Sunset of the Sabertooth

Magic Tree House # 7 Sunset of the Sabertooth
by
Mary Pope Osborne and Sal Murdocca
children's historical/fantasy fiction, ages 5-8

Once again Jack and Annie travel through time in search of artifacts to help Morgan, the sorceress. This time the children end up in the ice age and must escape from a bear and a tiger with the help of a woolly mammoth and some Cro-Magnon people. Now on to book 8!

Magic Tree House #6 Afternoon on the Amazon

Magic Tree House #6 Afternoon on the Amazon
by
Mary Pope Osborne

Some of the Magic Tree House books are more realistic and some are more fanciful and magical. Although there is some anthropomorphic traits to animals, this book in the series relies on the real life adventures to be had in the Rain forest. The Amazon is full of creatures right out of stories - piranha, crocodiles, monkeys, and Army ants. No exaggerations or car chases are needed.
Schoolchildren Jack and Annie are magically transported to today's Brazil and spend pretty much this whole book running from animals.
After we were done, my audience wanted to know if the animals in this book were real. One child was especially worried about vampire bats that were mentioned in the book. I assured her that although they are found in South America, they are not found in Pennsylvania or Ohio. We have considerably smaller and tamer bats here that eat mosquitoes and are considered to be an asset to a backyard.

Magic Tree House # 3: Mummies in the Morning

Magic Tree House # 3: Mummies in the Morning
by
Mary Pope Osborne
children's fiction, ages 7-10

In book three of this popular time travel/historical fiction series siblings Jack and Annie are transported into ancient Egypt where they must help the ghost of an Egyptian Queen move on to the afterlife by restoring her Book of the Dead to her mummy. The addition of the religious aspects and the supernatural ghost idea are different than the first two books in this series which featured dinosaurs and knights. A number of conservative parents have their children read this series (and other historical fiction series such as American Girls) and having a ghost be a character puts this book in the series in jeopardy of being banned for having occult/horror/differing religious beliefs.
I read this book with a 6 year old and a 7 year old. The 6 year old did not understand that the mummy had different religious beliefs than ones she was accustomed to and didn't understand about the Book of the Dead. An older child would probably get the idea. Maybe if she had more knowledge about Egypt this would have been better received.
I do look forward to other books in this series, but this particular reader/book interaction did not go well. Book 4 is on pirates, which are pretty popular right now, so hopefully it will work better with my audience.
P. S. Bonus points to the author for a clever title using alliteration. (Although now that I think of it there is just one mummy, not mummies).
P. P. S. This cover is different than the one I have in my hand. It must have been reissued with a different cover.

Magic Tree House # 1: Dinosaurs before Dark

Magic Tree House # 1: Dinosaurs before Dark
by
Mary Pope Osborne
and
Sal Murdocca
Reading level - 2nd grade

Jack and Annie climb into a tree house, read some books, then wish they were experiencing what one of the books is about. They get their wish! They are in the land of dinosaurs. They see Mama dinosaurs with eggs, flying dinosaurs, and more. Chased by a Tyrannosaurus rex, they decide it is time to go home! This adventure story has wide appeal and is the start of the popular series. The last time I checked there were 28 books in this series so far. I guess it is on to book #2 now - The Knight at Dawn.
http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/magictreehouse/