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Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #38
Wild West: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #10: Ghost Town at Sundown
Track the facts about cowboys, ghost towns, outlaws, and more!
When Jack and Annie came back from their adventure in Magic Tree House #10: Ghost Town at Sundown, they had lots of questions. What is a ghost town? Why do we call the Old West wild? What are cowboys? Who was Billy the Kid? Find out the answers to these questions and more as Jack and Annie track the facts about the American West.
Filled with up-to-date information, photographs, illustrations, and fun tidbits from Jack and Annie, the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers are perfect to find out more about the topics in Magic Tree House adventures.
When Jack and Annie came back from their adventure in Magic Tree House #10: Ghost Town at Sundown, they had lots of questions. What is a ghost town? Why do we call the Old West wild? What are cowboys? Who was Billy the Kid? Find out the answers to these questions and more as Jack and Annie track the facts about the American West.
Filled with up-to-date information, photographs, illustrations, and fun tidbits from Jack and Annie, the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers are perfect to find out more about the topics in Magic Tree House adventures.
128 pages, Paperback
Published January 2, 2018
About the author
Mary Pope Osborne
982 books2,399 followersMary Pope Osborne is an American author of children's books and audiobook narrator. She is best known as the author of the Magic Tree House series, which as of 2017 sold more than 134 million copies worldwide. Both the series and Osborne have won awards, including for Osborne's charitable efforts at promoting children's literacy. One of four children, Osborne moved around in her childhood before attending the University of North Carolina. Following college, Osborne traveled before moving to New York City. She somewhat spontaneously began to write, and her first book was published in 1982. She went on to write a variety of other children's and young adult books before starting the Magic Tree House series in 1992. Osborne's sister Natalie Pope Boyce has written several compendium books to the Magic Tree House series, sometimes with Osborne's husband Will Osborne.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 4, 2021
This goes with Ghost Town at Sundown. It gives facts, pictures and illustrations about the settlement of the west. I do wish it had touched more on Native Americans, but that's why it encourages kids to go and research more.
November 6, 2023
In 2018, Mary Pope Osborne and her sister Natalie Pope Boyce published Wild West. This book is a nonfiction research guide to the book entitled Ghost Town at Sundown by Mary Pope Osborne which was published in 1997. The first chapter is an introduction to the Wild West. The second chapter is on Native Americans. The third chapter is on pioneers. The fourth chapter is about the life of pioneers. The fifth chapter is about cowboys. Chapter six is about “lawmen and outlaws” (Osborne & Boyce 87-104). Chapter seven is about the “end of the Wild West” (Osborne & Boyce 105-111). The book was written with the advice of an educational advisor, and a historian advisor, and is also advised by a teacher of English. The book has wonderful black-and-white illustrations. The book has wonderful black-and-white photographs. The illustrator for this book was Iside Mones. The book has an index and a bibliography. Similar to the other books in the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers series, the book has a section on how to do more research for young readers about the Wild West. Osborne’s and Boyce’s introduction to Wild West should be read in combination with other books about the Wild West. Osborne’s and Boyce’s Wild West to some degree admires the pioneers so reading other books along with this book may provide information about other aspects of this complex time in American history.
May 20, 2019
Highly rated because it really appealed to its audience by:
1. Including information about the less than savory parts of the old West (how Native Americans were treated, how gun-happy/lawless it could be, etc.)
2. Still somehow redeeming the myth of the Old West despite the former point
3. Drawing a freaky looking grim reaper with an equally creepy legend to tell about it
Yes, point number 3 alone could sell this book, but I am grateful to the authors for attempting to balance out the book with actual information. I still don't know how they achieved point two, but I suspect it was with a cup of nostalgia and a dusting of vagueness.
1. Including information about the less than savory parts of the old West (how Native Americans were treated, how gun-happy/lawless it could be, etc.)
2. Still somehow redeeming the myth of the Old West despite the former point
3. Drawing a freaky looking grim reaper with an equally creepy legend to tell about it
Yes, point number 3 alone could sell this book, but I am grateful to the authors for attempting to balance out the book with actual information. I still don't know how they achieved point two, but I suspect it was with a cup of nostalgia and a dusting of vagueness.
June 5, 2021
A fact tracker to accompany the Magic Tree House #10, Ghost Towns at Sundown, this one has some great stuff on the Wild West. It does try to avoid the inherent pro-white settler, anti-Native bias inherent to most such books, but does not entirely succeed. Still, it was a good starting point for conversations about the settlement of the West.
March 31, 2018
I really liked this book because it's not fiction and I LOVE non-fiction books because they only tell you true facts and not opinions. I learned a lot about the Wild West from this book, my favorite thing I learned was
January 17, 2018
I did not like this book because I do not like magic tree house fact tracker books. I also didn't like this book because I liked the horses.
February 3, 2018
I like all the pictures and the stories about famous western figures the best. This also has a lot better formatting for the Kindle than some ones I’ve read previously.
November 6, 2019
Love the history, fun, interesting and just enough of one topic to speak your interest in learning more.
July 31, 2020
Cool facts
Amazing book! I learned a lot. I like the pioneer life chapter. It was cool - Allie, 6 years old
Amazing book! I learned a lot. I like the pioneer life chapter. It was cool - Allie, 6 years old
February 4, 2023
Really wish they'd do audiobooks of these (like they have with the novels). I don't mind reading the fact trackers to my kid, but...yeah.
November 2, 2023
Great homeschool resource.
July 16, 2024
This was a quick read. The drawings were nicely done.
October 16, 2024
This was a fun, informative book about the Wild West.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews