Ghosts

Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #20

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 Merlin Mission #14: A Good Night for Ghosts,  they had lots of questions. What are some of the most famous ghost stories? Why do people believe in ghosts? Do most cultures have ghost stories? What are ghost hunters? 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: Nonfiction, Childrens, Chapter Books, Ghosts, History, Middle Grade, Halloween

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

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

[Michael]

It is always great to get a kid hooked on a series, but so much better to hook them on a series that has both fiction and nonfiction books. We don't give nonfiction enough credit, nor do we honor the fact that so many boys want to connect their reading with real life. Well, in this case it is real death in the form of real ghost stories, highly illustrated and quickly told. Great for those kids already addicted to the series, and a grand introduction for those who aren't.   

[Karen]

Strange to read a non-fiction book about ghosts! Especially for a 3 year old that has not had time to form opinions about ghosts.

It basically shares a lot of stories about ghosts, and what people commonly recognize as signs of ghosts. It does not state conclusively that there are or are not ghosts, but leaves that up to your own thinking.

Well done I would say for the audience it is written for.

[Jenny Clark]

This is the companion to A Good Night for Ghosts. It has several photos of the haunted locations, as well as a list of other books websites and dvds with more information and a list of museaums and famous landmarks.

[Jennifer]

"It was good because it told lots of ghost stories and I like ghost stories. It was spooky but not too spooky. It was a fun book."

Read aloud with my youngest. He enjoyed it. It was a carry over from our Halloween reads that were behind on because I had surgeries and complications.

[Megan McFall]

I don’t rate children’s books. But I have always loved the Magic Treehouse books for how they make history accessible to children! Love the research guides as well! 5⭐️

[Dolly]

This is an interesting non-fiction book for children about ghosts and a few areas around the world which are purported to be haunted. The narrative does not make claims about the actual existence of ghosts, but tells about ghost sightings and the scientific rationalizations that might explain the appearances. We've read all of the books in the Magic Tree House series thus far and now we are catching up with the Research Guides. We've read several of them, but have many more to read.

[Angela]

Well, I say that this book is great for telling me what people thought of Ghosts. Steve told me a little about this book after he read it. He said that the White house is haunted. I enjoyed learning about ghosts and reading some of the ghost stories they told. I really liked it. It was awsome. Great!

[Emily]

this is very interesting. in some parts it gets really scary but in others it is very odd and funny.

[Christina]

My 9 year old enjoys the magic tree house series both the stories and non-fiction companions. However, he had trouble feeling engaged in this one (as did I).

[Andrea Labonte]

Awesome book.

[Sydney]

people use nightlights because they are afraid of ghosts.

[Gabija]

It's safe to say that I like the research guides 10x better than the actual books.

[Mas5thgrade2011]

kinda scary

[Rhonda Fazio]

!!!'!!!!!! I love Magic Treehouse! Some are things I love to know about! :D!

[Della Tingle]

As a child, I think I would have absolutely loved this book! It reminds me of Kathryn Tucker Windham’s books that I used to love to check out from my elementary school’s library. There is a lot of information about conducting research on the topic of ghosts from books and museums and landmarks to videos and DVDs and the internet. The back of the book contains a five page index. The illustrations make the book come to life! While I have never been a fan of The Magic Treehouse series, I think these Research Guides are wonderful!

[may regan]

Pretty sure this is still at my house. I think it's been there since 3rd grade, at LEAST. But anyway. I was that nerd who not only read and understood all the historical events that happened in the original books, but also went and read the RESEARCH GUIDES and other books that covered the same subjects so that I could go back and read the books just to point out the historical inaccuracies. I was THAT kid. (Gosh I must've been annoying as a little kid.... I'm sorry Ms. Sarah!)

[Kyle Miguel Anderson]

This book absolutely terrified me. As one event led to another in my first-grader paranoia, I found myself scavenging through Google (with SafeSearch on, mind you) and indulging in the best "GHOST CAUGHT ON CAMERA: PROOF" videos that 2011 YouTube had to offer. I couldn't sleep that night. Or the night after. I'm sure my parents were thrilled.

[CORA]

Picked up my daughters book and just started reading it. It was pretty good. Little tidbits of history that make you think. Are there ghosts out there or just wise tales...what do you believe?

[Charissa]

A fun read!

[Megan]

I love ghosts, so it is a perfect book for me to read. I had a question about ghosts and this book answensered it. The question was :



ARE GHOSTS REAL?




The answenser was : YES!

[Julie Ivens]

i would give this a 0 if you want to be scared out of a lot of fun things read it!

[Tara]

I love these books. This one is kind of an interesting overview of ghost stories in the US and Great Britain. Loved it.

[Rebecca]

Daughter too scared to finish this book with me, 8 years old. Did not like learning about Voodoo dolls.

[Ellarie]

first book that made me want to get into history

[Colin]

Fact Tracker about reportedly haunted places, mostly in the U.S. and Great Britain . . .

[Miranda]

My students had an option to read this quick little gem. Fun and entertaining.

[Shaleigh]

Cute but a little to loaded w unnecessary information for the age range it’s intended for.

[Aneesah Jameel]

a great educational book for kids.

[Can Dogan]

Can: "This book was about a lot of ghost stories. It has like creepy things and spooky castles. I loved it. The most scary story was Abraham Lincoln: The Polite Ghost."

[Peter]

In 2009, Mary Pope Osborne and her sister Natalie Pope Boyce published the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers entitled Ghosts. This book is a nonfiction research guide to the book entitled A Good Night for Ghosts by Mary Pope Osborne which was published in 2009. The book contains an introduction to Ghosts around the World. The second chapter is on ghosts in New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans bills itself as the most hunted city in the United States (Osborne & Boyce 29). Osborne and Boyce write that New Orleans is so hunted due to its long complex history, complex cultures, and the humid climate of the city (Osborne & Boyce, Chapter 2). The third chapter is on “haunted Washington D.C.” (Osborne & Boyce 57-74). The fourth chapter is on haunted Great Britain. The last chapter is on why people believe so many people enjoy ghost stories. The illustrator for this book was Sal Murdocca. 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 ghosts. The book has an index and includes photo credits. The book had an anthropological consultant and an educational consultant. I believe Osborne’s and Boyce’s Ghosts is an excellent introduction to the anthropologist's study of ghosts for young people.