Leprechauns and Irish Folklore

Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #21

by Mary Pope Osborne, Natalie Pope Boyce, Sal Murdocca (Illustrator)

The #1 bestselling chapter book series of all time celebrates 25 years with new covers and a new, easy-to-use numbering system! Getting the facts behind the fiction has never looked better.

Track the facts with Jack and Annie!
 
When Jack and Annie got back from their adventure in  Magic Tree House Merlin Mission #15: Leprechaun in Late Winter,  they had lots of questions. What are leprechauns? How do we know many of the old Irish stories? How do fairies spend their time? Who speaks the Irish language? Find out the answers to these questions and more as Jack and Annie track the facts.

Filled with up-to-date information, photos, illustrations, and fun tidbits from Jack and Annie, the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers are the perfect way for kids to find out more about the topics they discovered in their favorite Magic Tree House adventures. And teachers can use Fact Trackers alongside their Magic Tree House fiction companions to meet common core text pairing needs.

Did you know that there’s a Magic Tree House book for every kid?

Magic Tree Adventures with Jack and Annie, perfect for readers who are just beginning chapter books
Merlin More challenging adventures for the experienced reader
Super A longer and more dangerous adventure
Fact Nonfiction companions to your favorite Magic Tree House adventures

Have more fun with Jack and Annie at MagicTreeHouse.com!

Genres: Nonfiction, Ireland, Childrens, History, Chapter Books, Holiday, Historical

115 pages, Paperback

First published January 12, 2010

About the author

Mary Pope Osborne is an American author of children's books and audiobook narrator. She is best known as the author of the Magic Tree House series, which as of 2017 sold more than 134 million copies worldwide. Both the series and Osborne have won awards, including for Osborne's charitable efforts at promoting children's literacy. One of four children, Osborne moved around in her childhood before attending the University of North Carolina. Following college, Osborne traveled before moving to New York City. She somewhat spontaneously began to write, and her first book was published in 1982. She went on to write a variety of other children's and young adult books before starting the Magic Tree House series in 1992. Osborne's sister Natalie Pope Boyce has written several compendium books to the Magic Tree House series, sometimes with Osborne's husband Will Osborne.

Reviews

[Christina (Confessions of a Book Addict) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - My son and I had a great time reading all about Irish folklore and leprechauns as well as other "creatures" like banshees, etc. It was the perfect read for the week of St. Patrick's Day.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty good look into Irish folklore, with some quite nice illustrations, as usual for this series. It is the Fact Tracker to Leprechaun in Late Winter

[Pamela Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful read & learning combined of Leprechauns and depth into Irish Folklore (historical & fairies adventures), imagination abounds!

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A basic overview of the different types of characters found in Irish folklore, not just leprechauns. The information starts with the Celts. There was also talk of the Irish language (including pronunciations) and the humans who kept the Irish storytelling tradition alive during the British occupation of Ireland. Not tied to the fictional story that this book is supposed to go with, so can be read as a stand-alone.

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book teaches us a little about the Irish folklore about fairies and leprechauns. Im not sure if its accurate to call it non fiction since its folklore, but it was interesting enough!

[Citlalli Canete]

I like this book because it answers questions that some students might have when thinking of this culture. This book can be used in class when wanting to learn about the Irish culture. This can be an activity for students to discover the unknown, learn something new, learn a different culture.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this Magic Tree House companion book, and even though it is written for elementary school students, I still learned some things from it. The book begins with some general information about Irish folklore. Then, in addition to leprechauns, the book briefly discusses clurichauns, fear deargs, banshees, pookas, dullahans, merrows, grogochs, ballybogs, and trooping fairies. The book is illustrated with appealing black-and-white pictures and a number of black-and-white photographs. It also includes an index and a bibliography of books, videos, and websites.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who needs a story written ABOUT some of the best stories ever? Why not just enjoy Irish folklore? Revel in the playful, and sometimes not so playful, deeds of the wee folk, whether meeting to dance beneath the stars, tearing apart houses that were built on fairy roads, or spiriting away their little hoards of gold. Learn how to find that gold, how to lift a fairy spell, and what it means when a Banshee wails outside your window.

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty fun little at-a-glance summary of Irish fairy lore. Definitely written for kids, but fun for anyone - especially around St. Patrick's day.

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. Such a satisfying and festive read!

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken]

Eleanor says: I think I believe in fairies. And leprechauns. Leprechauns are a kind of fairy. My mom did not know that. Neither did I. We learned there are many kinds of fairies.

[Hannah Goodwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is about the research of Irish folklore and the importance of Irish history. Throughout the chapters there is the history of Irish story tellers and stories that are famous in Ireland about leprechauns, fairies, dancing, music and more. This book is wonderful in discussing the types of fries that are famous in Irish folktales. The book is simplistic enough for younger children to learn about folktales, but there are not a ton of folktales for the story, it is rather more of a research novel than a folktale book. Overall, the book is wonderful to teach students about Irish folklore and fairytales.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful little read Mary Pope Osborne has published through Leprechauns and Irish folklore : a nonfiction companion to Magic Tree House #43 : Leprechaun in late winter! Not only are the variety of leprechauns identified and described but some examples of their pranks are also given into account. For anyone who believes in the Emerald Isle and its magic its a must read.

[Anna]

A nice quick and easy child-friendly book about Irish folklore.

With nice artwork as a companion to another series. With giving plenty of follow-up research to explore if a person wanted.

A cute thing to read for St. Paddy's day.

[David Monroe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was entertaining and informative about my heritage. I like the stories that they put in the book and the details about the myths and legends that surround Irish people. Such a wonderful and relaxing place. And I'm jealous that they never get to experience a 114 degree day.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Traditional~

[Slow Man · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well.. I didn’t know that.

[Deacon Tom F. (Recovering from a big heart attack) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute book with lots of fun stories. Great illustrations as well.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always think that I know about these topics and then find out how wrong I am. I loved reading about all the different types of Irish fairies. It was so interesting!

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Fact Tracker of Faerie Lore!

[Arthur May · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a favourite in our house. Very well written and engaging.

[Katelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

My family is part Irish so I was able to learn more about their ways and about their feelings and beliefs on fairies. A beautiful book to enjoy and learn :) A true classic ♥

[Tori]

2024- We read this as we traveled around Ireland!

[blueygurl2016 · Rating 3 out of 5]

While interesting enough I guess, it kinda led you to believe that fairies are real.

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect read before St Patricks Day!

[Margaret Joiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good informational book about Irish leprechauns and other fairies.

[Christy Camp Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative. I learned a lot about Irish folklore and used the info to plan my Adventurescape program.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 2010, Mary Pope Osborne and her sister Natalie Pope Boyce published the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers entitled Leprechauns and Irish Folklore. This book is a nonfiction research guide to the book entitled Leprechaun in Late Winter by Mary Pope Osborne which was published in 2010. Osborne’s and Boyce’s book is a well-done introduction to Irish Folklore, focused on Irish Fairies, known as the shee in the Gaelic language (Osborne & Boyce 25). The book covers the many different types of Irish Faeries. The book is for young readers. The book has wonderful black-and-white illustrations. The book has wonderful black-and-white photographs. The illustrator for this book was Sal Murdocca. Similar to the other books in the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers series, the book has a section on how to do more research for young readers about Irish Folklore. The book has an index and includes photo credits. The book was advised by a teacher of the Irish language named Liam Hart and an educational adviser. Liam Hart is also an Irish Musician. There is a chapter entitled “Fairy Dancing and Music” (Osborne & Boyce 89-100). I believe overall Osborne’s and Boyce’s Leprechauns and Irish Folklore is a well-done introduction to Irish Folklore, which is focused on the faeries.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

We've read several of the non-fiction companion Research Guides and so far our girls have enjoyed them. I thought they'd really like this one, too (after all, it is about fairies and our oldest is fairy-crazy), but our oldest in particular was quite reluctant to listen to me read it. I think that she had another book in mind for me to read, but still, I thought it would be fun to read this book for St. Patrick's Day. We were able to finish this book in two readings, which is a bit fast for us, but I wanted to read it as close to St. Patrick's Day as possible (after all, we just finished our last Valentine's Day book!) In any case, our girls seemed far more interested in the last few chapters, so we enjoyed reading it together. They did not, however, appreciate my attempts at an Irish brogue, so I gave that up quickly.

new words: clurichaun, torcs, rath

[Claudia Popham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Focusing on the tales of Leprechauns, I paired this book with "The Night Before St. Patrick's Day" by Natasha Wing. In the fiction book, Tim and Maureen try to capture a leprechaun with various traps. Tim and Maureen placed a coin at the end of each trap. In my nonfiction selection, leprechauns are revealed to be bankers. Leprechauns love their gold and they always keep it hidden. The author informs the reader that leprechauns are very tricky fairies. In "The Night Before St. Patrick's Day", Tim and Maureen are tricked by the leprechaun that they catch. The leprechaun that they catch also fits the description that is given in my nonfiction selection. Leprechauns are described as old men that are dressed in green.