As I always say, my 8 year old niece brought me the first 2 of these books to read. She loves them and she wanted me to read them too so we can talk about them. I find them fun and informative for kids about different time periods and different things around the world. I decided on book 5 to start reading them aloud for my dogs enjoyment too. (I know, you may think I am crazy - but they like them. Well one gets rather scared sometimes, but the other loves to listen). I think the writing was practically the same as the rest. It is a good children's story.SPOILERS BELOWIn the spoiler section of my reviews, I like to make note of things in the stories I read that stand out to me. These are the elements I either most enjoy, find interesting, don't enjoy; or understand, or things that just stick with me in my mind after I have read a story and put it away.In this story, it was nice to see a new 4-part; 4-book mystery factor come into play again after the kids solved the mystery of breaking the spell on Morgan in the last 4 books. I liked that this one introduced sending Jack and Annie on 4 separate adventures in this book and the next 3 to find answers to 4 riddles. By doing this, they will prove they can do research and are smart enough and brave enough to become master librarians. By doing this, they will then be able to help Morgan in collecting some books for her magical library. I enjoyed seeing Jack and Annie get to take a trip to the sea in this book. The riddle was fun and easy enough for them to answer once they found the right piece after making it out of the sea alive. This book had some parts in it though that added more of the danger or scare factor back that the last two did not seem to have for my dogs. One of my dogs is very sensitive, nervous, anxious, or whatever you want to call it. She was shaking and whining a little bit when Jack and Annie were scared by the Octopus gripping the mini-sub and again when the shark came near the mini-sub after the octopus let go. She was still worried and shaking and whining when Jack and Annie found that the mini-sub was leaking and that they had to try and swim back to shore and it continued during the shark swimming after them making the kids swim faster and faster. She was relieved though and stopped whining & shaking when the dolphins came to the rescue to help Jack and Annie back to shore! If my dog was worried and shaking and scared, I can imagine children may be a little nervous when reading this one too. All the scary stuff aside, this was a great book with the description of the life under the sea with the fish of many colors, corals and their information, the sharks, and so much more! Then after the dolphins helped get them back to shore, they discovered the answer to their riddle and were able to go home safely! It was quite an adventure for Jack and Annie just to learn that an Oyster was the answer to help them on their journey!
Title: Magic Tree House Books 8,9,21,25 By: Mary Pope Osborne Copyright: 1996-2002 Number of Pages: 280 Lit Require: Children's SeriesI absolutely love the Magic Tree House book series. They are all about a little energetic and curious sister named Annie and her older knowledgeable and smart brother named Jack who have stumbled upon a magic tree-house in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania. This tree house is under the control of a master librarian named Morgan le Fay. She has all of these magical books that allow Jack and Annie to visit places from the past and even the future. Morgan gives quests for Jack and Annie to complete, along the way Jack shows how to take notes while doing research about where they are. This is very well-represented in these books, because it gives facts about where they are, the people they encounter, etc. This book also shows how close of a bond Jack and Annie have.I would recommend reading these books aloud because it has textual content that is accurate in the field of science and history. I would read these aloud to a second or third grade class because these age levels still have an imaginative mindset, but can still be open to learning about all of the different places.
What do You think about Dolphins At Daybreak (2010)?
Dolphins at Daybreak is the ninth book in the Magic Tree House Series. This is a basic chapter book consisting of fantasy and adventure for second and third graders. This book starts with Jack and Annie both having a dream about The Magic Treehouse. Jack, Annie, and Morgan meet at the treehouse and Morgan tells Jack and Annie that she sent them the dream because she is in need of their help. Morgan is unable to collect books for the treehouse because of a spell that Merlin casted, so she has asked Jack and Annie to collect the books for her. In order for Jack and Annie to become librarians they have to solve for riddles and the first. Morgan hands them a book on the Ocean and once Annie touches it they end up on the sandy beach. The riddle tells them they must find something thats rough, gray, and holds treasure. They find a submarine and start exploring the ocean along with trying to solve the riddle from Morgan. Jack and Annie exit the submarine and begin swimming in the ocean when they are followed by sharks they believe they are going to die. Sure enough two dolphins come by and rescue Jack and Annie leading them back to shore. Headed back to the treehouse Annie steps on an oyster shell realizing that the pearls inside must be the answer to the riddle.This book introduces basic dialogue between two or more characters.
—Erica Johnson
Dolphins at Daybreak is the 9th book in the Magic Tree House series. In this installment, Jack and his little sister Annie find themselves on a coral reef trying to solve a riddle. If they solve they solve the riddle Morgan la Fey will make them Master Librarians. Jack and Annie have exciting encounters with a leaky submarine, an octopus, a hammerhead shark, and a pair of dolphins. In my opinion, Dolphins at Daybreak is the most exciting book in the series thus far. I'm pretty sure that my five-year-old son, Zachery, would agree. I find that sometimes the Magic Tree House books will have somewhat of a lull in the middle or they get to the point where I'm thinking, "oh my God are they ever going to complete their mission? Hurry up, for Christ's Sake." However, in Dolphins at Daybreak I found the story line moved along super fast-paced. The fast-pace was great because that meant it was able to fully hold Zachery's attention. I never noticed his mind seeming to wander away.
—Amanda Caldwell
This is the ninth book in the Magic Treehouse series. I LOVE these books, as do my 6 and 8-year old granddaughters, but I was disappointed in this book. It left me kind of flat.Morgan le Fay, a magical librarian sends the same dream to both Jack and Annie that the treehouse is back. Morgan asks them to solve another mystery and the treehouse takes them to a coral reef, where they find a minisub. One of the things that disappoints me is that Jack and Annie discuss whether to get in the sub or not because it isn't theirs, and once inside they take off on a joy ride. To me, this teaches children a less than desirable lesson--that it is okay to touch and take things that don't belong to you, in otherwords, theft. The fact that they discover beautiful sea life does not outweigh this. Then, when the sub begins leaking, they abandon it and swim in waters they KNOW are inhabited by sharks. Another bad choice. They outswim the shark, which is unrealistic, yet a third unwise thing.Yes, the reader will learn about sea life, but do we really want to endorse making bad choices that truly endanger lives?
—Linda Branich
