Module 13: Night of the New Magicians

Summary: Jack and his sister, Annie are called to help Merlin the Magician once again. This time they must travel back in time, with the help of their magic tree house, to the World Fair of 1889 in Paris, France. There they must find four magicians and tell them that an evil sorcerer wants to steal their secrets. Jack and Annie must navigate through 60,000 exhibits to find the four magicians. Will they find them before the sorcerer does?

Citation: Osborne, M. P., & Murdocca, S. (2006). Night of the new magicians. New York: Random House.

Impression: The Magic Tree House series are amazing stories that interweaves historical fiction and magic. Jack and Jill's journey to Paris is a wonderful tribute to four inventors of the 19th century while including some cultural and historic examples by traveling the streets of Paris. Osborne wonderfully recreates the World Fair and the reader can almost feel like they have been taken back in time as well. Overall these stories are wonderful tools to introduce historical and cultural content to younger readers while inspiring them to be explorers themselves. I wish this series existed when I was a child because I know I would have read all of them and had a deeper understanding of science and history.

Review:
Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt (Children's Literature)
This tidy tale is Osborne’s thirty-fifth installment of the “Magic Tree House” series, and the seventh designated as a “Merlin Mission.” The lead characters, Jack and Annie, continue their time-travel, via their magic tree house, completing whatever adventure Merlin the Magician sets up for them. This time they are off to Paris where they must find the Magician of Sound, the Magician of Light, the Magician of the Invisible, and the Magician of Iron at the 1889 World’s Fair. And they must locate the four magicians--and their secrets--before an evil sorcerer nabs them first. As in previous books, Jack and Annie are helped by a book of magic rhymes given to them by Teddy and Kathleen, their two young sorcerer friends from Camelot. Jack and Annie choose to use the “Spin into the Air” rhyme, to bike across the sky. They are in a rush, you see, to arrive at the Eiffel Tower in time to crash a private party to which only the four magicians have been invited. Can they save the magicians from the evil sorcerer? Jack and Annie soon learn that things are not what they appear. In keeping with Osborne’s use of history, the magicians turn out to be Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Alva Edison, Louis Pasteur, and Gustave Eiffel. And their secrets reflect the reasons behind their success: a thirst for adventure, hard work, tenacity, preparation, and hope. Osborne includes a bio of each inventor in the back of the book.
Bell-Rehwoldt, S. [Review of the book Night of the new magicians by M.P. Osborne & S. Murdocca]. Children's Literature.  Retrieved from http://www.childrenslit.com/

Uses: The Magic Tree House series could be part of a long term story time for ages 8 and older. Each month a librarian would introduce a new Magic Tree House book and read it throughout the month. Then at the end of the month the kids can do further research into the scientist or historical person highlighted in the book.