A young boy and his little sister find a tree house in the woods near their house. They climb to the top and find that it is full of books. Why are they there? And who owns the tree house? They soon discover that they can travel through history and journey to exotic new worlds.
That is the beginning of the ongoing series Magic Tree House, in which siblings Jack and Annie complete special missions. They undertake these dangerous assignments for the mystical Morgan le Fay and Merlin of Camelot. The series currently has 50 books (as of September 2013), and the author is still going! The series has, I believe, been on the New York Times best-seller list since the early 1990's.
SUMMARY
Jack and Annie, brother and sister, find a tree house in the oak woods close to their home in Pennsylvania. They find that it is filled with books. During their first visit to the tree house, they open a book about dinosaurs and say that they wish they could go there. Suddenly, the wind spins, and they are whisked away from modern-day USA to...the "time of dinosaurs".
CONTENT
There is an amount of violence, as the children do travel through history (Civil War, eruption of Pompeii, book burning, etc.), but it is all scaled down for early elementary readers. There is no blood or descriptive gore but rather mild violence in the stories.
I doubt the author is a Christian (though I could not say for sure). Some of her books include controversial issues. For example, in Sunset of the Sabertooth, there is a sorcerer included in the story. Also, in the first book, Dawn of the Dinosaurs, the siblings travel back 65 million years ago (according to Osborne) when only dinosaurs lived and no humans.
GENERAL INFORMATION
That is the beginning of the ongoing series Magic Tree House, in which siblings Jack and Annie complete special missions. They undertake these dangerous assignments for the mystical Morgan le Fay and Merlin of Camelot. The series currently has 50 books (as of September 2013), and the author is still going! The series has, I believe, been on the New York Times best-seller list since the early 1990's.
SUMMARY
Jack and Annie, brother and sister, find a tree house in the oak woods close to their home in Pennsylvania. They find that it is filled with books. During their first visit to the tree house, they open a book about dinosaurs and say that they wish they could go there. Suddenly, the wind spins, and they are whisked away from modern-day USA to...the "time of dinosaurs".
This is just the first of fifty adventures in the tree house. The siblings meet famous people like Plato, Clara Barton, George Washington, King Arthur Abraham Lincoln, and Harry Houdini. Not only do they travel through history, but they also are taken to fantasy lands where there are giant sea serpents, magical "selkie" creatures, and the like.
CONTENT
There is an amount of violence, as the children do travel through history (Civil War, eruption of Pompeii, book burning, etc.), but it is all scaled down for early elementary readers. There is no blood or descriptive gore but rather mild violence in the stories.
There is nothing inappropriate that I recall. It has been a long while since I read the books, but as the series is for young children, there is nothing immoral that would be found in the books. Nor is there any foul language used at all.
I doubt the author is a Christian (though I could not say for sure). Some of her books include controversial issues. For example, in Sunset of the Sabertooth, there is a sorcerer included in the story. Also, in the first book, Dawn of the Dinosaurs, the siblings travel back 65 million years ago (according to Osborne) when only dinosaurs lived and no humans.
The series is excellent for children around the ages of 8-11, though I know of some 12-year-olds who also enjoyed the books. Each of the 50 books is short compared to most books, but it is a good size for early elementary kids who want a good adventure read. The stories will teach history, while also providing fantasy adventures and excitement.
Number of pages: varies (usually anywhere from 50-150 pages)
Author of series: Mary Pope Osborne
Published in: 1992-present (Book #50: Hurry Up, Houdini was published in 2013)
A fifty book series (as of September 2013)
Primary audience: Children
For a complete list of the books in the series (and also the nonfiction research guides), visit the Wikipedia page or the official website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Tree_House_series or http://www.magictreehouse.com/
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