Magic Treehouse series
The book
- same formatting, appearance, front and back--tree, ladder,
etc.
- same size, etc.
- blue/green colors
- picture--Jack and Annie look alarmed, and are outside? male
in protective position?
- titles relate to a time of day or week, are often alliterative
- comments from readers at front
- for beginning readers: easy-to-read, with pictures, short
- educational component hidden
- but: bold paragraphs containing facts, more info at back
of book focusing on historical facts
Characters
- one male, one female child--"relatable" to
- Annie a "typical" younger sister, risk taker,
more aggressive, impulsive, naive, brave--has a sixth sense?
- Jack an note-taker, more concerned, more cautious, nervous--always
pushing up his glasses; the rational scientist, the voice
of reason and responsibility
- Jack and Annie are consistent throughout--don't grow or
change in response to new experiences
- no parents--or little said about them
- no villains--rather, an obstacle to be overcome
- other characters include good people or animals who help
save Jack and Annie
- often they need to be helped by adults
Plot
- combination of fantasy trip, real places in history
- visit to tree house leads to new place to discover/explore
- Morgan sends them on the adventures, and for a reason--to
learn something
- always a trip to one specific place; Jack always carries
a backpack
- a situation to solve or overcome--the books come in sets
of fours, with the fourth solving a problem
- they change their clothes to suit the place or time--clothes
depicted on the cover
- Jack and Annie always have a task to accomplish, and do
- they always learn something about specific events in history
or about nature
- or: do they rewrite and change history?
- always scary but they get through it with help from someone
or something--often they help other people, then those people
help Jack and Annie
- when main characters or others get into danger, they quickly
get out of it again--no long-range suspense, etc., therefore…
- the storylines are "typical"--not realistic (underdog
stories?)
- images of death, violence, etc., are in background--Jack
and Annie are in the midst of disaster but don't experience
it close-up
- come home to mom and comfort food
- time travel stops flow of time in their present real world
- tree house is kept a secret from everyone else
- they always know there will be another adventure
Themes
- reading is fun; it’s fun to learn; history is fun--always
related to true events
- librarians are "wizards"--helps appeal to the
market
- help people and they will help you
- feel good about accomplishing your goals
- keep on hoping and trying and good will come of it
- it's nice to get along with other people--siblings or others
- small children leaving the house alone in the middle of
the night--can handle themselves?
- children have imaginations and are open to new experiences
- small people can make a big difference
- altering gender stereotypes--Jack wimpy, Annie not;
- but, typical brother/sister relationship (OR: they never
seem to argue like real brothers and sisters); and, the boy
is a facts man and the saves the day, the girl more fun-loving
and gets into jams, etc.--i.e., they confirm stereotypes
- clean middle-class white kids
- race is not mentioned--not an issue, or is it a white view
of history?
Style and language
- 3rd person POV, but from viewpoint of the children, sometimes
also a narrator
- everyone in history speaks and/or understands contemporary
American?
- it's obvious that the stories are written by the same author--same
in style and structure
- generalized descriptions--little in the way of concrete
detail
- a watered-down view of history, few details
- an easy, simple read--and safe, nothing to alarm parents,
etc.