This is the second book in the Magic Tree House series. The first is Dinosaurs Before Dark.
After their adventure with the dinosaurs, Jack and Annie are consumed with curiosity about the treehouse full of books in the woods. Before dawn, they sneak out of their house and into another adventure. This time, they travel to a castle and are caught snooping around. Annie’s quick thinking saves them, just in time!
Since being underwhelmed by the first book in the Magic Tree House series, I was quite curious to see if the second one was much of an improvement. The first book left quite a bit unsaid about the how and why of the tree house’s time travel abilities and I was hoping that will be more fully explained in this one as well. Unfortunately, while the book is still plenty easy for little readers, it is still pretty undeveloped and a touch boring. The adventure is far too short and without depth to capture your attention and the mystery of the time travel is still left largely unexplained (not ignored mind you, Jack and Annie discover clues).
I can’t write off the series though, or even the first few books because I know how much kids love them, even if the beginning ones bore my pants off. It’s worth knowing though, so if you have a child who starts at first in the series and is unimpressed, you can encourage them to continue, knowing that further down the road the stories improve.
Another plus (albeit a subtle one) is that Jack and Annie seem genuinely interested in non-fiction books. They serve as models to young readers that books full of facts can be fascinating.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – “dummies,” “oh brother,”
Death, Violence and Gore – Jack mutters that he’s going to kill his sister when he’s annoyed at her. There’s not any actual threat of him killing her. Jack and Annie explore an armory where armor and weapons are stored. They see crossbows, spears, swords and battle-axes. A man tells Jack and Annie that there will be a hanging and another threatens/jokes that the rats might eat them.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – Jack and Annie fall in a moat which may or may not be filled with crocodiles.
