Magic Tree House #4

I love a good series that’s well-planned and designed to unfold systematically through a progression of episodes. Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Tree House series accomplishes this with precision. Geared towards children of the protagonists’ ages—say, 6-9—these magical tales reach a number educational goals, all the while entertaining their readers with dangerous adventure.

I gave a few of these books to my kids for Christmas, and they immediately lost most of them within their horde of other books, so the first tale we grabbed and enjoyed was this, Book #4, Pirates Past Noon. In this tale, Annie and Jack find themselves inside a book titled Pirates of the Caribbean, and those pirates are not the friendliest looters on the sea. The children must flee the pirates’ sinister clutches by first helping them find a hidden treasure and then escaping back to their tree house before the fiends force them to walk the plank. My kids and I read these ten chapters over the course of three nights, and they so anticipated the next chapter that my 7-year-old son totally forgot to ask me for the next Tintin installment.

As noted above, some of the educational goals this series meets include creating heroes out of readers and bibliophiles, and encouraging the children to broaden their imaginations but entering the books they love so much. These books also review previous reads, thereby helping children to understand the systematic nature of Story, even if the major Story is made up of numerous smaller stories. The devices Osborne uses—the medallion and bookmark, the mysterious “M” person, the faithful friend from each new land—also help instill in children an awareness of literary devices and character cues that authors generally use to bring balance to their imaginative worlds.

We’ve read two in the series so far, and I know my kids are craving to continue on to the next, so the verdict from the audience that matters most is certainly in: kids love these books. Hopefully the verdict of a parent/educator/author helps as well: I love them too.

©2018 E.T.