Magic Tree House #37: Dragon of the Red Dawn
Author: Mary Pope Osborne
Illustrator: Salvatore Murdocca
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: 1992 to present
Genre/Format: Fantasy/Chapter Book - Series
Summary: In Magic Tree House #37: Dragon of the Red Dawn
What I Think: I have a renewed love for the Magic Tree House series since so many of my students have been reading books from the series lately. This series came out when I was in middle school so I didn't read these when I was a kid. I've read one or two before, but I decided to read Dragon of the Red Dawn ( Magic Tree House # 37, A Merlin Mission )
From a teacher's perspective, I really like that there is the element of history in these stories so kids are inadvertently learning about different places and cultures. At the same time, they are experiencing a story and a story with some fantastical elements in it. I would dub these books "mild" fantasy because they do time travel and there are magical elements, but it is a story about real kids. I love when my students get into series reading, and this is one series I think is truly beneficial to them on so many different levels. On the Magic Tree House website there are some fun interactive elements for kids, but it also has teacher's guides and printables! Love it!
Read Together: 1 - 5
Read Alone: 2 - 6
Read With: Other books in the series; Fish Face (The Kids of the Polk Street School)
Snatch of Text: "Below the tree house was a beautiful garden filled with cherry trees and long-leafed willows. A waterfall tumbled into a sparkling green pool.
'Wow,' said Annie.
Jack opened the Japan book and found a painting that looked like the garden. He read aloud to Annie:
In the 1600s, the Imperial Garden surrounded the Imperial Palace in the capital city of Japan. The city was called Edo (say EE-doh). In the mid-1800s, its name was changed to Tokyo (say TOH-kee-oh)."
Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connecitions, Asking Questions, Making Predictions, Making Inferences
Writing Strategies to Practice: Expository Writing
Writing Prompts: Choose one of the ideas discussed in the book you read, then research more about the idea and write a paragraph that has a topic sentence and supporting details.
Topics Covered: Family, Friendship, Time Travel, Magic, Camelot/Merlin, Adventure, Problem-Solving, History, Geography
Translated to Spanish: Yes! I'm not sure if all the books in the series are, but there are books that have been translated to Spanish.