School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-Jack and Annie are back for two adventures in Mary Pope Osborne's popular "Magic Tree House" series. In Monday with a Mad Genius (Random, 2007), the youngsters travel to Renaissance Italy where meet artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci who shows them his notebooks filled with ideas for inventions. Jack and Annie learn about painting and using their imaginations, convince the artist not to give up on his inventions, and learn that curiosity is one of the secrets of happiness. In Dark Day in the Deep Sea (Random, 2008), Jack and Annie travel aboard a 19th-century British sailing ship with scientists who are collecting specimens of the world's plants and animals. When a violent storm sweeps the pair overboard, they are rescued by a giant octopus. The children must convince the scientists not to capture the creature for scientific research. These stories provide wonderful lessons in character building. In both stories, the children learn that happiness can be found by following your dreams and showing compassion towards all living creatures. There are numerous opportunities for cross-curricular studies. Team Monday with a unit on inventions, the Renaissance, or art history. Introduce units on oceans or world explorers with Dark Day. The omission of the books' prologue and author's notes on the audio is regrettable. Osborne is a capable narrator, capturing the innocence and wonder of Jack and Annie. An excellent purchase for elementary grade audio collections.-Connie M. Pierce, Falling Water Elementary School, Chattanooga, TN (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.