Llamas and the Andes: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #34: Late Lunch with Llamas

Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #43

by Mary Pope Osborne, Natalie Pope Boyce, Isidre Monés (Illustrations)

Track the facts about llamas and other animals of the Andes in this nonfiction companion to the bestselling Magic Tree House series!

When Jack and Annie came back from their adventure in Magic Tree House #34: Late Lunch with Llamas, they had lots of questions. Why do people raise llamas? What are llamas' closest relatives? How tall are the Andes mountains? What other animals live there? Find out the answers to these questions and more as Jack and Annie track the facts about llamas and the Andes.

Filled with up-to-date information, photographs, illustrations, and fun tidbits from Jack and Annie, the Fact Trackers are the perfect way for kids to find out more about the topics they discover in their favorite Magic Tree House adventures.

Did you know that there's a Magic Tree House book for every kid?
Magic Tree House: Adventures with Jack and Annie, perfect for readers who are just beginning chapter books
Merlin Missions: More challenging adventures for the experienced reader
Fact Trackers: Nonfiction companions to your favorite Magic Tree House adventures

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Childrens, Nature

128 pages, Paperback

Published July 7, 2020

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]

This was SO much more than promised!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book despite it being written for a younger reader. It prepared me for my journey to this magical part of the world and allowed me to quickly distinguish llamas from alpacas. It gave me a background on the Andes and the landscape and highlighted the wonderful Quecheuan people who inhabit this part of the world.

I heartily reccommend this book!

[Nathan Albright]

Admittedly, this is by no means a bad book. But more than is the case with most books, this book is a companion book that seems really random and scattered apart from its companion book. Now, I do not know much about the Magic Tree House series, but any book that deals with llamas and has dad joke puns is going to at least be a somewhat amusing book on some kind of level. And this is an amusing and informative book. The fact that it is a basic book is easy enough to tolerate since it is clearly meant for younger readers--and at a bit more than 100 pages this is far more ambitious of a volume than most books of its kind. It is just that the reader of this book is going to find a lot more than information about llamas, and indeed a lot less about llamas than one would expect, which makes me wonder how much llamas figure into the the Magic Tree House book that this is a companion to, if it has so much contextual information about non-llama things. This is a feature, not a problem, but it is a feature worth reflecting on if you are looking to read about llamas here.

In terms of its contents, this book contains six chapters. The first chapter looks at llamas and the Andes. This ends up being mostly about the Andes, including a fair amount of information about the various habits of the Andes, including cloud jungles. After this comes a chapter about llamas (2), only here it is not only about llamas but about the whole llama family, including the other more obscure members like guanacos and vicunas. This is followed by a chapter about other animals of the Andes (3), which again focuses on odd and quirky animals that children are likely to be interested in but that many adults re not likely to know at all. Even without knowing their role in a story they make for interesting things to read about. This is followed by a chapter on the Incas (4), which gives the reader some context about the notable empire and its ways--including its use of llamas as beasts of burden--and even about the Incas that remain in the area. After that comes a discussion of Manchu Picchu, which is a town made famous because of its state of preservation even if it was not a particularly large or important Inca settlement, about which much information about its artifacts and their history as well as the fact that it was thought to be another site for a while (5). Then the book closes with a look at the old and new (6), as well as a suggestion for further research, a bibliography, and an index.

One of the more interesting aspects of this book is the way that it deals with the subject of antiquities. One of the consistent problems of the world is the way that nations handle antiquities. In the case of the book, it talks about the fact that the author had permission from the Peruvian government to take some antiquities out of the country and show them at Yale, and yet Peru later made it a criminal offense to take antiquities out of the country and asked for the ones that it had permitted to leave back, which was done although it hardly seems necessary to have returned them given the fact that they were taken out with permission by someone who had discovered the city and brought it to the attention of the world to make it a lasting and famous site. In other countries the problem is even more hypocritical, as in Turkey, which has museums devoted to the antiquities it has pilfered from other countries like Israel and Iraq, even as it makes it a criminal offense for other nations to pilfer its own antiquities. Who knew that a late lunch with llamas could be so complicated, after all.

[Jenny Clark]

As with Narwhals and other whales, I love llamas so I enjoyed this alot. As usual, extra resources are listed at the back. This goes with Late Lunch with Llamas

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken]

Momma says: we love llamas.

Eleanor says: I love llamas so so so so much. I think they’re my favorite well second favorite animal.

[Peter]

In 2020, Mary Pope Osborne and her sister Natalie Pope Boyce published Llamas and the Andes. This book is a nonfiction research guide to the book entitled Late Lunch with Llamas by Mary Pope Osborne which was published in 2020. The book was written with the advice of a biologist, an anthropologist, and an educational advisor. The book has wonderful black-and-white illustrations, including a map. The book has wonderful black-and-white photographs. The illustrator for this book was Isidre Mones. The book has an index and a bibliography. 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 llamas and the Andes Mountains. It turned out that I did not know that much about llamas and the Andes Mountains. I learned from Osborne’s and Boyce’s book about llamas and the Andes Mountains. The book covers the geography of the Andes, llamas, the animals of the Andes, the Incas, Machu Picchu, and an introduction to the modern Andes Mountains. The book also covers the place of llamas in contemporary popular culture. Since I do not know that much about the Incas, I found that a reader may find it useful to read some other books on the Inca Empire as well. I believe that Osborne’s and Boyce’s book on Llamas and the Andes is a good introduction to the Andes Mountains when read with other books introducing the Andes Mountains.

[AMY]

123 pgs. Great non-fiction companion to Late Lunch with Llamas. In this book, you will learn all about the llama as well as the Incan Civilization. There are lots of illustrations, fact boxes, and additional information at the end of the book to help a reader understand all of the concepts explored. Boys and girls will love this book and learn so much about an ancient culture whose cities lay hidden for hundreds of years. Highly recommended for Grades 3-5.

[Katie]

Bite sized factoids about llamas and the South American areas in which they live. I'm a little sad to say that I actually learned things, but not sad because that is the point of juvenile nonfiction. Plus, llamas!

[Joan]

This did a good job of covering llamas, other animals of the Andes and the Incan civilization. I have not read the original “treehouse” fictional title that corresponds to this nonfiction title, but this was straight nonfiction.

[Helen]

This is an interesting book, full of information about llamas, related animals, and the Andes mountains. It has lots of pictures. good sidebar information, plus a helpful section on research!

[Tara]

I loved learning about llamas and the land and people of the Andes. My favorite fact I learned about llamas is that they can be used to herd other animals. I love these books.

[Amber Staggs]

I wanted a quick read. This book was very cute and I love llamas!

[Colin]

A Fact Tracker about llamas (and alpacas!) and the Andes Mountains. Does what it says on the tin.