I really liked the magic tree house books. They turn history into a magical adventure and this is especially important. It is important because children don’t explore, create, problem solve, or simply go outside and play. This book in particular had been previously titled Danger in the Darkest Hour and is now what the publishers consider a “Super Edition.” This book is not a direct historical account of World War 2 but its very good. It is considerably longer that most of of the magic tree books but it has some really good details on WW2. Because of the way the book portrays those that fought in WW2, it really shows how much respect and adoration they should have. Not because we are told to respect them but because, as Annie and Jack saw, the “experienced first hand what it means to live in constant terror.” I really like that it introduces that sense of fear from the environment with out really going over their understanding. It also mentioned sever important things like Nazi and their hatred of Jews, being a spy or getting through check points, D-Day, SOEs, bombs, and the fear of planes fling through the air. I thought it created exceptional pictures or WW2 for a children’s book. I also like how as the child gets older the book offers accurate information at the end of the book, like Holocaust information, war pigeons, German Enigma machine, as well as a “Fact Tracker” book. ( )

I was surprised Osborne covered something as...sad, gruesome, and terrifying as D-Day. What next? The French Revolution? But it was handled shockingly well. I applaud Mrs. Osborne. ( )

This book is about two kids who's magic tree house transports them to Normandy, France during WWII. They must solve a riddle and avoid Nazis in order to restore hope to the time.

Sometimes I honestly don't know why I continue to read the Magic Tree House books. I'm not sure what the difference is between the the normal books and this 'super adventure' It wasn't a Merlin Mission because Merlin wasn't the reason for the journey, but could it be placed in the original 28 book series? The only problem is that Jack and Annie didn't get to know Merlin until the Merlin Missions. Anyway, this was your normal-type Magic Tree House book. I had a slight problem reading it because I know a little bit too much about WWII so Jack and Annie's carelessness (that would've gotten them arrested by the Nazis in real life), and the easily crackable code that they used, along with Teddy and Kathleen bothered me a bit. A good story for younger kids. ( )

Overall, I loved this book! Growing up, I read the original Magic Tree House books and loved every single one of them. I noticed this special edition series while I was at the library, and thought it’d be interesting to compare it to the other books. I thought the plot itself was really well done. It definitely encompassed fantasy between the magic tree house and the goal to help Merlin the Magician. However, more so than the fantasy, I loved the history component of the story. Reading this story, you learn a lot about World War II, D-Day, and just the overall impact that it had on the cities in Europe, which I think is great because it’s teaching kids important history lessons in a fun, different than the boring text book version. I also enjoyed how there were illustrations scattered throughout, so you could see how your imagination matched the author’s. The overall message of the story was about how the war affected lives in Europe, but also included themes of friendship, comradery, teamwork to help solve Merlin’s mystery.
I would recommend this book for third-fifth graders. I think they would really get a lot out of it content-wise, but also entertainment. This book would be perfect for students who enjoy fantasy and mystical books. ( )