The Magic Tree House is an interesting series of books written by author Mary Pope Osborne that we recently stumbled upon while searching for the next series of books for G1 to dive into.
About the Magic Tree House
Brother and sister – Jack and Annie – discover a mysterious tree house filled with books that take them on exciting adventures around the world and throughout history. All they have to do is say “I wish we could go there” while they are in the tree house and they appear where they want to be in history.
It is recommended for children age 8 and up but some early readers will still find this series an easy read. Although initially resistant to the series, G1’s interest has been caught and he’s now devouring the entire series and asking for more. I figured he would enjoy it because the story idea sounds not unlike The Wishing Chair series by Enid Blyton which he enjoyed immensely.
Audio Books
The Magic Tree House is also available on a CD recording as an audio book so you can share the stories with children who are unable to read them or if your child simply loves to be read to.
The Movie
The Magic Tree House has been made into a Japanese animation that is available on DVD. I do not know how faithfully it follows the book but it looks like Mary Pope Osborne was in on the collaboration so I guess it should be fairly reliable. Watch the trailer.
Educational Value
The Magic Tree House is a fun way to introduce young children to history. After reading the stories, children can dig deeper into the subjects in each story with The Magic Tree House Fact Tracker. Each title is accompanied by its own Magic Tree House Fact Tracker that is filled with up-to-date information, photos, illustrations, and fun tidbits from Jack and Annie on the topic they discovered in their Magic Tree House adventure. Included in the Fact Tracker are listings of books, museums, videos, CD-ROMs, Internet sites, and museum visits for further information on each topic.
On the Magic Tree House Website, you can also:
- Play games
- Watch the Fact Tracker videos
- Magic Tree House Passport – sign up for a passport and collect passport stamps for every correctly answered Magic Tree House quiz
- Dinosaurs Before Dark
- The Knight at Dawn
- Mummies in the Morning
- Pirates Past Noon
- Night of the Ninjas
- Afternoon on the Amazon
- Sunset of the Sabertooth
- Midnight on the Moon
- Dolphins at Daybreak
- Ghost Town at Sundown
- Lions at Lunchtime
- Polar Bears Past Bedtime
- Vacation under the Volcano
- Day of the Dragon King
- Viking Ships at Sunrise
- Hour of the Olympics
- Tonight on the Titanic
- Buffalo Before Breakfast
- Tigers at Twilight
- Dingoes at Dinnertime
- Civil War on Sunday
- Revolutionary War on Wednesday
- Twister on Tuesday
- Earthquake in the Early Morning
- Stage Fright on a Summer Night
- Good Morning, Gorillas
- Thanksgiving on Thursday
- High Tide in Hawaii
- Christmas in Camelot
- Haunted Castle at Hallow’s Eve
- Summer of the Sea Serpent
- Winter of the Ice Wizard
- Carnival at Candlelight
- Season of the Sandstorms
- Night of the New Magicians
- Blizzard of the Blue Moon
- Dragon of the Red Dawn
- Monday with a Mad Genius
- Dark Day in the Deep Sea
- Eve of the Emperor Penguin
- Moonlight on the Magic Flute
- A Good Night for Ghosts
- Leprechaun in Late Winter
- A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time
- A Crazy Day with Cobras
- Dogs in the Dead of Night
- Abe Lincoln at Last!
- A Perfect Time for Pandas
Books 1-28 are available in a box set.
If you child enjoys learning from The Magic Tree House, you might like to take a look at The Magic Tree House Novel Ideas from CurrClick – Curriculum and classes in a click for your child’s further study.
Nurture for the Future 