings it to life. For example, when describing the clothes it says “Jack wore scratchy pants and a long sleeved shirt”. Another example is when they meet the nurse at the field hospital and she is described as “Her face was red and beaded with sweat. Her eyes looked terribly tired”. Jack keeps his field journal throughout the book and writes down key show more points. This is a great way to demonstrate to young readers note taking. Additionally, the writing is engaging and educational at the same time. When they are helping to rescue wounded soldiers, the story incorporates Clara Barton who was a well-known factual field nurse. The book incorporates small excerpts that Jack reads from his “Civil War Book” that gives the reader pieces of history. At the end of the book there is a list of “Facts for you and Jack” that gives five facts about the Civil War. In addition, the song “Tenting Tonight on the Old Campground” was a true song sung by Civil War soldiers. This is a fun song for young readers to learn. Finally, at the end of the book there is a paragraph concerning Clara Barton and drummer boys. It would be impossible for the reader to not enjoy this book and learn history at the same time! You have to love the talent of the Magic Treehouse Storybooks. The big idea is to entertain the reader while teaching some history of the Civil War. show less

I picked this book up expecting to feel brain cells dying as I read it. I was very wrong; I can see why my students enjoy this series so much. It's very well written (albeit extremely simplistic) and interesting. It was an extremely quick read and is educational, to boot!

I liked reading this chapter books for many reasons. The first reason I liked this book was because of the two main characters, Jack and Annie. They are brother and sister who do a lot of fun time traveling together. Annie is a very, curious, hardworking girl, who helped all of the injured and sick soldiers during the Civil War and I really liked that about her. The characters in the story, including all of the soldiers who were fighting in the Civil War were very believable. Another reason that I liked this story was because the book pushes readers to think about tough issues, like war and slavery and broadens reader's perspectives on the Civil War and when African Americans used to be used for slaves. Jack was talking to a soldier in show more the battlefield and told him that times would get better and eventually, slaves would be freed. The main theme of this book is adventure and Civil War. Jack and Annie go on lots of different adventures during the story, but they learn a lot of information about the Civil War and what it is like to fight in it. show less

Summary: In this book, Jack and Annie go back to the Civil War period. When they get there they help bring wounded soldiers off of the battlefield and they help care for them in the tents. While there, they meet the famous nurse Clara Barton who teaches them that no matter which side the wounded soldiers are on, they all deserve help. The children learn how important it is to have a positive attitude with the soldiers and they are given a list of what they must follow in order to help them out: be cheerful, give hope, and don’t give up. Eventually, they even realize that they have a relative on the battlefield who was a drummer boy and they help him out as well. The children do their best to send positive vibes to everyone on the show more battlefield and they realize that war is not a game that is depicted in video games or on television.

Review: This book teaches a valuable lesson about the importance of helping others. The children risked their lives going back to the Civil War period to help get wounded soldiers off of the battlefield. However, they realized that it did not matter which side the wounded soldiers were on because they really should be helping everyone out. At one point, Jack was trying to give hope to an African American soldier by telling him he will soon be reunited with his family. The soldier had to tell Jack that his whole family was sold away to slavery and he was fighting for his own freedom. This book is eye opening and shows the harsh realities of war. It shows how important it is to help everyone involved because innocent people were dying when both sides were just fighting for what they believed in. Overall, I thought this book did a great job depicting what the war was like and how important it is to help those who need it. show less

In my opinion this is a good book for children to read. It is historically accurate which is really important when young students are reading these books. This is the age where children are first learning about historical events. First impressions are important, so students first impressions of factual event stick with students. In this book, the first page of chapter 4 has an excerpt from a primary source account of the civil war. The font for this part is centered and bolded, this attracts readers attention and shows a difference between the fictional characters of the story and the factual content of history. I also liked how the front covers illustration realistically depicts outfits worn during the war. The characters, Jack and show more Annie, are dressed in clothes true to the time period, another important quality in historical fiction books. The moral of the story teaches the seriousness and importance of war. It shines light, in a developmentally appropriate way, on the struggles we went through as a nation. show less

Some of Jack's notebook notes at the beginning of this one actually made sense. For once Jack and Annie aren't in danger of losing their lives (probably because everyone around them is dying), so this book gets points for, well, being a better book in general than many of the ones prior. Jack and Annie go to the Civil War fighting in Virginia and meet up with Clara Barton. They take a turn at nursing and learn as they do so.

I really enjoyed reading this book with my fourth graders. It is very informative while also being an enjoyable read. It is a great way to introduce the difficult topics of the Civil War.