By Mary Pope Osborne
Jack and Annie's magic tree house drops them on a tropical island in 1717, right where a crew of real pirates is about to come looking for buried treasure.
Jack and Annie open a book about pirates in their magic tree house, and the tree house whisks them back to a sun-baked Caribbean island in 1717. It sounds like paradise until a pirate ship anchors offshore and a crew led by the fearsome Cap'n Bones rows in, convinced these two children know where Captain Kidd's treasure is buried. The pirates grab Jack and Annie and drag them along on the treasure hunt, and the two have to keep their wits, use a mysterious map, and figure out how to get back to the tree house before Bones loses his patience. It's the fourth Magic Tree House adventure, a first real chapter book with short chapters and a picture every few pages.
This is the bridge book for a pirate fan who's ready to try reading a real chapter book on their own. The chapters are short, there's a Sal Murdocca picture every few pages to carry a newer reader, and the pirate adventure gives them a genuine reason to turn the page. The danger is real enough to be exciting, Jack and Annie are captured and hurried around by a rough crew, but it stays firmly at the cartoon-adventure end and always resolves safely. And if it hooks them, there are dozens more Magic Tree House books to inhale next.