Mary Pope Osborne’s The Magic Tree House is one of the most beloved series in children’s literature. These classic stories, illustrated by Salvatore Murdocca, have captivated kids since the first book was published back in the early 90s, and they’re still going strong today.
There are currently over 50 Magic Treehouse books, with new ones published as recently as last year. And now, Mary Pope Osborne has announced that her world-famous series is embarking on a whole new adventure as a collection of graphic novels.
But with so many books to choose from and various splinter stories within the series, it can be hard to figure out which books are suitable for which young readers.
In this article, I’ll cover everything you need to know about the reading levels and recommended age ranges for The Magic Treehouse books, from the original series to the newer incarnations. But before we get down to business, let me explain what these incredible adventure stories are all about…
An Introduction to The Magic Treehouse Books
In case you’re not familiar with The Magic Treehouse, here’s a quick overview of the series.
The adventures first begin when a brother and sister named Jack and Annie Smith discover a magical treehouse packed with spellbinding books. Each book has the power to take the siblings on a new and incredible journey through time and space.
The classic Magic Treehouse stories began with the 1992 release of “Dinosaurs Before Dark,” which sets the scene for Jack and Annie’s treehouse discovery and sees the pair embark on their first-ever adventure, traveling millions of years back in time to the Prehistoric era.
There are a further 33 books in the original series, which initially spanned over more than a decade. Then, in the early 2000s, author Mary Pope Osborne decided to take the series in a new direction with her spin-off series, The Magic Tree House: Merlin Missions. She later revisited the original series after a gap of several years, adding several other books to the collection.
The Merlin Missions books still feature the same nail-biting adventures as the classic series, but in these stories, Jack and Annie start receiving missions from a powerful, ancient wizard named Merlin the Magician. They also team up with another duo of kids, Kathleen and Teddy, who often join them on their quests and help them out of sticky situations.
The original series and the Merlin Missions stories are the two fiction branches of The Magic Treehouse books, but there’s an additional non-fiction collection too. In 2000, Mary Pope Osborne joined forces with her husband Will Osborne and her sister Natalie Pope Boyce to write the companion titles ‘The Magic Tree House Fact Trackers.’ Each book is packed full of facts and information relating to one of the fictional books from both of the major series I mentioned above.
So far, there are 43 Fact Trackers books, with the most recent one published in July 2020 and a brand new one due for release in early 2022.
Reading Ages and Recommendations for The Magic Treehouse Fiction Books
There are so many Magic Treehouse books to choose from, but they’re not all suitable for the same age range or ability.
Below, I’ll list the two separate fiction series and explain the recommended reading levels for each one.
There are four major reading level systems in America, and each one uses a different framework to grade both books and readers, taking into account things like vocabulary, grammar, and sentence length.
The four frameworks are Lexile, Fountas & Pinnell/Guided, Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA), and Accelerated Reader(AR). To make things easier, I’ll list the score for each one (where available,) and I’ll also include the book’s recommended age range in years.
The Original Magic Treehouse Series
The original books are generally suited to children aged between six and ten years old who can read independently. Having said that, every kid is different, and reading ability and age don’t always correlate in the same way. For example, some kids are already quite advanced in their reading at five years old and could well be ready to embark on their first-ever Magic Treehouse adventure.
On the other hand, kids who struggle with reading may want to wait until they’re a little older to give these books a try.
The stories in the original series are generally shorter than the later publications and written for a younger audience. They’re printed in relatively large text, and they make a great first introduction to the world of chapter books.
Book 1: Dinosaurs Before Dark, 1992
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 2.6
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 510L
Book 2: The Knight at Dawn, 1993
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 2.9
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 500L
Book 3: Mummies in the Morning, 1993
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 2.7
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 500L
Book 4: Pirates Past Noon, 1994
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 2.8
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 490L
Book 5: Night of the Ninjas, 1995
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 2.7
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 490L
Book 6: Afternoon on the Amazon, 1995
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 2.6
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 510L
Book 7: Sunset of the Sabertooth, 1996
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.0
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 520L
Book 8: Midnight on the Moon, 1996
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 2.8
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 490L
Book 9: Dolphins at Daybreak, 1997
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.1
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 540L
Book 10: Ghost Town at Sundown, 1997
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.0
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 510L
Book 11: Lions at Lunchtime, 1998
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.0
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 550L
Book 12: Polar Bears Past Bedtime, 1998
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.3
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 570L
Book 13: Vacation Under the Volcano, 1998
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.3
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 410L
Book 14: Day of the Dragon King, 1998
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.3
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 380L
Book 15: Viking Ships at Sunrise, 1998
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.3
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 570L
Book 16: Hour of the Olympics, 1998
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.3
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 380L
Book 17: Tonight on the Titanic, 1999
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.1
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 550L
Book 18: Buffalo Before Breakfast, 1999
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.3
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 560L
Book 19: Tigers at Twilight, 1999
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.0
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 510L
Book 20: Dingoes at Dinnertime, 2000
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.2
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 570L
Book 21: Civil War on Sunday, 2000
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.4
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 580L
Book 22: Revolutionary War on Wednesday, 2000
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.5
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 450L
Book 23: Twister on Tuesday, 2001
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.2
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 570L
Book 24: Earthquake In the Early Morning, 2001
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.3
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 590L
Book 25: Stage Fright on a Summer Night, 2002
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.3
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 560L
Book 26: Good Morning, Gorillas, 2002
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.3
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 510L
Book 27: Thanksgiving on Thursday, 2002
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.3
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 590L
Book 28: High Tide in Hawaii, 2003
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.4
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 570L
Book 29: A Big Day for Baseball, 2017
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.4
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 30
Lexile: 400L
Book 30: Hurricane Heroes in Texas, 2018
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.4
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 30
Lexile: 470L
Book 31: Warriors in Winter, 2019
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.4
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N/M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 410L
Book 32: To the Future, Ben Franklin! 2019
Recommended Age Group: 6-9
AR: 3.4
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 30
Lexile: 420L
Book 33: Narwhal on a Sunny Night, 2020
Recommended Age Group: 6-10
AR: 3.4
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 30-34
Lexile: 440L
Book 34: Late Lunch with Llamas, 2020
Recommended Age Group: 6-10
AR: 3.4
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 30-34
Lexile: 410L
The Magic Treehouse: Merlin Missions Books
The 27 books in the Merlin Missions spin-off series are substantially longer than the classic stories above; in fact, many of them are double the length. They also have smaller print, more words on each page, more challenging vocabulary, and a more advanced reading level.
So, while the original series is suitable for competent readers aged six and above, the Merlin Missions books are tailored to seven to ten-year-olds. Children who struggle with reading may want to wait until they are even older to tackle this series and instead work their way through the original chapter books first. Once they’ve mastered those, they should be ready to move on up to this big-kid series.
Book 1: Christmas in Camelot, 2001
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.7
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 480L
Book 2: Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve, 2003
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.6
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 460L
Book 3: Summer of the Sea Serpent, 2004
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.8
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 550L
Book 4: Winter of the Ice Wizard, 2004
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.8
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 530L
Book 5: Carnival at Candlelight, 2005
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.9
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 30
Lexile: 590L
Book 6: Season of the Sandstorms, 2005
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.9
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 30
Lexile: 580L
Book 7: Night of the New Magicians, 2006
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 4.0
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 30
Lexile: 530L
Book 8: Blizzard of the Blue Moon, 2006
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.9
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 24
Lexile: 570L
Book 9: Dragon of the Red Dawn, 2007
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.9
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 580L
Book 10: Monday with a Mad Genius, 2007
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.8
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 590L
Book 11: Dark Day in the Deep Sea, 2008
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.8
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 520L
Book 12: Eve of the Emperor Penguin, 2008
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.7
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 530L
Book 13: Moonlight on the Magic Flute, 2009
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.7
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 500L
Book 14: A Good Night for Ghosts, 2009
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.6
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 490L
Book 15: Leprechaun in Late Winter, 2009
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.6
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 500L
Book 16: A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time, 2010
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.6
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 520L
Book 17: A Crazy Day with Cobras, 2011
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 4.0
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 570L
Book 18: Dogs in the Dead of Night, 2011
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 4.0
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 530L
Book 19: Abe Lincoln at Last! 2011
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.5
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 470L
Book 20: A Perfect Time for Pandas, 2012
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.8
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 28
Lexile: 500L
Book 21: Stallion by Starlight, 2013
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.8
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 500L
Book 22: Hurry Up, Houdini! 2013
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.7
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: M
DRA: 24
Lexile: 520L
Book 23: High Time for Heroes, 2014
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 4.1
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 560L
Book 24: Soccer on Sunday, 2014
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 4.1
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 570L
Book 25: Shadow of the Shark, 2015
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 4.2
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 30
Lexile: 550L
Book 26: Balto of the Blue Dawn, 2016
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 3.9
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 580L
Book 27: Night of the Ninth Dragon, 2016
Recommended Age Group: 7-10
AR: 4.0
Fountas & Pinnell/Guided: N
DRA: 28-30
Lexile: 590L
Frequently Asked Questions
There are 65 Magic Tree House fiction books, including the spin-off series. There is also 1 Super Edition book. It also has over 30 nonfiction companion books.
Although the books are for children, there are still specific reading levels according to the series.
The Magic Tree House book’s reading levels are given below:
– The Original Series: 6-9 years
– The Merlin Missions books: 7-10 years
The books are appropriate for children between the ages of 6-10 years. However, the books are interesting and can be read by adults as well.
Conclusion
So there you have it, the reading levels and recommended reader age range for every fiction book across both of the Magic Treehouse series.
If your kids have already blasted through these titles and still can’t get enough of Jack and Annie’s incredible adventures, check out The Magic Tree House Survival Guide, a how-to manual packed full of tips and tricks from the siblings themselves. It also contains nail-biting real-life survival stories and everything a kid needs to know in order to escape scary situations like fires, earthquakes, and even shark attacks! The latest edition also contains a brand new bonus chapter on how to survive a pandemic!
Does your kid love The Magic Tree House books? Or perhaps you loved to read them yourself as a child? Either way, I’d love to hear about everyone’s favorite books in the series and why you love them, so drop me a comment in the box below!