Again, re read this book. I am re-reading alot of these. (read in 15 min)

Ooooh take me back to GREECE. Not ancient Greece, because Annie is right, that sucks.

Hour of the Olympics is one of my top three favorite books in the Magic Trehouse series written by the amazing Mary Pope Osborne. Definitely 5 stars!

Not the most dramatic or exciting one but interesting nonetheless. Most of the time the children move relatively freely and it's the events of the moment in time where they end up that creates the drama. This time it's they themselves, or rather Annie, simply by being a girl, that creates the conflict. And that is also the main thrust of their adventure this time. That back then girls and women had no rights, but that there were people who worked to change that. Also, that many things are better for girls and women in our time. Pope Osborne doesn't go beyond that, but it's a good beginning of good food for thought for very young readers. It's also a relatively good introduction to Greek Mythology and a couple of the characters.

This is the last of a four-part story arc in which Jack and Annie are tasked with recovering four lost stories. The previous books sent them to ancient Rome, medieval Ireland, and ancient China. This time the destination is ancient Greece and the original Olympic Games.

Osborne weaves a feminist theme into the story, as the kids are confronted with the fact that women and girls are banned from even watching the games, not to mention from participation in arts, theater, and government.

With the help of Plato, Jack and Annie recover a lost story, but things go wrong when Jack goes with Plato to watch the chariot races. Like all of the stories in this arc, there is a mix of history and mythology, with the winged horse Pegasus putting in an appearance.

I felt that the climactic danger was rather forced, but Osborne made up for that with a really good ending that did an excellent job of tying together all four books in the arc. Annie really goes on an emotional roller-coaster in this story, and the ending helps to resolve some of that as well. The finishes to these four-book mini-series are definitely one of Osborne's strengths.

I read this with my seven-year-old son, who was able to predict some of the twists (and had fun doing so), and who enjoyed seeing the connections to Greek Mythology, which has featured in other books we've read such as Percy Jackson.

Read aloud to Emma and Will. Will's first chapter book, though he has listened to parts of our books before. It was helpful that this one was about Ancient Greece, which they recently learned about in school.

Brief review: This book is a children's historical fiction story. It is a very fun story, and a quick read with lots of fun information. There is a few subplots that continue throughout the entire Magic Tree House series that I did not know about. This book is number 16 in the series, but the prologue and the information given through out the story make it easy to catch on, probably even for some elementary students. I think kids will enjoy the list of facts through out the book and at the end that relate to the story.

Content areas:
This book could be used to take a look at the daily lives of ancient Greeks. It had one reference to the supernatural side dealing with mythology, but it mainly stayed in normal daily life which is just as interesting. This book could be used to have children compare and contrast on life in the past versus life now, especially dealing with the lives of women.

Comprehension questions:
1: What made Plato famous in ancient Greece? Why are his ideas important today?
Answer: He was a philosopher, Plato describes that as a 'lover of wisdom'. Plato used his teachings and writings to explore the best way to set up a government. His ideas are still talked about today.
2: Why did women have to sign their stories as 'anonymous' in ancient Greece?
Answer: The ancient Greeks did not believe that women should know how to read and write. So they signed anonymous so that no one knew who wrote it and they wouldn't be in danger.
3: What made Pegasus unique? Can he still be seen today?
Answer: Pegasus is unique because he is a horse with wings and can fly. He can still been seen today as a constellation in the night sky.

Wonders:
1: Where were women allowed to the watch the games and do all the other things that men could do in Greece?
2: Are all the constellations from ancient stories?
3: Now that Jack and Annie have saved all four stories from the ancient libraries, what kind of mission will they be sent on next?

Yet another blast from the past for me: Hour of the Olympics by Mary Pope Osborne is a sweet, middle grade read.

This historical series makes learning fun and interesting in a fictional way. Don't enjoy non-fiction books but still want to learn? This series can help your middle grade readers! This book does focus on girls and women in Greece and how they weren't allowed many options to learn or participate in events. I think this is an interesting way to bring this up to young readers.

I wouldn't recommend jumping in with this book. It's not the best story out of all of the ones I've read so far but it is good as part of a series.

Overall, this is a good middle grade book!

Two out of five stars.