Elementary

Anansi, one of the great folk heroes of the world, is saved from a terrible fate by his six sons in this traditional tale from West Africa.

Fairy tales are just for little kids, aren't they? Not when they're twisted around and retold in versions tailor-made for a second- or third-grader's sense of humor! From "Little Red Running Shorts" to "The Princess and the Bowling Ball," readers will delight as the familiar becomes ridiculous — in both words and pictures.

Jack and Annie set off to find an original copy of an ancient Chinese myth. Armed only with their magic library cards, they must take on a book-burning emperor. But with the help of a scholar and a silk weaver, they triumph again.

The Magic Tree House carries Jack and Annie back to the Old West, where they roam the Great Plains with a Lakota boy.

Where did the tree house come from? Before Jack and Annie can find out, the mysterious tree house whisks them back to the prehistoric past. Now they have to figure out how to get home. Can they do it before dark, or will they become a dinosaur's dinner?

The Magic Tree House takes Jack and Annie back in time to the American Civil War. They meet Clara Barton, the famous nurse, and help take care of wounded soldiers.

The Magic Tree House whisks Jack and Annie back to Colonial America. They arrive just as General George Washington is planning the crossing of the Delaware. Before they know it, Jack and Annie are in a boat with the Father of Our Country as history is made!

Jack and Annie are whisked back to Elizabethan England where they meet the Bard of Avon himself, William Shakespeare, and luckily for them he is desperate for two small actors for his latest play! An exciting adventure and wonderful introduction to Shakespeare.

The Magic Tree House whisks Jack and Annie off to the mountains of Africa. There, they run into a huge mountain gorilla! At first they don't know whether they should shake hands or turn tail. But the ominous-looking creature turns out to be surprisingly gentle. Not only that, the gorilla may be able to help them learn their next bit of magic, which Morgan has challenged them to do.

The Magic Tree House whisks Jack and Annie back to the eve of the first Thanksgiving. There they meet the Pilgrims as well as Squanto, a Native American who helped them. The story offers an age-appropriate, in-depth picture of what life was really like for early settlers, as well as the usual Magic Tree House adventure and excitement.

Jack and Annie go back in time to ancient Hawaii, where they learn to surf, dance the hula, and make poi. When the island is threatened by a tsunami, however, the two remember that they are there with instructions from Morgan, and they must "find a special magic" and build "a special kind of relationship" before it's too late.

The Magic Tree House series has become a staple for inspiring kids to read. Christmas in Camelot is a very special Magic Tree House book. Here, author Mary Pope Osborne uses the literary skills for which she's known to create a longer, more in-depth story featuring the characters kids have come to love. The result is magical: a fast-paced but detailed, easy-to-read story.