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Questions about the sinking of the Titanic are answered in this companion to Tonight on the Titanic. This resource includes information on the people who sailed on the Titanic, life on board the ship, and artifacts today. Illustrations.

Library Binding

First published August 1, 2002

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Will Osborne

31 books29 followers

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5 stars
1,247 (56%)
4 stars
504 (22%)
3 stars
303 (13%)
2 stars
88 (4%)
1 star
57 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 123 reviews
Profile Image for Rick Silva.
Author 12 books74 followers
November 5, 2015
Magic Treehouse also does nonfiction. This is my son's latest find from his school library. He's been enjoying the Magic Treehouse series, and he's got an interest in the story of the Titanic.

I thought this was a nicely paced book for a young reader. It had enough detail that I learned some facts from it, but yet never felt wordy or overwhelming. While written with a young audience in mind, it does not sugarcoat the tragedy of the Titanic.

I was reading the book out loud, and I particularly liked the asides in the voices of the two main Magic Treehouse characters, Jack and Annie. It gave my son a connection to the book, and allowed for some variation in the pacing and voice when reading out loud. I do wish that more effort had been made to bring out Jack and Annie's individual personalities, though. I found their bits to be somewhat interchangeable.

Unlike a lot of the kids nonfiction out there (Eyewitness Books, I'm looking at you), this book does not dazzle the reader with digitally-generated full-color graphics. It does have a very good selection of black and white illustrations, along with some maps and diagrams, and there are special sections at the ends of some chapters that use illustrations to accompany profiles of Titanic passengers and heroes.

While hardly a comprehensive account of the sinking of the Titanic, this is a great starting point that should hold the interest of young readers. It certainly held the interest of mine.
Profile Image for ••• Emilee •••.
301 reviews5 followers
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November 7, 2022
I can’t rate this because as an adult it was so freaking boring even though it’s short but as a kid I would’ve loved it! I probably did love it. I read the Magic Treehouse books all the time back in the day.

Why do I keep reading baby books as an adult
Profile Image for Lindy.
33 reviews5 followers
August 24, 2012
It's a very good book, and I learned so much what really happened to the so called "Unsinkable" ship "Tatanic". They could have avoid the icebergs if the message was sent saying that 'icebergs ahead' was received by the wireless operator to relay it to the "bridge"......is( where the captain and his officer steer the ship). Apparently, the crow's nest (is a lookout station high above the top deck of a ship) who saw the icebergs send a message to the bridge, but the operator didn't get it,since they have a problem with their wireless messages that afternoon. It was fixed by night, but the messages from the passenger that morning was filed up, so the message from the crow's nest was at the bottom. How sad,just a simple mistake, and has to pay a big prize...
Profile Image for Sarah.
478 reviews21 followers
December 6, 2018
Megan found this book at her school library and wanted me to read it out loud to her. She also read most of it on her own before I read it. I've never really researched the Titanic and my knowledge is basically from the 1997 movie, so I actually learned a decent amount. It is not comprehensive by any means, but it's a great starting point for kids. Megan is now hooked on reading more books about the Titanic. Jared was somewhat interested, but he wasn't nearly as excited to read it as Megan.

I've never read any Magic Tree House books, and I still don't feel like I have. This is purely non-fiction and doesn't put you in the Magic Tree House world at all, but I didn't mind. I only cared about the facts anyway.
Profile Image for Alex.
708 reviews
March 25, 2018
I didn't like this book because I don't like fact trackers. I also didn't like this book because I didn't like the part when it told me that the Titanic actually hit a ice berg.
Profile Image for Neva.
53 reviews1 follower
January 12, 2020
this book has so much information in it. is is amazing.
Profile Image for ☆ jodie.
47 reviews
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February 22, 2023
a reread after years! dug up this book after watching titanic in theatres bc i felt nostalgic. i read this back when i was like 8/9 and i was so fascinated w the titanic
52 reviews4 followers
September 28, 2016
1) This book is an awesome book for avid History readers in the classroom! It is a chapter book, however it has very few words on each page, and also includes many pictures and fun facts on almost every page. Some of the pages include pictures of what the ship looked like inside and where everyone slept. The book tells all of the following with great detail: how the Titanic was built, the day it first set sail, how life was on the Titanic, how they ran into an iceberg and had to make sure everyone was accounted for, how some were jumping into lifeboats and some did not survive, how the ones that did survive were rescued, and finally finding the Titanic after it had sunk. I know this topic always interested me, so I feel as if this book would have the students intrigued to know more about it, especially since it really happened!
2) Age Level: 7-10 years old, Grade Level: 2nd-5th grade
3) Appropriate classroom use of this book could be used in History to give students a real glimpse of what life was like on the Titanic.
4) Individual students who might benefit from reading this book would be students that love History, or just want to know the details and what really happened with the Titanic.
5) Small group use of this book could be to make a front page of a newspaper showing in the news how the Titanic sunk, and each group personalize it.
6) Whole class use of this book could be to read the book together as a class, and could even tie into a science lesson with asking students different objects and at which they would sink or float if placed in water, and maybe even do some demonstrations, therefore they could understand why the Titanic sunk when it was struck by the iceberg.
7) Related Books: Tonight on the Titanic, Twister on a Tuesday, and all of the other Magic Treehouse series
8) There is a Kindle version of this book available on amazon. There is also a movie about the Titanic, but I don't think it would be appropriate to show in elementary school. However, there are kid friendly YouTube videos with facts about the Titanic that could be shown in class.
Profile Image for Reggie Overton.
39 reviews1 follower
November 26, 2014
The Magic Tree House series is best known for its great research approach to educating our young readers on an array of subjects and facts. This book focuses on the sinking of the Titanic and the events that took place April 15, 1912 on an extremely cold night in the midst of the Atlantic Ocean. We all have come to know and love the story of the Titanic and this book provides a great resource for young people to develop ideas, get questions answered, and learn facts to where and why things spiraled out of control during the sinking of the "unsinkable". The book is soft carver and filled with various black and white magic tree house illustrations. I would recommend this book to any curious George who wants to learn even more on the Titanic story.
Profile Image for Josiah.
225 reviews
November 29, 2020
Brief, but incredibly awesome nonfiction information about the Titanic.
31 reviews
November 23, 2024
Titanic: A Non-Fiction Companion to Tonight on the Titanic Magic Tree House Research Guide by Will Osbourne and Mary Pope Osbourne informs readers about all things Titanic, including the creation/design of the ship, its voyage, passengers, and the lessons ship designers learned after its sinking in 1912. I enjoyed this book as I have always found the story of the Titanic fascinating. Even though this book is a chapter book, it contains black-and-white illustrations on each page. It also includes unique, authentic images of the Titanic and the artifacts left behind, which helps readers picture and understand what they are reading. I recommend this book for fourth to fifth grade as it contains high-level vocabulary that is more appropriate for upper grades. This book includes multiple “Titanic Fact Files” that highlight specific aspects of the story of the Titanic and provide additional factual information, which is neat. It also includes many maps to help students understand the distance of the original voyage and how close other ships were to the Titanic. I would use this book in my classroom as something similar to a “book club” where we discuss each chapter. I would also include various activities such as a ship-building experiment, conducting a personal study on one of the people who boarded the Titanic, or developing a safety plan for what ships could do when they get close to danger or are about to sink. This book includes many links to online websites and similar texts that students can explore as well.
Profile Image for Kelsey Rice.
46 reviews
November 27, 2018
This book was all about the Titanic. Facts, Pictures, and all sorts of information made this book so interesting. It talked about before the accident and after. I loved this book! I usually do not like historical fiction books but I thought this book was so interesting. I liked how the book contained many pictures of the actual items and people on the ship. I also liked how the ship was labeled in detail. This book could be taught in many different ways. I think the main way it could be used to teach is when talking about the Titanic or ships in general. I also think it could be used to research the people on the Titanic. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this fact filled book. and would definitely include it in my classroom library.
Profile Image for Kara Burks.
26 reviews
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December 14, 2019
This research guide pairs along with the Magic Treehouse book "Tonight on the Titanic". The Titanic and the Holocaust were two events in history that always fascinated me so I read this book by itself as I didn't care about the fantasy version Jack and Annie had to present in "Tonight on the Titanic". This book is full of facts about the Titanic but presented in a way that young children can grasp. I would highly recommend this book for any child who has already read "Tonight on the Titanic" as well as any student who is interested to learn more about the Titanic than what is usually given. This book is short, and engaging and gives students the background knowledge they need in order to fully understand fantasy versions of books like "Tonight on the Titanic".
Profile Image for Megan.
46 reviews
December 6, 2018
Titanic all started when I saw National Geographic Kids Titanic book on the school reading iPad, and so I finished it and then I found this book at the school library and then I wanted my mom to read it to me. So when she was three chapters in, at night I finished it by reading it in bed. So then I got obsessed with Titanic.

It taught me a lot and they got taught a lesson because of Titanic that all ships should have the planned number of lifeboats. Sixty years after it sank, people in a submarine found Titanic's shipwreck. I am so obsessed with Titanic that I gave it five stars.
1 review1 follower
Read
September 20, 2019
The book Titanic is about how the ship was built and the features about the ship. The theme is that anything that you should always have the right amount of procedures and precautions. Another theme is anything being built can be broken. I learned that for major events there should be precautions taken and slaking off on a dangerous job can lead to bad things. I enjoyed I like to learn about catastrophic events. I would recommend this to people who like to learn about details in important events. author Will Osborne and title titanic.
Profile Image for Kaleigh Langlan.
262 reviews1 follower
July 11, 2024
Once again, I absolutely love the Magic Tree House books! I love that I used this opportunity for a quick read to take a deep dive into these books from my childhood!! This book was a bunch of facts about the Titanic, focusing more on the numbers than the story of the disaster! It was really informative! I love the use of actual photographs mixed in with their artwork. It was amazing actually seeing some of the passengers! Great story, 10000/10 would recommend taking a break from adult novels to read a children's book periodically!!
651 reviews7 followers
April 17, 2020
***WARNING FOR PARENTS*** SCREEN BEFORE GIVING TO KIDS
I read this with my 5 year old nephew. The information was great, but there were graphic descriptions of the terror and tragedy. It has an entire page talking about the screams of the people in the water, and how the survivors knew the silence that followed meant their loved ones were dead.
34 reviews
October 21, 2023
It is so good I would recommend this for you if you like magic tree house you will like this book and if you like to read the titanic and learning about the titanic you will like this book it is so good you will love it please read this if you are a kid and if you like fantasy you will like this book.
Please read this book and a magic tree house book.
Profile Image for Haley Crawford.
52 reviews1 follower
May 15, 2025
The Titanic was a great big ship to hold all those people and I’m sad that they died. It is really sad and I am not happy for them. I’m happy for the people that survived and I hope the people that died had a long life and I bet they had a good life before they died. I love the story of the titanic but it is very sad. -Charlotte
Profile Image for Manoshi.
227 reviews
August 24, 2018
I have always enjoyed reading Mary Pope Osborne's books and this was no exception. I read very few of her fact trackers because I just couldn't stop reading the Magic Tree House series as a child. But I saw this on Libby and I love learning about the Titanic and it was a very fast and good read!
Profile Image for Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman.
285 reviews9 followers
January 12, 2019
Cleared the Bookshelf today. Got this years ago for one of my girls, who was really into anything Titanic. Lots of interesting facts about the ship, the passengers, the crew, the cargo, and what happened that fateful night. A good read. It is probably best for middle school readers.
Profile Image for Kristen Griffis.
119 reviews
August 1, 2024
First chapter book that JJ and I read aloud together! ❤️

This was such an interesting book with facts that I had never heard. The pictures along with the text were helpful to keep my 5yo engaged. We will be reading many more Magic Treehouse Fact Tracker books!
Profile Image for Emilie E Smith.
1 review
February 11, 2018
Its a great story

I led everything about it
You should get this book at every library
It need a movie about how it sank
Profile Image for Donna.
99 reviews10 followers
March 15, 2018
I read this with my children as we prepare to host a class on the sinking of the Titanic. Lots of good information and easy to digest.
Profile Image for Grace.
10 reviews10 followers
May 26, 2018
nice graphs and charts.
1,200 reviews
September 14, 2018
Very interesting book. I love the balanced way they tell the story of the Titanic. I learned a lot of things I didn’t know before.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 123 reviews

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