Hour of the Olympics

Yet another blast from the past for me: Hour of the Olympics by Mary Pope Osborne is a sweet, middle grade read.

This historical series makes learning fun and interesting in a fictional way. Don't enjoy non-fiction books but still want to learn? This series can help your middle grade readers! This book does focus on girls and women in Greece and how they weren't allowed many options to learn or participate in events. I think this is an interesting way to bring this up to young readers.

I wouldn't recommend jumping in with this book. It's not the best story out of all of the ones I've read so far but it is good as part of a series.

Overall, this is a good middle grade book!

Two out of five stars.

Hour of Olympics (The Magic Tree House #16) – By Mary Pope Osborne (Chapter Book)

I really enjoyed the book Hour of Olympics, by Mary Pope Osborne for a couple reasons. The first reason is that the text flows easily and is a more difficult read but uses vocabulary that is understandable to a fourth grader. The second reason is that the book introduces a history lesson about Ancient Greece. I have not read any other Magic Tree House books but I can infer that they all have an educational tone to them. The third reason is that it brings up different places in the world and the exploration and curiosity about different places and cultures. Finally, the book ends on a different educational note by introducing the idea of constellations to show more the audience. Throughout the story, Jack and Annie go on missions to save books directed by Morgan Le Fay. In Chapter One, they are sent to Ancient Greece through the magic tree house where Jack pointed at the book with a picture of Ancient Greece on it and said I wish to go there. This book explores Ancient Greece in a way that makes learning about history fun and exciting to children. The book also brings up the idea of gender roles because in Ancient Greece, women were not allowed to act; therefore men played the female and male roles. This book is part of an excellent educational series. show less

This is a great book! It was wonderful for exploring the concepts of past versus present and gender equality. It is very obviously geared towards younger elementary aged students.

Another thrilling adventure in the Magic Tree House collection. This time, Annie and Jack travel to Ancient Greece. They meet Plato, and learn all about the Olympic games, poetry, mythology, etc. Annie also asserts herself and shows that women can do things too, although they are not allowed to during this time. I would recommend this book to readers who are just starting out, up to the 4th grade level.

This book is a great read for elementary aged kids. It has loads of adventure and suspense with black and white illustrations every few pages of each chapter. it starts out with siblings Jack and Annie, residents of Pennsylvania, who wonder to their secret spot-their magic treehouse. In the past series (prologue) they typically go to this special place before sunrise and after their parents are asleep or busy with other tasks. They discovered this treehouse being full of books, and the most important one of all was magic. In this magic book all they would need to do to travel to a foreign world is to say, "I wish I were (place they wished to go)" and it would magically transport them to their destination. This time, it was Ancient show more Greece. They instantly arrived in Ancient Greece wearing a tunic and sandals, fitting for their new setting. The Olympic games were starting and girls were no place for these such games. There they were introduced to Plato, who befriended them and explained what was going on. After learning girls could not attend the Olympics, Annie had other ideas. She took armor from the theatre and dressed as a soldier in the game. After the crowd realized it was a girl, Annie became in great danger. Thankfully, a white flying horse (Pegasus) rescued Annie and Jack and brought them back to the treehouse where they were safe again. 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!

This book begs the question "Why doesn't anyone ever notice that even though they've got new clothes on, Jack and Annie never change their hair or Jack's glasses when they go back in time?" I'm getting pretty tired of watching Annie wander around in historical costumes with braids. Anyway, they go to Ancient Greece and see the olympics, but, of coarse Annie gets in trouble because she completely ignores the whole "no girls allowed" deal. They're saved by a pegasus and all is well.