The Magic Tree House Series

The Magic Tree House series is about two children who go on adventures and missions through their magical tree house.  Jack and Annie travel through time in a 28 book series.  The series is written by Mary Pope Osborne.  She has also written two other series based on the Magic Tree House series.  These series are called Magic Tree House Merlin Missions and Magic Tree House Fact Trackers.  

I think this series should be used in 2nd or 3rd grade classrooms.  The books are short chapter books.  Because of their length, they are a good transition book for students that are just beginning to read chapter books.  The content of the books is very educational.  All of the Magic Tree House books are realistic or historic fiction.  The characters travel to times through American history and and world history.  There are books about the civil war, the middle ages, ancient Egypt, and many other historical times. This series is a great way to teach history, especially for students that may not enjoy the subject of history.

Here are a few of the Magic Tree House books:

       

Making the Connection Across the Curriculum

In chapter 4 of The Joys of Literature, there is a section titled "Making the Connection Across the Curriculum."  This section is about how fiction and nonfiction picture books can be used to provide information that relates to content area for many grade levels.  Poetry, alphabet books, and pop-up books can also provide content area related information. 

Four common core subjects that can be seen in picture books are math, science, art, and history.  Math can be seen through picture books that present concepts such as probability, symmetry, and numbers.  Science picture books can be about philosophers, nature, animals, etc.  Art can be seen through almost all picture books by explaining illustrations.  History picture books can relate past events to present events.

I have listed a few examples of picture books related to content area below.

• G is for Googol by David Schwartz 
• A Remainder of One by Elinor J. Pinczes
• Math Curse by Jon Scieszka
• Starry Messenger by Peter Sis
• Science Verse by Jon Scieszka
• Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors by Joyce Sidman
• M is for Music by Kathryn Krull
• Lives of the Artists: Masterpieces, Messes (and What Neighbors Thought) by Kathryn Krull
• Leonardo's Studio: A Pop-Up Experience by Bob Hersey
• Van Gogh's House: A Pop-Up Experience by Bob Hersey
• A Walk in Monet's Garden: A Pop-Up Book by Francesca Crespi
• Barefoot: Escape on the Underground Railroad by Pamela Edwards
• A Good Night for Freedom by Barbara Morrow
• Liberty Street by Candice Ransom
• Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad by Ann Petry
• The Underground Railroad by Raymond Bial
• Remember the Bridge: Poems of a People by Carole Weatherford

Reference: 

Johnson, Denise. The Joy of Children's Literature. Second Edition ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.