Bibliographic
Information:
Osborne, Mary Pope. Magic
Tree House #33: Carnival at Candlelight. New York : Listening Library, 2007.
ISBN-13: 978-0739331309
ISBN-13: 978-0739331309
Summary:
Siblings Jack and Annie are two normal kids from Pennsylvania who have a
magic tree house that lets them travel through time. In this adventure, they are sent by Merlin to
seventeenth century Venice ,
Italy to save the
grand lady of the lagoon – if they can figure out who that is! Jack and Annie must work their way through
the riddles of Merlin’s instructions and learn to be patient in order to
complete their mission.
Audience:
Ages 4-12
Strengths:
Interesting plot
Good lessons about being patient and following instructions
Unabridged version of the original book, narrated by the
author - very true to the original text
Weaknesses:
Narrator's voice as Annie is rather obnoxious
Some children may have trouble paying attention to an audio
book, having nothing to look at
Some plot points are thin – they’re being sent back in time
by Merlin and use magic, why do they have so much trouble accepting that Neptune actually exists?
Uses:
Audiobooks in general are a great way for kids who struggle
with reading to ease their way into it and learn that books are fun. Struggling readers could read along in a
print copy with the audio book and have an easier time recognizing different
words, as this audiobook follows the print copy exactly.
This book is also a great introduction to Venice , as the kids read about the history
and layout of the city in their research book, learning about canals, gondolas,
St. Mark’s Square, and more. This could
be used as part of a geography or history unit.
Kids could also illustrate scenes from the book in an art class. It could also be used with an English unit,
as the kids spend much of the text trying to decipher the riddles Merlin has
set them – children could write their own riddles and have others solve them,
or read existing riddles and try and figure out the answers.
Read-alikes:
Bailey School Kids
series, Debbie Dadey
The Magic School Bus
series, Joanna Cole
Time Warp Trio
series, John Scieszka
Carole Marsh Mysteries,
Carole Marsh
American Girl
series, various authors
Awards:
None