Abe Lincoln at Last! (Magic Tree House Series #47)

Author: Mary Pope Osborne
Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Theme: Narritive Non-fiction, Adventure
Genre: Fiction, Adventure
Grades: 2nd -4th

Synopsis: Annie and Jack are in search for the third thing that will help them bring Penny back. Their next thing they must get must come from President Lincoln. They travel in their tree house back in time to when Lincoln was President. Along the way they meet Tad and Willie and learn some interesting things about them. While on their quest for their item from President Lincoln they find themselves going back even farther in time, and meet Sam, who promises that he will take them to meet Lincoln. Some unexpected events happen along the way and Jack and find themselves helping their new friend Sam in more ways that they know of. He in turn helps them without them realizing it. When Sam's father returns with a new family, Jack and Annie find that they have still not met Lincoln and their magic has worn off. They find themselves back to the time when Lincoln was president, and finally get the opportunity to meet him, only to find out that Sam was actually Lincoln all along and they had already received their item from him. They then return to the present and head off to school.
 You can use this book along with its partner book, which also a part of the Magic Tree House series, but which gives more factual events from the life of President Lincoln. This book is called a Fast Tracker and it is titled Abraham Lincoln.
This book provides adventure as well as a intro into a unit or lesson on Abraham Lincoln. The companion book provides factual information to go along with this adventure story, to help allow for a smoother transition for students into the lesson.


Activity 1:Have students make a timeline of Lincoln's life, which highlights the important events in his life.

Activity 2: This book could also be used as a stepping stone into talking about how things are done differently today than they were in the old days, such as corn grinding. Students can pick a topic to research and compare and contrast how that job was done back then and how it is done today, by either using a t-chart or by writing a comparison paper.

About the Author: Mary Pope Osborne grew up in the military and by the time she was fifteen years old, she had lived in Oklahoma, Austria, Florida, and four different army posts in Virginia and North Carolina. Osborne was one of four children, including one twin brother, a younger brother, and an older sister. She studied drama at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was married to her husband, Will Osborne, in New York City. She began writing stories, where the main character was an eight year old girl from the south, and her incidents in the story were a lot like her childhood. She has written over one hundred books, including picture books,  biographies, mysteries, novels, retelling of Greek Mythology, Norse Mythology, medieval stories, mermaid tales, and American tall tales. She has published 45 Magic Tree House Books.
You can find more information, and stay up to date with upcoming books by visiting http://marypopeosborne.com/. 

Osborne, M.P. (2011). Abe Lincoln At Last!. NY: Random House Children's Books. Grades 2-4.