Day of the Dragon King

The stakes keep getting higher and higher for Master Librarians, Jack & Annie. This time, they are sent to ancient China, to the time of the Dragon King (first emperor)in order to save a book (bamboo scroll) from destruction. This book takes the Magic Tree House series to dangerous levels. =)

The "Magic Tree House Day of the Dragon King," by Mary Pope Osborne is a wonderful chapter book. What I like most about this series, and this book in particular, is the plot of the story. The brother and sister team travel around the world, and through time, to save important books. It is a clever way to expose children to history, as well as other cultures. In this book, the children go back to Imperial China to save a bamboo scroll from the Dragon Emperor. Secondly, the writing is done really well. It is fast and concise, but still challenging for younger audiences. For example, when the children enter the Emperor's tomb they find his hundreds of clay soldiers, Osborne writes "There were even life-size wooden chariots with horses. The show more horses looked completely real. They were different colors with white teeth and red tongues." The sentences were short and simple, but got the message across. Another aspect of Osborne's writing that I enjoyed was the amount of dialogue. I feel like most of the book was written in dialogue. This made the story flow and the conversations were relatable. The main idea of this book, as well as all "Magic Tree House" books is to inspire a love for literature and reading. show less

I picked this book up expecting to feel brain cells dying as I read it. I was very wrong; I can see why my students enjoy this series so much. It's very well written (albeit extremely simplistic) and interesting. It was an extremely quick read and is educational, to boot!

Jack and Annie set off to find an original copy of an ancient Chinese myth. Armed only with their magic library cards, they must take on a book-burning emperor. But with the help of a scholar and a silk weaver, they triumph again.

I find this to be a really engaging story. I love how the author incorporates real facts in the story, along with the fictional story-line. For example, I like how the author uses the character of the Dragon King. She states how he was as a ruler, letting children see how different China was in the past. I also like how she incorporated the building of the Great Wall. This is interesting for children to see when it first started to come around and why. I also enjoy the plot of the story. For instance, I find it great that the author chose to have the children go back in time to save a book. This makes the book a great influence on young children. This shows them the importance of literature and it teaches them to value it. Overall the show more main message of this story is to push readers to think about a different time period. It teaches readers to value literature, as well as have them learn a bit about history. show less

In this installment of the Magic Treehouse series, Jack and Annie find themselves in ancient China. A powerful emperor is attempting to rid his kingdom of knowledge by burning all the books in the imperial library. Jack and Annie are able to save one of the books they need as Master Librarians and narrowly escape the Dragon King before returning home. Great book for students just getting in to chapter books.

Once again "Morgan Le Fay" risks Jack and Annie's lives to save a story for Camelot. They go to ancient China to save a book while they're all being burned. Naturally they're nearly killed and have to hide in a tomb filled with thousands of soldier statues. The silk thread they've been given saves them when it shows them a path out (which of course relates to the story that they've saved and they've asked to save them). In the end they of course escape and are back in PA. Oh yeah, Annie looks like she has bags under her eyes in all the illustrations in this one.