American Revolution

Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #11

by Mary Pope Osborne, Natalie Pope Boyce, Sal Murdocca (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 got back from their adventure in Magic Tree House #22: Revolutionary War on Wednesday, they had lots of questions. What was it like to live in colonial times? Why did the stamp Act make the colonists so angry? Who were the Minutemen? What happened at the Boston Tea Party? 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.

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: History, Nonfiction, Childrens, Chapter Books, American Revolution, American History, School

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 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

[Emily Rosbottom]

Excellent history "lesson" for third or fourth graders. Margins give explanations on new vocabulary words and historic events. The few pictures are relevant and discriptive.

[Nevada Libert]

this book taught me alot about the american revoition and what happend, and how they fought england.

[Daniel]

history of the bells is near.

[Shelli]

Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Tree Series are always fantastic informative stories for young readers to get them excited about history and science. The non-fiction companion editions are a perfect accompaniment to take that excitement and reinforce it with even more depth of learning. A must have collection for every elementary classroom and library. Parents and students would love learning together as well!

[Jenny Clark]

As usual, good pictures bringing it to life, and pronunciation guides and definitions to make it accessible to most any age. It also has research tips, as well as a list of books, museums, battlegrounds, dvds, websites and cds to check out. This is the companion to Revolutionary War on Wednesday

[Becka Ramaglia]

The book is a nice wrap up after teaching the American Revolution. It reinforces concepts taught about causes leading up to and wars throughout the American Revolution. It does go very quick and even gives some room for study and growth.

[Colin]

A pretty good guide (for what it is - a book for young children!) to life in Colonial America, the causes of the American Revolution, and the tides of the Revolutionary War from Lexington & Concord to Yorktown to the Treaty of Paris.

[Rebekah Miller (This Beloved Home)]

Went through with Evie and Peter as a summer read in time for America’s 250th birthday! We’ve been looking forward to reading the Magic Treehouse series that has come highly recommended. We enjoyed this one and look forward to reading more!

[Mary]

I think this book gives a very good, age appropriate description of the Revolutionary War for elementary school age children. It would be a wonderful resource for teachers as a whole class read.

[Alex]

I enjoyed this book because I liked the part when it told me that the Minuteman statue is in Concord, Massachusetts. I also enjoyed this book because I liked the part when the Patriots won.

[Tara]

Fun to read a quick review of the American Revolution which is one of my favorite time periods to read about. As usual, I think Jack and Annie do a great job.

[Heidi]

My 10-year-old daughter said this was not very interesting and that she didn't learn anything new. I suggest What is the Declaration of Independence from the Who HQ series instead.

[Morgan Marquess]

Age: 6-10
You'll learn about why the war was fought and what it was like to be a member of one of the 13 original colonies.
Lexile: 600L

[Sky_reads]

I thought this book was great! This is the only book I actually liked of her's. It was a great way to learn about the American revolution. It was very detailed and had many pictures.

[Kevin almanza juarez]

It was good facts about the american revolutionary war but its ok.

[Shawna,first of her name,mother of kitties]

We use this for homeschooling purposes. It’s made for younger kids and very informative.

[Charly Troff (JustaReadingMama)]

I read this with my kids as we've been studying the revolution. We love Magic Tree House, so my kids really liked that it was Jack and Annie talking and it shares some great information.

[TinaYAN]

3.75 perfect history book for children.

[Laura]

A good introduction to the American Revolution for 3rd-5th graders.

[Katey Hite]

Really great book for kids to learn facts about the Revolutionary war, but also to learn names, dates, and vocabulary words.

[Kristen Griffis]

A little too complex for JJ, but he enjoyed learning about the Liberty Bell. 🔔

[Alex]

Fun and informative.

[Cognatious Thunk]

The unfortunate reality of using the same resource for more than one child is that it is often too easy for one and too difficult for the other. However, by adding in simpler bridge books for the one and more complex books for the other they both managed to make it through together, grumbling all the way. But don't be deterred by my grouchy offspring. This book lays a nice foundation of knowledge of the American Revolution and naturally pairs well with Revolutionary War on Wednesday, which both are enjoying a lot more. They have also both begrudgingly admitted that pairing nonfictional books with fictional novels, "makes sense," but that's about as ringing an endorsement as I can get for this one. However, one is now happily working their way through all of Jean Fritz's biographies, while the other enjoyed George Washington and the General's Dog and Valley Forge, so this one did its job of building the comprehensional groundwork.

[Dolly]

This is another informative book in the series of Research Guides, companion books to the Magic Tree House stories. This book is the companion book to Revolutionary War on Wednesday. We have loved these books and read as many as we can get at our local library.

This book focuses on life in colonial times in America in the mid-1700s, including what people wore, what they ate, the work they did, the education children received (or didn't) and, as the title suggests, it outlines the events that occurred prior to the American Revolutionary War through the years following the end of the fighting. It offers a lot of information, but also a lot of pictures, anecdotes, and interesting facts. The details are not overwhelming and it's a good way for children to get more background information after reading one of the Jack and Annie tales.

I think these books are great for elementary school-age children, especially if they are doing a report or want to learn more about a topic. It's a bit long to read all at one time, but we were fascinated by the topic and read it all in one night (not to mention the fact that the book is due at the library!) We really enjoyed reading it together.

[Peter]

In 2004, Mary Pope Osborne and her sister Natalie Pope Boyce published the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers entitled American Revolution. This book is a nonfiction research guide to the book entitled Revolutionary War by Mary Pope Osborne which was published in 2000. 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. This book has a timeline. 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 American Revolution.The book has a patriotic tone. Combining this book with other books about the American Revolution might be a good idea to balance the tone of the book might be a good idea. The book does not skip over the more troubling sides of colonial life, but I think balancing the book out with another book would be a good idea. Chapter Two is entitled “Life in the Colonies” (Osborne & Boyce 21-36). The book includes a recipe for colonial pudding called “Hasty Pudding.” The book has an index and includes photo credits. The book was advised by a historian and an educational adviser. I believe Osborne’s and Boyce’s American Revolution is a good book to read if one is feeling patriotic as an American on the Fourth of July.

[Jillian]

I was never a fan of Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House series simply because I was beyond that reading level by the time that series came out. When she started to write the research guides to go along with her books, however, I was interested. My interest in history was just starting to bloom, and so I bought these books. It is the perfect introduction to the American Revolution for young children. Pictures keep them interested, and little tidbits about life at that time are casually thrown in. The only flaw in this is that the intended audience won't really be interested in what happened in the Magic Tree House books until they're older. These books are a first grade teacher's dream of getting their students interested in Social Studies.

[Kathy]

AMERICAN REVOLUTION (MAGIC TREE HOUSE RESEARCH GUIDE #11)
by Mary Pope Osborne


The novel American Revolution was very well done. This book is a companion book to the Magic Tree House book #22 The American Revolutionary War on Wednesday. The Research Guide answers the questions that the characters had inquired about such as, What was life like in colonial times?, What is the Boston Tea Party?, Who are the signers of the Declaration of Independence?. The book not only explains each event but also shows illustrations as well as maps. At the end of the book the author gives great info on how to conduct more research on this time period.

I would recommend this book for any classroom who is learning about the Colonial Era.

[Silvermoss]

I really like how matter-of-fact she wrote the book. (As with most of the series.) I did find some new information in this book, that I had not encountered in others, nor at school, which is really nice. I also like how she has references and recommendations at the end of the book as well. It's a great book to get the gist of during the American Revolution. She did reference some influences of women, and made an important note about their role as well. I think this is a great book to read to children so they can learn more about it the subject, as an intro. :)

[Mel]

This book is for young elementary aged children and so I wasn't expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised. The authors were thorough. Most authors will give information on the snowballs thrown at the Brits in Boston which caused the Boston massacre, but very few will include what was in the snowballs.
Also, this book includes the other riders that were with Paul Revere and that they were able to continue their ride and warn the colonists as Paul Revere was held prisoner by the Brits.
By the time I finished I was pleasantly surprised. I would definitely recommend this book for students.

[Marya]

The American Revolution (like most wars) is a fairly complex topic which gets the airbrush treatment here. I'm not sure it would be possible to make it simple and short enough for children without that treatment. Still, I'm a bit curious as to why the authors included Mary Goddard and Phyllis Wheatley. It's not that these women are not important; it's just that they are unlikely to make the cut when kids are first presented with a just-the-highlights version of this history in grade school. Why include secondary characters that do not have parts in a stripped down narrative summary?