Afternoon on the Amazon

(The Mystery of the Magic Spell 2)

(Magic Tree House 6)
by
Mary Pope Osborne

illustrated by

Sal Murdocca

Random House, August 1995, 67 pp.
ISBN: 0-679-86372-9

Genre: Early Chapter
Subgenres: Time Travel / Amazon Rain Forest
Reviewed: 11/9/2003

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Excerpt

Floating Down the Amazon River

Jack stared at the river. The canoe would soon float under some vines.

"I'll grab a vine," said Jack. "And pull us to shore."

"Good idea," said Annie.

As they glided under the branches, Jack stood up.

The canoe rocked. He nearly fell out.

"Balance the canoe," said Jack.

Annie leaned to one side. Jack reached--he missed!

The canoe floated under more branches.

Jack reached for another thick vine.

He grabbed it!

It was cold and scaly. It wiggled and jerked!

"Ahhh!" Jack screamed and fell back into the canoe.

The vine was alive!

It was a long green snake!

The snake fell from the tree.
 

Synopsis
Having only found one of the four items they need to help Morgan le Fay (see Night of the Ninjas), Jack and Annie return to the tree house to find another open book. Jack becomes quite excited when he realizes that they will be visiting the Amazon Rain Forest and hopes he will discover a new insect species. But when they arrive, they find themselves in the canopy of the rain forest, hundreds of feet above the ground.

Not knowing what item they are looking for, Jack, Annie and Peanut (the mouse) make their way through the rain forest with a monkey following them. They find a canoe and go for a ride. But the Amazon Rain Forest has many secrets and dangers that the kids do not know about . . . but they are about to find out about them. 

Afternoon on the Amazon is the sixth book in the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne. This is the second of four books in "The Mystery of the Magic Spell" collection. The book is illustrated by Sal Murdocca. This story is intended for early chapter book readers in 2nd to 4th grade. The writing is perfect for young readers as there are not a lot of difficult words, but new ones are introduced and then reinforced with repetition.
 

Review

In this sixth installment of the Magic Tree House, I quite enjoyed the rain forest story. This is the first time a story hasn't had other humans in it, which the kids are generally scared of. The only trouble they find in this story are the wild animals. I was wondering how they were going to find their next item in something as large as the Amazon Rain Forest. And how are they going to know if it is the item when they see it?

Once again, Jack and Annie find themselves on a new adventure that I quite enjoyed, but in a different way from the previous five books. Since they didn't have to fear any humans, I found myself more relaxed while my 8-year old daughter read this book to me. The Amazon is a magical place and I quite enjoyed the environmental part of the book.

Overall, Afternoon on the Amazon is a fine addition to the ever-growing collection of Magic Tree House books.

I rated this book an 8 out of 10.

This site was created and is maintained by Conan Tigard
2003