Magic Tree House 25-29

Magic Tree House books 25-29 by Mary Pope Osborne

#25 Stage Fright on a Summer Night

They go to Elizabethan England and find people going to a performance. A man hears Jack read and asks him to substitute in the play. The man ends up being Will Shakespeare and the kids perform in Midsummer Night's Dream (with Annie pretending to be a boy dressed as a girl.) They also rescue a bear that was going to be used in a bear fight. This was my favorite of this group of books.

#26 Good Morning, Gorillas

They go to Africa and see gorillas. This was not a very good book.

#27 Thanksgiving on Thursday

They see the pilgrims on Thanksgiving, but don't fit in well.

#28 High Tide in Hawaii

They go to Hawaii and go surfing. They also need to go to high land when a tidal wave comes.

#29 Christmas in Camelot

They go to the imaginary time and find King Arthur and the gang. This was later to become Merlin Missions #1 and another book became magic treehouse 29.

Magic Tree House Blizzard of the Blue Moon, Dragon of the Red Dawn

Magic Tree House Blizzard of the Blue Moon, Dragon of the Red Dawn by Mary Pope Osborne

Blizzard of the Blue Moon

They are in depression-era New York City. A blizzard happens once in a blue moon. They travel and find some key things in a museum with the help of Teddy and Kathleen.

Dragon of the Red Dawn

They travel to Edo (now Tokyo) in ancient Japan.

Magic Tree House: Haunted Castle on Hallow's Eve, Summer of the Sea Serpent, Winter of the Ice Wizard

Magic Tree House: Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve, Summer of the Sea Serpent, Winter of the Ice Wizard by Mary Pope Osborne

These Magic Tree House books were more magical and less historical. I had trouble getting into any of these books.

Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve

They start to learn their magic at a haunted castle

Summer of Sea Serpent

They meet Kathleen and go on an adventure.

Winter of the Ice Wizard

They try to rescue Merlin and Morgan

Magic Tree House: Eve of the Emperor Penguin, Moonlight on the Magic Flute

Magic Tree House: Eve of the Emperor Penguin, Moonlight on the Magic Flute by Mary Pope Osborne

Eve of the Emperor Penguin

They go to Antartica and are about to go on an expedition up a tall mountain. However, the leaders discover they are kids and they need to be sent back to their parents. Instead they get into trouble and get trapped in an ice cave. They use magic to get out and communicate with penguins. The penguins offer a quite orphan to them. They offer this to Merlin to make him happy. This is not the best of stories in the series.

Moonlight on the Magic Flute

They go back to Austria to try to find an artist. They are sidetracked playing with a boy named Wolfie. I just want to nudge them to say "hey, that is probably Mozart!" Sure enough it was. Jack had a magic flute that he was able to play to help get them out of trouble. They later see that Mozart wrote a Magic Flute work named after it. This one was better than the penguin one.

Magic Tree House Collection, Books 33-35

Magic Tree House Collection, Books 33-35 by Mary Pope Osbourne

33: Carnival at Candlelight. They travel to Venice. It is carnival time. They are dressed in costume. They find an artist and help prevent the city from flooding.

34: Season of the Sandstorms. They travel to the middle eastern dessert and meet some Bedouins.

35: Night of the New Magicians. They are in Paris a century ago and see the Eiffel Tower and magicians.

These were fairly average books in the series, with nothing standing out.

Magic Tree House: Dogs in the Dead of Night, Abe Lincoln at Last!

Magic Tree House: Dogs in the Dead of Night, Abe Lincoln at Last! by Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by Sal Murdocca

46: Dogs in the Dead of Night They go to the Swiss Alps to a monastery with Saint Bernard dogs. The magic goes extreme and they turn in to dogs to help train a tough dog. It works and the dog helps save a person.  

47: Abe Lincoln at Last The kids go back to see Abe Lincoln. First, the first him when he is present. They see a small kid and go along with his games even though they want to see the president. It turns out he is the president's son and can get them to see him. Then they use magic to see Lincoln riding. They meet some guy named "Sam" who says he can take them to Lincoln. Sam gets injured and they try to help him, but don't do it well. They later find out that he is a young Abe Lincoln. This book was fun and explored the life of Lincoln in a memorable way. 

Magic Tree House Collection: Books 9-16

Magic Tree House Collection: Books 9-16 by Mary Pope Osborne

In this series of books, the kids use the treehouse to visit many past periods, primarily to gather books for Morgan Le Fay. In the process, they earn their master librarian cards. The trips include some visits to historical periods and places that are well known as well as those that are obscure. You would think that they would know a little bit more about the time periods they are exploring. There are also bits of "ghosts" that save them from some challenges. (I could do without those.)

9: Dolphins at Daybreak

They visit dolphins and communicate with them and other sea animals. (They also need to run from sharks)

10: Ghost Town at Sundown

They visit the wild west and meet a guy that is trying to protect his heard from horse thieves. He has a knack for writing and the kids encourage him to pursue the path. They later discover that a book they read about the period was written by him (and dedicated to them.) 

11: Lions at Lunchtime

They get to hang out with animals in Africa. Lions end up under their tree.

12: Polar Bears Past Bedtime

They play with polar bear cubs. Um, that does not seem like something that would be very smart. The natives of the region mention they learned a lot from the animals, but I don't think it was that way.

13:Vacation Under the Volcano

They visit Pompeii. They like the Roman times, but wonder why the soothsayer keeps saying the end is near. Then the realize the volcano is about to erupt and barely make it out in time. (But not before rescuing some books.

14: Day of the Dragon-King

In ancient China, the dragon king wants to destroy books (well actually "proto-books", they have not yet invented paper.) They rescue some.

15: Viking Ships at Sunrise

In Ireland, they encounter vikings and end up sailing away in one of their ships

16: Hour of the Olympics

The kids go to the Olympics and discover that only men are allowed. The girl tries to do some trickery to get in, but ends up in trouble.

Magic Tree House Books 1-8

Magic Tree House Books 1-8 by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie stumble across a magic tree house near their home in Pennsylvania. There are books there. When they look at a book and wish they end up in the place shown. They need the book of their home to go back. They go on some adventures and see they are accompanied by some animals. These often help them, and may be people in disguise. They discover that this is a set up form Morgan Le Fay from King Arthur time. She was a librarian with many books and they are able to help her escape from a curse. The books have some charm, but start to get old when read together.

1. Dinosaurs Before Dark - they see animals including a TRex

2. The Knight at Dawn - they go to the time of knights with 40 pound helmets

3.  Mummies in the Morning - they explore mummies and get lost in false passages in a tomb

4. Pirates Past Noon - they help pirates read a map to find treasure. They leave before getting the treasure due to a storm

5. Night of the Ninjas - they see boy and girl ninjas

6. Afternoon on the Amazon - in the amazon, they need to watch out for dangerous animals

7. Sunset of the Sabertooth - back in the time of sbertooth tigers

8. Midnight on the Moon - a future trip to a moon man before they finally free Morgan Le Fey

Magic Tree House: Monday with a Mad Genius and Dark Day in the Deep Sea

Magic Tree House Monday with a Mad Genius and Dark Day in the Deep Sea

The kids help Leonardo da Vinci fly and retain his faith in his work. In the second book, they save an Octopus that saved them. That magic wand comes in handy. This historical fiction approach feels a bit too sanitized, but works for kids.

Magic Tree House Collection: Books 17-24

Magic Tree House Collection: Books 17-24 by Mary Pope Osborne

17.  "Tonight on the Titanic": They go on the titanic and try to help people.

18. "Buffalo Before Breakfast": They join a native american on the buffalo plains before white settlers dominated.

19. "Tigers at Twilight": They are off seeing animals in India.

20. "Dingoes at Dinnertime": The visit Australia. This one completes the cycle where there dog turns out to be a boy that was on a mission to better understand other cultures.

21. "Civil War on Sunday": They are part of the Civil War. They help a drummer boy to get better. They want to keep him from harm, but he wants to go back. They later find out he is their ancestor.

22. "Revolutionary War on Wednesday": The meet up with some patriots and see George Washington. They get a letter to deliver to family if the operation fails. (It doesn't)

23. "Twister on Tuesday": They go to a school house along the California trail. There are two siblings and one other boy there. The boy is difficult to get along with. Shortly after they leave, they see a tornado. They run back, and show people where the cellar is. The mean boy is strong enough. They all get in and are saved. They become friends with the boy.

24. "Earthquake in the Early Morning": They are in San Francisco during the earthquake. They see somebody trying to rescue valuable books. They see that the building they take them to will be burned, while the one where they were survived. They try to talk him out of it, but they don't. They later are photographed with a message of hope. In the book, they see these.

The stories are all fairly short, with a few "threads" tying them together. They are looking for something as part of the group of stories and seek to help Merlin and the Arthurian people. It is an interesting bit of time travel to help explore different historical epochs.

Good Morning, Gorillas (Magic Tree House #26)

Good Morning, Gorillas (Magic Tree House #26) by Mary Pope Osborne

The kids go to a location with Gorillas. The girl becomes friends. The boy wants to take notes. Eventually they learn to communicate with gorillas and then they head home.

Midnight on the Moon (Magic Tree House, No. 8)

Midnight on the Moon (Magic Tree House, No. 8) by Mary Pope Osborne

This Magic Tree House book, written in 1996 forecast a base on the moon by 2030. That seems fairly far-fetched. But this is a fantasy children's book. In it the kids need to find some magical "M" answer. They go through some moon exploration, but find the answer was a magical mouse near them. It leaves a number of mysteries. (Who was the "moon man"? Why do they have so much gear just sitting around on the moon base?) It seemed engaging for the kids.