Lions at Lunchtime

I have always wanted to go to Africa and finally got to with Jack & Annie, my awesome friends who help Morgan through the use of her magic tree house. Lions and zebras and giraffes, oh my! Hyenas, gazelle and wildebeest, oh dear! So many animals, its just like being on a safari. And best of all, a honey bird!! Or was the best thing the Masai warrior? Or maybe the honey? It could be the riddle. But no, the best thing was the Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches. Yum! Only one more riddle left. Until the next adventure!!! =)

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!

Nice mix of fiction with nonfiction tossed in. Though it is a little bizarre how these siblings simply wander around in the wild with *no* problems... I'm also not crazy about the way Jack and Annie lie to their mom - while I know this is necessary to the stories (as my daughter says, "They have to, otherwise their mom will get mad at them"), it still bothers me that they have to set their story straight (We'll tell her we ate sandwiches on the way home from the store, rather than tell her about our adventure).

S says: I want to go on an adventure like this, because this would be fun!!! Except for an adventure that has cheetahs and jaguars, but lions, I'm fine with because I know just how to take care of lions. Lions are awesome, too. show more They're strong, and powerful, and very fast. I liked this book because Jack and Annie go on an adventure with my favorite animal in it.

This book was fun to read, and all first graders should read this book. show less

Jack and Annie are adventurous young children that live the lives every elementary and middle schooler would be envious of. In this book, Jack and Annie travel to Africa and are faced with dealing with the vast animal population including wildebeests upon the first few seconds of their arrival. The riddles from Morgan le Fay intrigue young readers (and even me too!) and cause them to keep wanting to read more not only in this book, but the series as a whole. It also encourages students to learn about geography and facts about the world. I never read these books as a child and I am actually very upset about it; I loved this book! The main message in this story is to help teach children to always use your imagination.

Kearsten says: Nice mix of fiction with nonfiction tossed in. Though it is a little bizarre how these siblings simply wander around in the wild with *no* problems... I'm also not crazy about the way Jack and Annie lie to their mom - while I know this is necessary to the stories (as my daughter says, "They have to, otherwise their mom will get mad at them"), it still bothers me that they have to set their story straight (for example: We'll tell her we ate sandwiches on the way home from the store, rather than tell her about our adventure).

However, all that said, I think the story's well-told and written for a (late)1st-2nd grade audience, and very appealing to that age range.

Recommended.

In this book Jack and Annie are taken on an adventure to Africa via their Magic Tree House. They encounter various different animals that live in the savanna including lions! This is one of my favorite of the three Magic Tree House books I read and I believe children would enjoy it as it is more real time than the previous ones which focus on traveling back in history. About a 3rd grade reading level, highly recommend.

In my opinion, this is a good informational book. It is in the form of a story but that makes the information easier and more fun to read. I really liked how well the book was written. The writing throughout the book is very well organized and clear which allows the reader a clear path to understanding the information. The facts are interesting and very useful.
I also really liked the illustrations throughout this book. Chapter books can often times be difficult to follow along with but the illustrations give the reader another source for information. Meaning that, if the reader does not fully comprehend what is going on in the book they can look at the illustrations to get a better idea.
The main focus of this book is to learn about lions.