Sea Monsters
Authors: Mary Pope Osborne
A Note from Mary Pope Osborne About the
Magic Tree House
®
Fact Trackers
When I write Magic Tree House
®
adventures, I love including facts about the times and places Jack and Annie visit. But when readers finish these adventures, I want them to learn even more. So that’s why my husband, Will, and my sister, Natalie Pope Boyce and I write a series of nonfiction books that are companions to the fiction titles in the Magic Tree House® series. We call these books Fact Trackers because we love to track the facts! Whether we’re researching dinosaurs, pyramids, Pilgrims, sea monsters, or cobras, we’re always amazed at how wondrous and surprising the real world is. We want you to experience the same wonder we do—so get out your pencils and notebooks and hit the trail with us. You can be a Magic Tree House
®
Fact Tracker, too!
®
Fact Trackers:
“They are so good. I can’t wait for the next one. All I can say for now is prepare to be amazed!” —Alexander N.
“I have read every Magic Tree House® book there is. The [Fact Trackers] are a thrilling way to get more information about the special events in the story.” —John R.
“These are fascinating nonfiction books that enhance the magical time-traveling adventures of Jack and Annie. I love these books, especially
American Revolution
. I was learning so much, and I didn’t even know it!” —Tori Beth S.
“[They] are an excellent “behind-the-scenes” look at what the [Magic Tree House
®
fiction] has started in your imagination! You can’t buy one without the other; they are such a complement to one another.” —Erika N.,
MOM
“[They] are very useful tools in my classroom, as they allow for students to be part of the planning process. Together, we find facts in the [Fact Trackers] to extend the learning introduced in the fictional companions. Researching and planning classroom activities, such as our class Olympics based on facts found in
Ancient Greece and the Olympics
, help create a genuine love for learning!” —Paula H.,
TEACHER
Text copyright © 2008 by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce
Cover photograph copyright © photolibrary. All rights reserved.
Illustrations copyright © 2008 by Sal Murdocca
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc. Magic Tree House is a registered trademark of Mary Pope Osborne; used under license.
The Magic Tree House Fact Tracker series was formerly known as the Magic Tree House Research Guide series.
Visit us on the Web!
MAGICTREEHOUSE.COM
RANDOMHOUSE.COM/KIDS
Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at
RANDOMHOUSE.COM/TEACHERS
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Osborne, Mary Pope.
Sea monsters / by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce; illustrated by Sal Murdocca. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (Magic tree house research guide)
“A nonfiction companion to Dark Day in the Deep Sea.”
“A Stepping Stone book.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN: 978-0-375-98328-3
1. Marine animals—Juvenile literature. 2. Marine animals, Fossil—Juvenile
literature. 3. Sea monsters—Juvenile literature. I. Boyce, Natalie Pope.
II. Murdocca, Sal, ill. III. Title.
QL122.2.O83 2008 591.77—dc22 2007012806
Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
v3.1
For Margot Paddock,
and in memory of Skip
Scientific Consultant:
DR. SÖNKE JOHNSEN
, Associate Professor, Biology Department, Duke University.
Paleontology Consultant:
DR. ROBERT T. BAKKER.
Education Consultant:
HEIDI JOHNSON
, Earth Science and Paleontology, Lowell Junior High School, Bisbee, Arizona.
Very special thanks to Anne Skakel for the excellent photographs; and many thanks to the wonderful team at Random House: Joanne Yates Russell, Gloria Cheng, Mallory Loehr, Angela Roberts, and our great editor, Diane Landolf, whose fine editing skills and encouragement keep us on track every time.
For thousands of years, people have told stories of
sea monsters. They have described seeing them in every ocean and even in some lakes.
It is true that there are some scary-looking animals living in the ocean today. Other monstrous-looking sea creatures lived millions of years ago.
Some sea-monster tales may not be true at all. The deep, dark waters of the ocean
hold many mysteries. They also hold lots of amazing animals.
Giant Squid
Giant
squids are sometimes called “sea monsters.” There are stories about giant squids attacking boats and people. But not many people have ever seen one.
Giant squids usually live so deep in the ocean that it is hard to know much about them. Sometimes their bodies wash up on shore, but until recently, no giant squid had ever been seen alive.
In December 2006, scientists were doing research 600 miles off the coast of Japan. They were amazed to catch a live giant squid! The young squid thrashed around wildly as they pulled it into the boat. Sadly, it hurt itself so much that it died. But the scientists
are studying the squid to learn more about these rare animals.