Ghost Town at Sundown, Magic Tree House Book #10 takes Jack and Annie to the American Wild West. There they meet a fierce gang of rustlers. The Frog Creek kids help a cowboy regain his stolen herd of mustangs.

Mary Pope Osborne’s early reader chapter book is for third and fourth graders who love action-packed books. The book is appropriate for second graders who are strong readers.

Readers who are familiar with the Magic Tree House series know Jack and Annie are siblings. Jack is eight-years-old. Annie is seven-years-old. They have a magic tree house which is a time portal. It is a gift from Morgan le Fay. Together, they travel and have delightful adventures.

Ghost Town at Sundown, Magic Tree House Book #10 takes place in the 1870's Western America. The Frog Creek kids descend in a spooky ghost town. The buildings' furnishings lay under a heavy layer of dust. Tumbleweeds roll down the Main street. Jack and Annie dress in cowboy attire. A player piano mysteriously plays a song. Jack has his ever present book of facts, but it does not explain how a piano without electricity plays music.

Mary Pope Osborne’s adventurous Jack and Annie spy a group of rustlers. The gang drives a stolen herd of mustangs. They stop in the town’s center. Jack and Annie overhear the group’s conversation. One mare is loudly neighing, because her colt is not with her. Rested, the gang departs the town, Rattlesnake Flats. After their departure, the orphaned colt enters the town seeking his mother. Impulsive Annie calms the wild colt. Jack reads about horse care. Slim, the legal owner of the herd appears. Jack and Annie join him to recapture the mustangs.

Ghost Town at Sundown, Magic Tree House Book #10 is a page turner. If looking for a book for children to learn about mustangs, the book does a fair job. Usually, Mary Pope Osborne books have more information in the seventy-five-page books. Yet, children will learn a little about mustangs. Also, they learn rules on how to ride a horse. Surprisingly, in the information section, there are no further details about the mustangs. It has the words to the music playing on the piano.

Have a discussion with children about the mustangs’ history. Many children do not know the horses still run free in the American West. The mustangs of the 1870's are the ancestors of today’s horses.



Ghost Town at Sundown, Magic Tree House Book #10 is part of the Magic Tree House Box Set(9-12). Jack and Annie solve the Mystery of the Ancient Riddles.


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