Magic Tree House, Books 36 & 37

January 1, 2008
Gr 1-3-Jack and Annie and their magic tree house are back in two tales written and narrated by Mary Pope Osborne. In Blizzard of the Blue Moon (Random, 2006), they travel to depression-era New York to rescue a Unicorn. Dragon of the Red Dawn (Random, 2007) takes them to samurai ruled Edo, Japan, in the 1600s where they search for the secret to happiness with a poet. Although fans of the series will gobble up these adventures, the spare prose, short sentences, and dialogue intended for early chapter book readers does not always translate well to audio. Osborne uses subtle voices for the characters and reads slowly enough for young listeners to easily follow along.Kelly Vikstrom, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, MD

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