Penguins and Antarctica

Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #18

by Mary Pope Osborne, Natalie Pope Boyce, Sal Murdocca (Illustrator)

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 #40: Eve of the Emperor Penguin, they had lots of questions. What do penguins eat? Why do they huddle together in groups? Who won the race to the South Pole? What happens at a research station in Antarctica? 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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Childrens, Chapter Books, Science, Middle Grade, Nature

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Mary 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.

Reviews

[theliterateleprechaun · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book for our holiday thinking it would give us a basic understanding of penguins before we toured the Bluff Cove Rookery on the Falkland Islands. I wasn't expecting this to be such an informative book. It provided much more information than I was expecting and will be coming home in my suitcase so that I can share it with my niece and nephew. It will be perfect for school reports!

[Pooja Banga · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 #40: Eve of the Emperor Penguin, they had lots of questions. What do penguins eat? Why do they huddle together in groups? Who won the race to the South Pole? What happens at a research station in Antarctica? 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.

[Anna Cavallo · Rating 4 out of 5]

resource and documentary information provided in the tree house series

Mary Pope Osborne

[Stephanie Littig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Magic Trehouse book, this one about penguins as the title suggests. I learn so much in these books, and tat knowledge I gain will trickle down to my students, hopefully getting them interested in reading these books. For instance, did you know penguins live in a huge group called rookeries? I sure did not! This also teaches us so much about Antarctic too, like famous Antarctica exploreres such as Captain James Cook and others. So much great information packed into these easy to read, short chapter books! I just love them so much!

[Shelby Rhoades · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary:
This book answers questions that Jack and Annie might have had after their adventure in Antarctica. It has great interesting information, fun photos, and little comments from Jack and Annie themselves.

My response:
I don't usually like non-fiction but I really enjoyed it. It was very interesting and the illustrations were great.

How I might use it:
This is a great addition for a kid who likes Magic Tree House books, or a kid who loves both fantasy and non-fiction books. It could also be used for a lesson on Arctic animals.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son still loves reading these together with me. Eve of the Emperor Penguin was a springboard into researching penguins, Antarctica, and the Arctic circle, and this book helped immensely. We went on Google maps and Google Earth and explored Antarctica, we watched videos on YouTube, were reading other non-fiction books, and we're waiting for DVDs we put on hold at our local library. I love it when he gets excited about a topic and wants to explore it further.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty cool guide to Eve of the Emperor Penguin. It has plenty of photos, and it has lots of extra research tips and lists of books, websites, dvds, museums and aquariums to learn more from. One question not even touched on- why is Antarctica so much colder than the Arctic????

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Other than the fact that this books says the world is millions of year old, this was very interesting. So many different facts about penguins and the environment they live in. It is fun to learn about new things.

[Laurel Pate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love learning about penguins and do really respect all the nations realizing how special Antarctica is and how we need to save it.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books and I love penguins so this was a great choice for me. I also loved the overview of expeditions to Antarctica and the South Pole. So interesting!

[Dillon An · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never knew these things!

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Does what it says on the tin - a Fact Tracker full of facts about penguins and Antarctica.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute book and it gives interesting facts about penguins and Antarcica. Love it!!!

[blueygurl2016 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good book about penguins and Antarctica. I didn’t know that people actually toured Antarctica. That’s neat.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

For children I would give this 5 stars. I am an adult and found interesting information in this book.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 2008, Mary Pope Osborne and her sister Natalie Pope Boyce published the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers entitled Penguins and Antarctica. This book is a nonfiction research guide to the book entitled Eve of the Emperor Penguin by Mary Pope Osborne which was published in 2008. Osborne’s and Boyce’s book is a well-done introduction to Antarctica. The book is focused on penguins and the exploration of Antarctica by explorers. The book covers the many different types of penguins that live in Antarctica. The book includes a part on Mount Erebus (Osborne & Boyce 94-95). The book also has a chapter on other animals of Antarctica besides Penguins (Osborne & Boyce 59-74). The book is for young readers. The book has wonderful black-and-white illustrations. The book has wonderful black-and-white photographs. The illustrator for this book was Sal Murdocca. 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 Antarctica. The book has an index and includes photo credits. The book was advised by an administrator at the Bronx Zoo and an educational adviser. I believe overall Osborne’s and Boyce’s Penguins and Antarctica is a well-done introduction to the animals of Antarctica along with the exploration of Antarctica.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

12/09: This is an excellent little research book. This is the first little book I've seen that looks at the efforts of both Amudsen and Scott and gives possible reasons why Amudsen succeeded and Scott did not: Amudsen used dogs for travel, fur for warmth and fresh seal meat (high in vitamin C) for food. Scott tried powered sleds that gave out, wool and cotton clothing that stayed wet and potted meat with no vitamin C, therefore getting scurvy, etc.

Amazon Book Description:
When Jack and Annie got back from their adventure in Magic Tree House #40: Eve of the Emperor Penguin, they had lots of questions. What do penguins eat? Why do they huddle together in groups? Who won the race to the South Pole? What happens at a research station in Antarctica? 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. And teachers can use Fact Trackers alongside their Magic Tree House fiction companions to meet common core text pairing needs.

[Dodo P · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found out that I really didn't know much about Antarctica going in and many of the facts blew my mind. How Antarctica got it's name and that it is actually the driest place on the Earth! (Let's face it, I figured ice=moisture). In Antartica, “calving” is NOT what you would think, but I think it is a sight I would LOVE to see! (Note: that is the first instance of calving you encounter in this book that I am referring to :D ).
I have always thought penguins to be simply amazing critters, I could watch them in the zoo for hours - what an unimaginable experience it would be to be able to watch them in their natural habitat. There were even facts that I didn’t know about them! The raincoat process is uber cool!
The Macaroni has to be the best looking, in my opinion, but the Emperor has definitely got an interesting procreation cycle, from mating to hatching.
All of the other creatures that live there are pretty fascinating as well; hmmm I may see an Antarctica Expedition being added to my personal growing “Bucket List”.

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked Penguins and Antarctica. It was really really interesting. The biggest iceberg is as big as New Jersey. No dogs can go on Antarctica and no country owns it because they signed a treaty. Penguins walk with eggs on their toes. Then the female goes to the sea to feed and when it comes back the male goes to feed in the sea until it hatches. It told all about Antarctica. The planes that go there land on skis instead of wheels and on snow instead of the runway. And sometimes they go away from their camp to go do research and it's dangerous. And some birds - nothing is frightening to them. And the only times that the penguins go on their belly is when they go downhill. The first people who were there, didn't know what penguins were. Whales eat penguins. Seals can dive over 1,000 feet. The leopard seal is a really big threat.

[Erin Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Penguins and Antarctica by: Mary Pope osborne & Natalie Pope Boyce (2008)-Informational

This book is the nonfiction companion to Mary Pope Osborne's fictional Eve of the Emperor Penguin part of the Magic Treehouse series. It discusses the south pole, Antarctica, penguins, other arctic animals, explorers and much more.

Themes: Exploration, Species, Geographic Formations

Teaching Options: This book would be a great resource to teach science to children either as a whole group or a resource in research. It also would be interesting to compare and contrast the information between this book and the fictional counterpart, in an English class.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

We read this book alongside Eve of the Emperor Penguin, so we got some scientific background on the area as we read the story. Our girls love penguins and our oldest was studying them in school at the same time, so it was a very interesting topic for us. We enjoy these Research Guides and read as many as we can.

[Christina Gagliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Magic Tree House research guides, which are the perfect level for my first and third graders. Problem is, my third grader only wants to do research online--and she now thinks she's too cool for "Jack and Annie,"-- so I am going to have to start investing in the e-book versions. Hopefully she'll accept Jack and Annie back into her life if she can access these educational and entertaining books in her preferred format. Is this really the kid who couldn't get enough of Blizzard of the Blue Moon and the Magic Treehouse musical just a couple of years ago?!

[L-Angelica Herrera-Vest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Penguins and Antarctica is a great supplement to Eve of the Emperor Penguin, written by Mary Pope Osborne. The book is filled with fun facts, photos, illustrations, and definitions related to penguins. The book is written in a way that would interest children because of the manner the information is presented. The interesting manner the different elements are presented makes it fun for children. This is a great book to put in your science bin or in your science area.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

-penguins, Antarctica
-http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/...
-ecosystems, food chain
-map Antarctica
-research the first journey/explorers to Antarctica
-research current science experiments
-http://www.edna.edu.au/edna/go/school...
-provide or have students find pictures, create a mini-movie of Antarctica using PhotoStory or equivalent

[Marya · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a great over view of Emperor Penguins and Antarctica! Penguins are funny looking birds anyway, and this fact guide keeps that light, airy, and comical tone.

Until it gets to the famous failed Antarctic trips. You'll find Scott AND Shakleton's journey listed here, as well as a pullout page on Mount Erebus throwing lava bombs. WTF? Are you TRYING to give my little ones nightmares?

[Gray Kemplin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This teaches you about penguins and Antarctica. I saw something funny on one of the pages, Jack and Annie were in a picture and Annie ran over to some penguins and she wanted to hug them but Jack said "Stop Annie, Don't touch!"

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken]

Eleanor says: I didn’t like this book as much as the others but it was okay. I didn’t like it as much because it wasn’t as interesting. One thing I did like was that it taught us about penguins. I love penguins. I want to have a penguin as a pet but I know that’s against the law.

[R · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED the series when I was a kid, and I still do! I would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy / adventure books!! :)

[Jane(Janelba) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good insight into Antarctica and penguins.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

resource and documentary information provided in the tree house series