The Great Houdini (Step-Into-Reading, Step 4)

This book details Houdini’s life from 9 years old to his death. It relates how he began his career as an escape artist and kept improving his tricks. Through hard work and determination, Houdini became the world’s greatest escape artist/ magician.

I purchased these books (most of the titles in the series) several months ago, but have been doling them out a little at a time to my daughter, who is currently in first grade. She loves to read fiction, and has devoured many of the chapter books I've purchased for her or checked out of the library. I was looking for an interesting series of non-fiction books for her, and these seemed like the perfect introduction to the genre.The appeal of this reader lies mainly in the way the information is condensed to suit the needs of young readers - informative, yet not overly descriptive nor steeped in jargon. Also, the illustrations on each page motivate young readers, especially visual learners like my daughter.There are lots of illustrations in this book, which help tell the story of master magician and escape artist Harry Houdini. Though long-departed, Houdini's feats continue to inspire and awe people, and my young daughter loved reading about his exploits.The Step 4 readers are described as "reading paragraphs, containing challenging vocabulary, short paragraphs, exciting fiction and non-fiction, and recommended for Grades 2-3", though children who are younger and are at an advanced reading level will find these books interesting and suitably challenging as well.

My grandson who is in second grade had to do a non-fiction book report so we started looking for a subject that he was excited about. Lately he's been into magic, so when I found this book, we decided to order it. I thought it might be way above his reading level, and there were guidelines from the teacher about the kids needing to read most of the book by themselves. We jumped in and he did great, loved the story and had lots of good ideas to include in his book report. The author includes bits of what H. Houdini's life looked like that were easy to understand for a 7 - 8 year old.

my daughter loves this book. She generally likes non-fiction and wants to read about real people. This story combines the excitement of the magic show, explains some magic tricks with certain suspense. The ending is a bit sad but it is told in a way that did not upset my 7 year old child. The only thing that could have been improved in this book is the pictures. They don't seem as kid friendly as they could have been.

Gave as gift. My nephew is 9 and is an avid reader, is very interested in Houdini (aren't ALL 9 year olds?). Well he had this book finished in less than 20 min, Good thing I ordered some additional Houdini books.

I love these series. But most important that my son does. I got 40+ books and he loves to read them (usually it is not that easy to make him read). I got mix of 2-3-4 levels for the second grader, second level is too easy, but it creates some fun and he reads them with pleasure. Love it, I would recommend it.

Great non fiction book for my 7 year old Grandson. It is advanced non fiction topic, but with lots of pictures to keep his attention. Typical Step into Reading series style with controlled vocabulary. Step into Reading does a great job at providing higher level topics at easy reading levels. Many young kids want this kind of content. Price is excellent.

Used this book for summer reading project. My son loves magicians so it kept his interest and he actually read it a few times. Liked that it was a good intro to reading biographies too. Illustrations were helpful since he's 7 and still likes to have some pictures.

Great!

Interests the 6yo into reading

loved by my 10 year old