Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House, No. 1)

Great book!!

It took me a while post a review on this book only because I read it by myself. and then, with my little daughter. then we all gathered again with niece and nephews and read agin. Nice book teaching a young ones sharing caring I hope this stick with them for a lifetime awesome book.

This was a great chapter book. It was a really fun adventure. The two characters, Jack and his younger sister Annie, find all kinds of fun and trouble on their magical trip to a world filled with dinosaurs. This book had really cool illustrations too. They were beautiful and did a fantastic job of giving a sense of scale. They made the tree house look like it was way up high in the tree and they made the dinosaurs look huge. Sal Murdocca is a talented artist. They did a great job incorporating them with the typography. I could tell some of the illustrations were designed specifically to leave space for a paragraph or two of text and it made the book even more fun to read than just having little illustrations placed on the top of the page every once in a while. There was usually only one illustration per chapter but they always took up at least one whole page and sometimes two pages in a big spread. A lot of thought went into the layout and illustrations of this book and it makes for one heck of a read for a small exciting 10 chapter story. I read this book because I'm getting into writing chapter books and this book came highly recommended from the research I did on great kids chapter books. Now I can see why. Great writing that I can tell was crafted into very neat and easy to read sentences. A well plotted little story that just moves and keeps the reader engaged. A really fun magical adventure, and gorgeous well used illustrations along the way. I can't wait to read Magic Tree House # 2 and visit a castle!

Granddaughter loves these... her favorite series! She is a precocious 2nd grader who loves to read. I ask her which book does she want me to buy her and she always answers "The Tree House!" By now I think I've ordered the entire series!

I purchased this book to read to my 4 and 2 year olds, and they enjoyed it so much we have gone on to read the next 2 books in the series. It's a story about a brother and sister (just like my two, just older) and how a Magic Tree House transports them to the time of the dinosaurs because of the book they were looking at. I know that when they are old enough to read on their own they will enjoy reading it again. It's fun for a read out loud book for little ones and simple enough for beginner readers to handle the content on their own.

I homeschooled my three sons and we read ALL of the Magic Treehouse Books during those years. Now, one of my grown sons is homeschooling his two children and I bought this (and also volumes #2 & 2) for them. Of course, they loved them and are reading more of them.

I knew this series since I was 13 now I’m 21 and it still has my heart. I deeply hope new great quality books are coming out. Will be in my future home library