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  • Writer's pictureHannah Zunic

Childhood Favorites: The Magic Tree House Series by Mary Pope Osborne

Updated: Jun 13, 2021

Growing up, I had two book series that I absolutely adored: Magic Tree House and Nancy Drew. I loved the Nancy Drew series because I loved, and I still love, mystery novels. Magic Tree House series on the other hand was one of my favorites because I thoroughly enjoyed reading and learning about history.


Gif from the Matilda movie of Matilda laughing while reading
You can bet that I wanted a magic tree house full of books to magically appear in my backyard.

Outside of English, history was my favorite subject in school. At one point I contemplated doubling minoring in Communication and one of the history minors that were offered at my University. Found out that I didn’t have enough time to do that when I was attempting to figure out my course schedule with the required classes though.


Man shaking his head.
Me thinking I could add a secondary minor:

Anyway, the Magic Tree House series was my go-to for quite some time. Mary Pope Osborne truly took me to new places with Jack and Annie. I have seen dinosaurs and have been to the moon with these two. I have shared their adventures, and have learned about many different cultures and subjects with them both as well.


I know that I read the majority of the original Magic Tree House books. I vividly remember the first four of these books as well. I don’t know why I remember three of these books, the fourth I do know the reason as to why. That one is book three: Mummies in the Morning.

Full disclosure, I was obsessed with ancient Egypt as a child. Should I have minored in history as well, I would have liked to have a focus on medieval Europe, an odd interest I discovered in college, or ancient cultures; specifically, ancient Egypt. You can see why I vividly remember Mummies in the Morning.


Mummies in the Morning book cover
An iconic book of my childhood.

It probably also helps that the ghost Jack and Annie meet while in the pyramid was blind and Annie automatically assumes that if Jack loans the ghost his glasses then the ghost will be able to see perfectly.


Confused Britney Spears
Me as a child knowing that Annie's idea was off:

I also remember when The Merlin Mysteries first premiered. I was getting too old to read the series when it came out, but I still read the second book. The elementary library only bought the second one, which was fine by me because it was set around Halloween and I’ve always loved Halloween, but after that point I had outgrown the series.


Ravens flying
That book also featured ravens, and we know how much I love Edgar Alan Poe.. Coincidence? I think not!

But like I said, these books took me on adventures all over the world. I’ve meet many historical figures, have helped them, have been sent on quests to bring back items before they are lost to time, and have learned of cultures in ways schools do not teach. Instead of just reading facts from a history textbook, I’ve lived a day in the lives of those in ancient times and all the way through the future.

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