Ancient Greece and the Olympics

Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #10

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

A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #16: Hour of the Olympics

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 #16: Hour of the Olympics, they had lots of questions. What did the ancient Greeks wear? What did they do for fun? Where were the very first Olympics held? How are our modern Olympics similar to the ancient Olympics? 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: History, Nonfiction, Childrens, Chapter Books, Greece, Sports, Historical

119 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

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

[Charissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my most favorite fact-trackers from the MTH series! It is very informative and I learned a lot of things. My mom bought it to me when I was seven years old and at that time I wasn't interested in mythologies. But now, thanks to Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, I became interested in mythologies, mostly in Greek and when I read this, I almost knew everything in it!

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this book because I don't like fact trackers. I enjoyed this book because I like Magic Tree House Books.

[Aneesa]

Wow wasn't ancient Greece great? The Athenians were so smart and innovative and loved art!

Women were hardly allowed to leave their rooms and the city was 50% slaves.

[Lierin Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love learning about ancient Greece and this book had so many interesting facts and details. this is a great companion to Hour of the Olympics because it goes into greater detail of events and day-to-day life in Greece. At the end of the book, the author invites you to do further research and gives multiple reference points, which I think is awesome for kids to further explore.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked lerning about Anchen Greser.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hour of the Olympics is the volume this goes with. It gives a brief insight into life in ancient Greece, and a brief introduction to what the Olympics were. As with the others, this is a good starting point with a good list of other books, websites, dvds and museums.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like other books in this nonfiction companion series- this was a very approachable and kid-friendly look at life in Ancient Greece, Athens and Sparta, and some of their contributions to modern culture, mainly, the Olympics.

*Avoids nudity, which can be difficult in a book about Ancient Greece.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fact Tracker for Ancient Greece and the Olympics - Kind of a big subject for such a small book, but it is a reasonably good one for what it is - a companion to the story in which Jack & Annie visit the Olympic games in Ancient Greece!

[Keshia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had some cool information I didn't know about. I wish there was a little more about the ancient Olympics. That part was pretty fascinating!

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love all the facts about the ancient olympics. I love the olympics and I didn’t know a lot of them. These books are my favorite non-fiction books.

[Roman · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was good

[Tabitha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good information and learning some words in Greek.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of simple facts, this was a perfect, easy to read supplement to my 8 year old’s Greek History lessons!

[Nikhil Math]

This book was alright. I would not recommend it. I did not learn much that was interesting.
I am not too big into the Olympics, so maybe that is why I was not too into this book.

[Bernadette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this to Dominique as part of ber Ancient Greece Unit. She loved it!

[blueygurl2016 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty interesting book about Ancient Greece and the first Olympics.

[Hannah Barnette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to read for school…

[Maddie Baddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate when I’m forced to read a book. But anyways I wrote two pages worth of notes so it’s okay

[Δάσκαλος · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts that caught my interest:

1. In Athens, men usually did all the shopping. (p. 29)
2. Everyone wore a rectangular piece of cloth called a tunic. Men's tunic is called chitons, women's peplos. (p. 31)
3. Rich women wore makeup. Sometimes they put white powdered lead on their faces to look pale. (p. 32)
4. Schools in ancient Greece were just for boys. (p. 33)
5. When male visitors arrived, women and girls went into a separate room. (p. 35)
6. The Greeks believed olive trees were symbols of strength and peace. Olive trees can survive heavy winds and dry weather. (p. 38)
7. The Greeks cleaned their skin with olive oil and used it on their hair. (p. 39)
8. The Olympics began as a festival to honor Zeus. (p. 49)
9. Pentathlon: long jump, discus, javelin, running, and wrestling. (p. 65)

[Jeremy Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I had finished Hour of the Olympics I wasn't super impressed. While I thought the story did have some nice informative bits, I felt like the story wasn't really all that impressive. It was a bit shallow, so I must admit I was worried about the companion book. I'm happy to report that I really didn't need to worry. This book was actually really well done and I would say would be suitable for a slightly older audience than the story it was made to be a companion to.

I mean at the end of the day this is a summary of Greek history focused on the Olympics for kids. You're not going to get the depth you would at a intro to history for adults, but I don't know why you'd expect that here. I thought it did a good job laying the groundwork for both the history of Greece and the history of the Olympics. It even had a chapter about the modern Olympics.

So while I bought this as a companion to the fiction work, I would say I was far more impressed with this companion than I was with the book it was set to support. If your kids are cool with reading nonfiction I would say pick this up and skip the book. If not the book will cover some of the same stuff, but this is far more in depth on the history than Hour of the Olympics.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2004, Mary Pope Osborne and her sister Natalie Pope Boyce published the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers entitled Ancient Greece and the Olympics. This book is a nonfiction research guide to the book entitled Hour of the Olympics by Mary Pope Osborne which was published in 1998. Osborne’s and Boyce’s book is a well-done introduction to Ancient Greece which has three chapters on the Ancient Greek Olympics, with one brief chapter on the Modern Olympics. 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. Along with the Ancient Greek Olympics, the book covers daily life in Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Religion, and a general definition of Ancient Greece. 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 Ancient Greece. The book has an index and includes photo credits. The book had a scientific consultant. Osborne’s and Boyce’s Ancient Greece and the Olympics is a well-done introduction to Ancient Greece with a focus on Ancient Olympics.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always learn something new from these research guides- and they are a good companion to the novels. I use them to elaborate on the book during library book discussions.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another fantastic book in the series of Research Guides, companion books to the Magic Tree House stories. We have loved these books and read as many as we can get at our local library. Our oldest is fascinated with all things pertaining to ancient Greece, especially the mythology, so she was thrilled when we found this one. It provides lots of interesting information about anicent Greece as well as the Olympic games. We enjoyed reading this one together.

[Ladystyx · Rating 4 out of 5]

I and My Boys loved this series of books.

i will admit that I "missed" the age where they would have read the entire series.

I did find however the Research Guides to be my favorite part.

Chocked full of info. easily accessable and fun. we kept these long after rehoming the original books. to use in our HSing journey.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our school curriculum Story of the World (WONDERFUL) didn't offer a lot in the way of the Olympics in Ancient Greece, so we supplemanted with this book (the 2nd half only) and it was GREAT--for a reference book mind you. Then we had our own Olympics and ran races and made winners "wreaths" out of willow boughs. Fun.

[v'sreadingjourney · Rating 5 out of 5]

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Method: ebook

Rating: 5/5 stars

H rating: N/A

h rating: N/A

Drama: N/A

Thoughts: Love these books. So excited that they were available at the local library.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I liked this book alot. It was really cool telling me about some of the gods. I also liked it because it told me some of the things they do during the olimpics. It was really good.

[Chelle Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was our first time reading one of the MTH Research Guides. It was a fantastic supplement to our Ancient Greece studies. The book was full of great info. We will definitely read more of these guides.

[Marya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually, this was a pretty well written, condensed summary of what we mean when we say "Ancient Greece". Great job, Magic Tree House! Sadly, the Olympic part seemed to do nothing so much as make the audience squirm, wiggle, and romp. Maybe they felt the need to act out the scenes?

[Jonnathan Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book to read for several reasons! I loved MTH books. They were my favorite books to read. This books gives lots of information on the Greeks and their history.
I could use this book in my class when im talking about Greece or the Olympics!