Magic Tree House Boxed Set, Books 1-4: Dinosaurs Before Dark, The Knight at Dawn, Mummies in the Morning, and Pirates Past Noon

When I was little, these books were some of my first chapter books. I remember them as being huge at the time, but not dauntingly so. I do remember being proud and bragging that the first one was the biggest book I'd ever read. Now I'm older, and am ready to pass these stories on to the next generation. As a child, reading a chapter felt like an accomplishment, not because it was long or difficult, but because it was a *chapter.* Looking at the books now, the chapters are short -- only about two or three pages on average. I think the longest chapter in the first four books is something like six or eight pages, though that might be later on. The font is large, but not overwhelmingly so. It's small enough to give it a "grown up" feeling, while still being large enough for young eyes to focus on and track easily. There are pictures every couple pages, as well. Again, spread out enough to give a feeling of reading a "real" book, like an adult, while still acknowledging that the readers are still very much children.The stories are fast paced, which is perfect for keeping the attention early readers, especially when you're bridging them from picture books to chapter books. In the first ten pages of the first book, Jack and Annie are introduced and given basic characterization (Jack is the older brother and an academic, his younger sister Annie is the adventurer). The children discover a tree house full of books, and accidently end up in pre-historic times with dinosaurs outside the window. The explore the area, take notes, and meet the big baddy, all within the first sprint of pages.Throughout the books, Jack has his handy dandy notebook that he fills with notes on his adventures. In the first book, he takes basic notes on each dinosaur or strange event that happens. This helps set up a foundation for learning *how* to take notes, and why they are useful. In the beginning, Jack's notes are short and simplistic. "Friendly" and "Eats grass" being good examples. Later on, his notes become slightly more complex, though it takes several books for this to occur. Even then, it's not a sudden jump -- it's gradual. In later books (I think starting in book two, but not really coming into play until book four) Jack actually refers back to the notes he's taken so far and uses them to put together the pieces to a puzzle. Jack also makes a habit of carrying the book they wished on in his backpack every time they go on an adventure. Any time the children encounter a new word, something new or strange, they open up the book in question and look up information. Rather than saying "They flipped through the book until they found what they were looking for," the author makes a point of saying *how* they found it. For example, showing Jack and Annie looking through the table of contents, or searching under "K" for knight. The author doesn't write a sermon on how to take notes or look up information -- remember, the stories are fast paced. Instead, she shows glimpses of the children doing this overtime until a clear pattern emerges on how to do these things.The stories are based around the children going someplace far away from home and encountering strange and new things they had never seen or heard about before, expanding their knowledge. There's also a high level of risk involved. When they go to Pompeii, for example, they need to get back to the tree house before the volcano explodes. These two elements paired with the fast pace of the stories provide a grand feeling of adventure, which is exactly what you want when trying to get kids hooked on reading books. In addition to being fun, they also do a good job of sneaking in basic study skills, all while providing a basic foundation for learning about whatever time and place the children go to in whichever book. In The first one, for example, they learn about dinosaurs.Definitely a well rounded series and a great starter set for transitioning kids into chapter books. Even if the books are a bit beyond your child's reading level at the moment, read the books to them anyway. Odds are that they will get hooked on the story, and when they are able to read them on their own, they'll already have a head start. If nothing else, they will still be learning while you read to them, even if they don't follow along with their eyes. There's no way to lose.

The nostalgia these books give me!! I LOVED this series when I was a kid and so excited to start reading these to my children! We homeschool so we will be using these to introduce chapter books. It’s going to be fun to have these for our read aloud time in the morning!

This box that is wonderful. We love the treehouse series. My kids couldn’t wait for reading time each night. It’s very affordable for the whole box set. I even bought a box set for the kids school library.

Great for my second grader. He loves to read and these are great adventures for his imaginary mind/play. Highly recommend.

Best book series I had as a kid. I'd recommend it for all starting readers because it helps young minds. Imagine new worlds or the possibilities are endless. It's truly thrilling to imagine some of the concepts in these books. Journey far and wide and learn while while floating through different periods of time and civilizations.

These are GREAT chapter books to start reading with your 4-5 year old or for 5-8 year olds to read on their own. The stories focus on a brother and sister who find a magic tree house whose books transport them to various adventures. When my 4 year old son was growing tired of our short preschool picture books, I bought the Magic Tree House Boxed Set, Books 1 -4.The focus of the first four books' adventures (Dinosaurs, Knights, Mummies, Pirates) are his favorite things! I hoped the books could hold his attention. Well, on the first book, he asked me to read it to him straight through! At each chapter, he begged me to continue and we finished the book (70 pages) in a one-hour sitting! Likewise with the following books. Each book has around 70 pages divided into 10 chapters. It contains mostly text with a few illustrations (every 4-5 pages). It contains a lot of dialogue between the siblings and a perfect amount of adventure and suspense.I love the premise of the book and the adventures. Each contains educational value (During their adventures Jack carries the book with him and references facts: "a moat surrounds the castle and protects it from invasions" or "to prepare a body for burial, the body is first dried with salt") which can later be expanded upon. They work for a wide age group. My 4 year old son begs me to read these to him. My 8 year old nephew said they are the coolest books and has read all 40 or so of them.Only cons: Yes the books do contain fragmented sentences. Although proper grammar is preferable, I believe the sentences are meant to add emphasis and suspense. The sentence fragments also helped my son with reading and following along. The second item is that the siblings bicker a bit. I especially do not like when the brother mumbles, "I'm going to kill her." However kids bicker in real life, and Jack and Annie stick together and help each other during their adventures. So I find that the pros of the series far outweighs the cons.I definitely recommend this book set. My son and I enjoy these books and look forward to the rest of the series.

My daughter is just starting chapter books. So I introduced her to Alex and Annie. She loves the books. Not scary or hard words in story. Recommend these books.

My 6 yo grandson was very pleased with books. They were above his reading level but read with mom and will grow into them soon.