Pirates: A Nonfiction Companion to Pirates Past Noon

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 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.

Pirates, by Will Osborne and Mary Pope Osborne, is an informational text, written to educate students. The Osbornes started with the Magic Tree House series which is another tale to tell but this book ties into that series. After they write a book they then write another book that shows the facts of the first. I love these books and read many as a kid. One of my favorite parts of this text would have to be the pictures and diagrams. The reading is great and really interesting, but for a young child these images really pull everything they read together. The illustrations are also neat because they alone show a huge amount of history. The next best thing in this text was the characters. In the Magic TreeHouse two characters go back in show more time each book, the author brought these characters into the informational text to help explain ideas. This is awesome because kids can relate to their favorite characters while reading allowing for even better learning. The last thing I like is the writing; for an informational text the sentences are descriptive, informative, educational, and easy to read. This is an all around great book for kids, and an even better series. The big idea is to educate and entertain children. show less

Title: Pirates (Magic Tree House, Research Guide)
Authors: Will and Mary Pope Osborne
Book review by: Elle Brackett

This book is great for people that like adventures. The characters in this book Jack and Annie have just got back from their adventure with Captain Bones. When they returned home they started have questions about pirates; why did people become pirates and what was it like to be a pirate? In order to answer their questions they dove into the books. They also extended their research on the internet and finding pictures and stories about famous pirates. In this book they share the research they found about pirates.

I think this is a great book to encourage children to find answers to their questions. It may be easier to ask as show more teacher and let them do the research, but these kids wanted to find out for them selves. I think that is a great way to learn!

Through out the course of this book the characters Jack and Annie share short facts about pirates in the margins as if they are talking directly to the viewer of the book. Half way through the book Jack and Annie combine what they have learned about pirates in a creative and artistic way. They put together a short book that included stories of pirates and drawings to accompany them. show less

3009816

910.4

Companion to Pirates Past Noon