Sharks and Other Predators: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #53: Shadow of the Shark

Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #32

by Mary Pope Osborne, Natalie Pope Boyce, Carlo Molinari (Illustrator)

The #1 bestselling chapter book series of all time celebrates 25 years with new covers and a new, easy-to-use numbering system! Getting the facts behind the fiction has never looked better. Track the facts with Jack and Annie!!
 
When Jack and Annie came back from their adventure in Magic Tree House Merlin Mission #25: Shadow of the Shark, they had lots of questions. How many teeth do sharks have? What is their favorite food? What are some other top predators? How do they keep life in balance? Find out the answers to these questions and more as Jack and Annie track the facts about sharks and other predators.
 
Filled with up-to-date information, photographs, illustrations, and fun tidbits from Jack and Annie, the nonfiction Magic Tree House Fact Trackers are the perfect way for kids to find out more about the topics they discover 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.
 
Did you know that there’s a Magic Tree House book for every kid?

Magic Tree Adventures with Jack and Annie, perfect for readers who are just beginning chapter books
Merlin More challenging adventures for the experienced reader
Super A longer and more dangerous adventure
Fact Nonfiction companions to your favorite Magic Tree House adventures

Have more fun with Jack and Annie at MagicTreeHouse.com!

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Childrens, Science

128 pages, Library Binding

First published June 23, 2015

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

[Marya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sharks are amazing predators. And the two chapters on sharks clearly show their amazing superpowers (super senses, etc.). But then they move on to other predators. Sure, you can say that cats are the ultimate predator, but by the time you get to the dog group chapter, there's really nothing you can say to top the sharks from the beginning. I guess dogs are just naturally underwhelming.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 2015, Mary Pope Osborne and her sister Natalie Pope Boyce published Sharks and Other Predators. This book is a nonfiction research guide to the book entitled Shadow of the Shark by Mary Pope Osborne which was published in 2015. The first chapter is an introduction to the concept of predators. The second chapter and third chapters are on sharks. The fourth chapter is on cat predators. The fifth chapter is on dog predators. Chapter six is on “Apex Predators” (Osborne & Boyce 87-102). “Apex Predators” are predators that are top predators in the ecosystem. There is not a predator that feeds on them in the ecosystem (Osborne & Boyce 20). The last chapter is an introduction to the role of animal predators in an ecosystem. The book has wonderful black-and-white illustrations. The book has wonderful black-and-white photographs. The illustrator for this book was Carlo Molinari. The book has an index. 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 predators in the Animal Kingdom. The book was written with the advice of a biologist consultant and an educational advisor. Osborne’s and Boyce’s book is a well-done introduction to the concept of predators in the Animal Kingdom.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to sharks and big cats, as well as canine predators. Plenty of photos and drawings as well as plenty of further resources. Goes with Shadow of the Shark

[Sindy Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Students in my class were all fascinated at first in the first couple chapters. Sadly towards the middle end of the book they didn't like it. They including my self wanted more shark chapters. The title and cover is a grab getter! Should of known to read the small print. Overall an ok read.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Fact Tracker about sharks and other predators (including great cats and canids) - this book does an excellent job of explaining to kids that predators are necessary to their ecosystems, and that the removal of a predator from an ecosystem can cause great damage to it.

[Marissa77 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but scary.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good information about sharks and other predators and about how food chains and ecosystems work. I love these books.

[blueygurl2016 · Rating 2 out of 5]

The chapters about sharks were really interesting but the rest of it was meh. The cat chapter has been done before in another Fact Tracker and the wolf part had misinformation. Wolves don’t have alphas. It was like they couldn’t find enough information about sharks so they decided to throw in other predators too. At least the narwhal book was actually about narwhals and whales. I don’t know, the other predators just seemed really random to me.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken]

I think sharks are pretty awesome. So does Eleanor. This was a neat book that discussed many kinds of predators and we learned lots of new facts.

[Selah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plenty of interesting info, although explaining to my 11 year old that marriage is a human concept, and that animals who do not mate for life aren't immoral, was a bit of an unexpected conversation. 😆 He doesn't struggle with understanding that predators aren't murderers, so I'm not sure where the disconnect came from . . .