Sunday, April 11, 2010

Moonlight on the Magic Flute by Mary Pope Osborne


My thoughts:
As I’ve mentioned before, I love this series of books. I used them as a classroom teacher and I read them with my children. I love that Mary Pope Osborne is still writing them. They have just enough history and actual facts mixed with fun and imagination. In this installment Jack and Annie take a trip to Vienna, Austria and meet Mozart as a six year old child. They are tasked with finding an artist and helping him or her regain a love of art. Being children they have a hard time believing that the artist they are looking for might be a child. Through the course of the story they meet Her Imperial Highness, wear period dress, use a magical flute to return animals from the palace zoo to their homes and help Wolfie to love music again. My children were in suspense as to who the artist was going to be, but as an adult reader it was obvious once Wolfie is named. I love that my children are being introduced in a general way to different time periods and that they see the differences in the way people lived in different times or how they live in different places. Can’t recommend this series enough!

Product Details
Pub. Date: March 2009
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Format: Hardcover, 128pp
Sales Rank: 2,662
Age Range: 7 to 12
Series: Magic Tree House Series, #41
ISBN-13: 9780375856464
ISBN: 0375856463

Synopsis
Jack and Annie head to 18th-century Austria, where they must find and help a musician by the name of Mozart. Decked out in the craziest outfits they’ve ever worn—including a wig for Jack and a giant hoopskirt for Annie!—the two siblings search an entire palace to no avail. Their hunt is further hampered by the appearance of a mischievous little boy who is determined to follow them everywhere. But when the boy lets the animals out of the palace zoo, Jack and Annie have to use the only magic at their disposal to save themselves and the naughty little fellow.

2 comments:

  1. I used these when I taught school and with my kids also. It was one of our favorite series!

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  2. ONe of my kids (she's about to graduate from college, so that tells you something about how long these have been around!) loved these books. The second liked them OK, and the third? Left her cold. I have very fond memories of them, and I like that MPO is still writing them and enticing new young readers into the world of books.

    I'm actually reading a book of YA suspense, that belongs to my youngest, "Her Mother's Diary" by David Curry Kahn. It's an exciting story, plus it has an important lesson about believing in yourself, persevering though the task is hard and maintaining a positive attitude. Naturally, as all good books do, this "lesson" so to speak, is wrapped up in a good plot, with suspense and adventure! Allison is a teen on the run from drug lords responsible for her parents' death. She's trying to find money her mom hid, before the killers do. She finds help in an unlikely source, an old man devastated by the loss of his wife. An exciting, good story, at least so far!

    By the way, I love the stack of books on your blog. Reminds me (as I'm sure is the intention) of my bookcases when I was a kid.

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