Tonight on the Titanic (Magic Tree House, No. 17)

This book, like others in the Magic Tree House series, has Jack and Annie traveling through time and space. This time they arrive on the doomed Titanic hours before it sinks. In a letter to readers, Mary Pope Osborne acknowledges that she avoided this very scenario despite readers requests simply because she feared it would be too sad. She finally came to the conclusion that Jack and Annie may be able to help in the midst of the tragedy. And help they do, but not just aboard the ship.

When they first arrive at their treehouse, they find a little dog is inside. He is standing near a piece of paper - a letter from Morgan le Fay, the magical librarian who owns the treehouse. The note tells them that the dog is under a spell and they must collect four items in order to break the spell. (books 18, 19 & 20 are the other books where Jack and Annie seek out the remaining items).

Ms. Osborne then proceeds to explain the tragic situation aboard the Titanic in a way that left my five year old with a decent historical idea about what happened. The book is not graphic and the tragedy is not overtly stated. In fact, my five year old was not certain if people died when it sank. It left the door open for me to tell my daughter as much or as little as I thought she could handle. I felt that Ms. Osborne deftly handled a very complicated and difficult part of history. I would strongly recommend this series for elementary school children.

All of my daughters love to listen to the Magic Tree House series. They'll listen to the same stories again and again. There is a basic pattern or template that the stories fit into. Jack and Annie, a brother and sister, go into a tree house that is near home. In the tree house they'll find a note left by Morgan giving them an assignment. They'll travel some where in history, have an adventure, do their assignment, and return home. One of the things I like about the books is we do learn a little history while reading the story.

I read "Tonight On The Titanic" with my middle daughter. We took turns, each reading a page. I enjoyed the book. Jack and Annie are asked to get a gift from a ship lost at sea, the gift will help break a magic spell. Jack and Annie end up on the Titanic. They try to encourage people to hurry and get off the Titanic. They have some success and get a gift from one of the people they save. It was fun to read.

Personally I'd probably give this four stars, but because my daughters like the Magic Tree House books so much, and they are target audience, it deserves a five. If you have young children this is a good book to read to them, or read with them.

I think most of the other people would like it too. It is very easy to read. There's nice illustrations.

My six year old really enjoyed this book. It moved along at a good pace and we were sad when it ended! We wished it was longer!

These books are intriguing and keep our kids coming back for more. I love how the magic treehouse collection can make a nonreader become a loving reader !

My seven year old loves reading these books over and over again. While she is enjoying the books, she is learning about different places and times in history. She's learned about the Amazon, the wild west, hawaii, the civil and revolutionary wars, the middle ages, ocean mammals, and so much more. I highly recommend the whole series.

My two youngest children, ages 4 and 6, love this series. Yes I realize this book has been out for 4 years but we only recently discovered the series. We just completed Tonight on the Titanic and it's our favorite so far. I worried about the subject as it's such a sad event in history. However, the author did an excellent job keeping the book upbeat and maintaining a positive outlook throughout. We find this series a nice stepping stone to chapter books. They are easy and short enough to be read in a few days. The action in the story lines is incredible enough to provide quite a cliffhanger for the children which motivates them to read ahead on their own. This series has been an asset in our home education program.

I used this book to complete my set of Magic School House books. I'm quite satisfied with what I received.

I feel Tonight on the Titanic was so boring. Really, I almost fell asleep while reading it. You shouldn't read it. If you're really tired and need a good night's sleep, start reading this book. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Awesome customer service. My students were so happy to receive these books.