Seasons of the Sandstorms is the 34th book in Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House series. In the series, Jack and Annie go on adventures using the magic tree house. In these adventures, they usually have to bring something back or help someone get something in a different place, culture or in history. Jack and Annie are helped by a book about the place that they land in as well as helped by friends who appear incognito. This book looks specifically at ancient Baghdad during Baghdad's golden age. The goal of this adventure is to follow Merlin's instructions though a letter he wrote to the children. The book is suitable for readers who are 4th grade and up.
When Jack and Annie are brought into Baghdad, they land in the desert. Their clothes change into clothing that is suitable for this area and they meet Mamoon. They help Mamoon bring a treasure to Baghdad while battling bandits, sandstorms and separation when they lose Mamoon after a sandstorm. On their way to Baghdad, Jack and Annie learn about the importance of camel transportation in the desert. Once in Baghdad, they meet the caliph (the ruler) and using the treasure that Mamoon gave them, help him spread wisdom to the world. The caliph brings Jack and Annie to the House of Wisdom which was a place for researchers, scientists and other thinkers to go. In the House of Wisdom is a laboratory for experiments, a library and an observatory to look at the sky and the stars. Jack and Annie meet people who have influenced the ways of Western civilization.
Young readers can see the similarities between ancient Baghdad and their own present town. In Baghdad, there is a bazaar which is like a mall, a police system, public schools and hospitals. Jack and Annie meet a man who perfected the Arabic numeral system which is the system that we use today. Mamoon inspires scientific wonder when he says, "science says we must observe the world. We must make experiments and try to find out why things happen." This book also teaches the idea that wisdom is spread by stories and ways of life that people bring to other lands.
Mary Pope Osborne includes a "more facts about Baghdad" on the last pages of the book which give more information about Mesopotamia, the House of Wisdom and who the inspiration to Mamoon was. The illustrations are few and in black and white but they are detailed and depict ancient Baghdad culture well. The problem with this book is that it has a lot of magical references and Jack and Annie have a rhyme book that helps them to get out of trouble. Although this series is about magic, readers will have to keep in mind that magic like in the book does not happen in real life. This book could be used in a unit on histories cultures. ( )

Season of the sandstorms:
This book contains lots of history in long ago Baghdad. This history tells you all about what it was like back then.
More history. This
is what this book contains. That's what Jack is learning all through the book. ( )

Coolio. ( )

I didn't like it because it wasn't that exciting. The guy that they were with was really the emperor of the town. ( )

Jack and Annie were sent on a mission by Morgan and Merlin to help the ruler of bagdad spred wisdom to the world. ( )