What was it with me and book series that turned into monsters after I stopped reading? The Magic Treehouse was a series I read when I was fairly young for early chapter book readers. I probably read the first 10-15 books in the set. Little did I know that there would be 56 books in this series, not including the non fiction additions to come along later.
This series was monstrously popular. Even my husband who is 3 years older and not as much as a reader as I read these books as a kid. They were everywhere for a very long time.
Most people my age remember the first set of books in this series, featuring the first 28 or so stories. In these books, Morgan Le Fay sends the children heroes on missions all over time in their Magic Treehouse. Mostly I remember the first few books. Egypt, dinosaurs, ninjas, knights, that stuff. The later ones get a little fuzzy and I’m pretty sure I never finished off this set. I probably only owned about 5 of them.
The next set of books in the series are called The Merlin Missions, of which I don’t think I ever read a single one but I definitely remember seeing them in the stores. By that time I had definitely aged out of Magic Treehouse but those books were longer and I always thought they had the most gorgeous covers.
That later series was about missions given to the kids by, you guessed it, Merlin. And apparently later his apprentices. These books sometimes feature fantasy locations rather than historical ones and I’m kind of sad I missed out on them. I may have to go back and check them out someday.
The Merlin Missions comprise the last set of books 29-55 as well as a few “specials” that seemed to have been in fashion with young reader chapter books at the time.
I recommend these books for any younger beginning reader even now, they are perfect for capturing a youngster’s imagination and running away with it. Plus, they might learn a little something.
What was your favorite Magic Treehouse book? I was rather fond of the Egyptian and ninja ones.
What did you read as a kid before getting into modern YA? Share your picks in the comments.
From my shelf to yours,
Erin
Leave a Reply