Osborne, Mary Pope

Retells part of Homer's Odyssey in which Odysseus, with the help of the goddess Athena, plans to get revenge on those who have plagued his wife and son during his absence.

Discusses dolphins and sharks, their ocean habitats, and general information about oceans and oceanography.

Traces the life of the Italian sailor who is most remembered for his voyages to the New World on behalf of Spain.

Eight-year-old Jack and his younger sister Annie use the magic tree house to travel back to the Middle Ages, where they explore a castle and are helped by a mysterious knight.

Jack and Annie share what they learned through their research on the penguins of Antarctica and the harsh conditions in which they live at the South Pole.

Presents a short, illustrated narrative of the city of Pompeii before the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried the city; and describes how in 1763 the city was discovered.

Their magic tree house takes Annie and Jack to Pompeii just as Vesuvius is about to erupt, and they must find a Roman scroll before everything is covered with burning ash.

When Jack and Annie travel back to the Kansas prairie in search of "something to learn," they gain an understanding of how hard life was for pioneers and they experience the terror of a tornado.

The magic tree house transports Jack and Annie to the deck of the Titanic to find a mysterious gift that will free a small dog from a magic spell.

Jack and Annie travel in their magic treehouse to the year 1621, where they celebrate the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians in the New Plymouth Colony.