dramastef's Full Review: Pope Mary Osborne - Dinosaurs Before Dark
When you have a new reader, finding books that interest and challenge the reader, while not overwhelming and alienating the reader can be difficult. DramaGirl moved from See Spot Run to Harry Potter and pretty much jumped past most of the books in between. Seven-year-old DramaBoy is taking a slower path, which would be fine except that his interests seem to be older than his reading level. It was my daughter who suggested that he might enjoy Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House series. Because of my inability to read any series out of order, we started at the beginning with #1, Dinosaurs Before Dark.
Eight-year-old Jack and his seven-year-old sister Annie live in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania. One day they are playing in the woods behind their house when they happen upon "the longest rope ladder Jack had ever seen... There - at the top - was a tree house." When adventurous Annie persuades her more cautious brother to join her in climbing to the tree house, they see that it is full of more books than either of them had ever seen in one place.
Jack begins looking through a dinosaur book and wishes that he could see a real Pteranodon. The tree house started to spin... Faster and faster. Jack squeezed his eyes shut. He held on to Annie. Then everything was still.Absolutely still... The tree house was still high up in an oak tree.But it wasn't the same oak tree.
The siblings find themselves in a time long ago with a Pteranodon, Triceratops, a valley of Anatosauruses and a frightening Tyrannosaurus rex. With each new dinosaur, Jack looks up a small bit of facts in the book he brought with him. At the end, the kids must find their way back to the tree house, find the book on Frog Creek and wish themselves back to their home knowing that no one would ever believe what happened to them. Dinosaurs Before Dark was just about perfect for DramaBoy. It was interesting enough to keep his attention. It was challenging enough that we needed to read it together. It was simple enough that he could read two chapters each sitting in about ten minutes. It was short enough at ten chapters that the accomplishment of finishing the book was never too far away. Sometimes it's a challenge to get him to read to me. He's always willing to sit down and listen to books that someone else reads, but I knew this series was a hit when we finished this book and he asked me if we could start the second book right away.
I don't think it's totally necessary to begin this series with this very first book, but we liked the introduction to Jack and Annie and their many adventures. This book sets some of the ground rules that will be followed in the later books. No time will ever pass in Frog Creek while Jack and Annie are away. Annie is the free spirit while Jack is more reserved. The trips are always filled with learning experiences. We wholeheartedly recommend Dinosaurs Before Dark to the newish reader in your house!
Illus. in black-and-white. "With an entertaining blend of fact, farce, and fantasy, Osborne tells the story of Jack and his sister, Annie, who take a ...More at HotBookSale
THE BOOK THAT started it all is now in a new package with a CD of the author reading the story. Whether kids are fans or new to the bestselling Magic ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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