Comments on: The Magic Tree House

By: Tracy W

Tracy W — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 22:43:25 +0000

Fans of Magic Tree House here too. I think they do sometimes make reference to something which happened in a previous story but it does nothing to spoil enjoyment of the current book. The first 3 or 4 books do set the scene for later adventures in terms of explaining the reason for the tree house etc.
We’ve just read Twister on Tuesday as we’re doing a weather project and have the Ancient Greek, Roman and China ones to look forward to when we get there with SOTW.

By: tammy

tammy — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 21:07:33 +0000

We are big fans of magic tree house and magic school bus here. The magic tree house books are numbered but it doesn’t really make a huge difference. Each book is a story in its own right and mary pope osborne makes sure she recaps the essential elements at the beginning of each book. After the 3rd book ( I think) jack and annie discover that morgan le fay is the owner of the tree house and that she is the librarian at camelot. As the series progresses morgan sends them on adventures to collect books and stories from different time periods and in one set of books they even rescue her from a spell she is under. They have a lot of the stories on http://www.audible.co.uk. Sam loves to listen to them while we are out and about.

They are all about the same reading level and always have a section in the back to explain more about the topic.

There are also teacher’s books to go along with some of the titles to give more background and project ideas.

A series we have recently discovered is called Carole Marsh Mysteries. They are set of books in which two children and their grandparents solve mysteries while on vacation and research trips (their grandmother is an author). The reading level is a little more challenging than magic tree house but the topics are really good. We are currently reading mystery on the iditarod trail.

By: HHaricot

HHaricot — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:52:05 +0000

is boxcar readable by BB herself then? [I'd got it into my head it was a read aloud!] might ask if someone can bring a book to Kessie for me to see.

By: Kath

Kath — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 15:57:23 +0000

Boxcar Children?

By: Alison

Alison — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:08:32 +0000

Plenty of that sort of level book in our library (they have them graded), or any bookshop. Ernest is delighting in the Horrid Henry’s, lol. We had one of those junior Animal Ark books too – so appalling! We also have several of some Usborne and Collins series I think, which are ok – some decent suthors writing short and simple stories.

By: HHaricot

HHaricot — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 23:30:15 +0000

Hmm, I wonder why I haven’t looked at your blog before! having found it – and read the book reviews! I have linked and should read more often. Hope thats OK

By: HHaricot

HHaricot — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 22:20:35 +0000

look away kirsty!
Elizabeth, we do miss you and your family. Glad to hear that its not sooo dreadful to start at 12! SB really likes the first one anyway.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 21:02:08 +0000

My 6yo dd (who played with yours a bit while we were still in Cambridge, sob) is reading MTH too — I think it should be spot on for yours. The books all seem to be about the same level and while it would be better to read them in order, it’s not essential because there’s usually a bit of ‘and this is what has just happened’ stuff at the beginning of each chapter. HTH.

As for other readers, I’ll be interested in what other people say. We just grab a few from the library and hope they hit the spot.

By: Kirsty

Kirsty — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 19:54:44 +0000

no idea – but looking at the website, they look fab. Will have to have a nosy when we come visit.