Pirates (Magic Tree House Research Guide, paper) [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Mary Pope Osborne (Author), Will Osborne (Illustrator), Sal Murdocca (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: A Stepping Stone Book(TM)

Magic Tree House Research Guides are now Magic Tree House Fact Trackers! Track the facts with Jack and Annie!
 
When Jack and Annie got back from their adventure in Magic Tree House #4: Pirates Past Noon, they had lots of questions. Did pirates really make people walk the plank? What was life like on a pirate ship? Is there any buried treasure around today? Argh! How do you talk like a pirate? Find out the answers to these questions and more as Jack and Annie track the facts. Filled with up-to-date information, photos, illustrations, and fun tidbits from Jack and Annie, the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers are the perfect way for kids to find out more about the topics they discovered in their favorite Magic Tree House adventures.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

What were pirates really like? How did people become pirates? Where did pirates bury their treasure?
Dig up the answers to these questions and more in Magic Tree House Research Guide #4: Pirates, Jack and Annie?s very own guide to pirates. Includes information onpirate flags, pirate treasure, real-life pirates, walking the plank, and much more!

About the Author

WILL OSBORNE and MARY POPE OSBORNE have been married for a number of years and live in northwestern Connecticut with their three dogs, Joey, Mr. Bezo, and Little Bear.
 
Mary is the author of over one hundred books for children, including novels, picture books, biographies, and retellings of fairy tales and world mythologies. Will has worked for many years in the theater as an actor, director, and playwright. Together he and Mary have coauthored two books of Greek mythology and eight Magic Tree House® Fact Trackers. Will has also written a multimedia planetarium show, Magic Tree House Space Mission, and is cocreator with Randy Courts of Magic Tree House: The Musical, a full-scale Broadway-style family musical based on Christmas in Camelot.
 
SAL MURDOCCA has illustrated more than 200 children's trade and text books. He is also a librettist for children's opera, a video artist, an avid runner, hiker, and bicyclist, and a teacher of children's illustration at the Parsons School of Design. Sal lives and works in New York with his wife, Nancy.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers; 1st edition (May 22, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375802991
• ISBN-13: 978-0375802997
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Explore the World > Other
  • #9 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Obsessions > Pirates

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An accurate description of the life of a pirate and some of the more famous ones, January 5, 2008

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Pirates (Magic Tree House Research Guide) (Paperback)

My wife's children are fascinated by the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies. They reflect the role that pirates have taken in the popular and entertainment media. However, the true story of the pirate lifestyle generally bears little resemblance to how it is portrayed. This book, a work of nonfiction, serves to present the facts regarding pirates. Written for children, the style is appropriate for the late elementary and early middle school student.
The lives of the most famous pirates are described, as well as the difference between a pirate, a privateer and a buccaneer. A privateer was a free-lance robber, operating under the orders of a government. When a nation went to war with another and had no navy, they would hand out "letters of marquee" to ship captains, which gave them permission to attack ships belonging to the opposing nation(s). Buccaneers were criminals who traveled to islands in the Caribbean and settled there. Generally, they left everyone alone until the Spanish rulers tried to drive them from their homes. Their response was to attack Spanish shipping.
This is a book that gives an accurate historical account of what pirates did. It is also clear that pirates rarely buried their treasure, as the whole point was to capture booty so that they could spend it. Many times, what was captured from one ship was enough, even after being parceled out to the entire crew, to allow a man to live for life. Given this, the idea that the crew would bury it is absurd.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really Good!, April 16, 2005

By 

Lynn Ellingwood "The ESOL Teacher" (Webster, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pirates (Magic Tree House Research Guide, paper) (Paperback)

I personally far prefer the non-fiction companions to the Magic Tree House Books. The Magic Tree House books don't seem to have a lot of "meat" to them and aren't very interesting to me or many of my (...) grade students. The non-fiction companions are truly absorbing and interesting. I enjoy them quite a bit and look forward to getting more for my students, and forgeting the fiction books altogether.

5.0 out of 5 stars AWESOME BOOK!!!!, April 29, 2010

By 

Mastercard "TABSTOY" (Benton Harbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pirates (Magic Tree House Research Guide, paper) (Paperback)

MY SON AND I LOVE THIS BOOK AND ALL THE MAGIC TREE HOUSE BOOKS ~ A MUST BUY FOR KIDS!!