Dingoes at Dinnertime
Here’s what kids have to say to
Mary Pope Osborne, author of
the Magic Tree House series:
WOW! You have an imagination like no other.
—Adam W.
I love your books. If you stop writing books, it will be like losing a best friend.
—Ben M.
I think you are the real Morgan le Fay. There is always magic in your books.
—Erica Y.
One day I was really bored and I didn’t want to read … I looked in your book. I read a sentence, and it was interesting. So I read some more, until the book was done. It was so good I read more and more. Then I had read all of your books, and now I hope you write lots more.
—Danai K.
I always read [your books] over and over … 1 time, 2 times, 3 times, 4 times …
—Yuan C.
You are my best author in the world. I love your books. I read all the time. I read everywhere. My mom is like freaking out.
—Ellen C.
I hope you make these books for all yours and mine’s life.
—Riki H.
Teachers and librarians love
Magic Tree House
®
books, too!
Thank you for opening faraway places and times to my class through your books. They have given me the chance to bring in additional books, materials, and videos to share with the class.
—J. Cameron
It excites me to see how involved [my fourth-grade reading class] is in your books … I would do anything to get my students more involved, and this has done it.
—C. Rutz
I discovered your books last year … WOW! Our students have gone crazy over them. I can’t order enough copies! … Thanks for contributing so much to children’s literature!
—C. Kendziora
I first came across your Magic Tree House series when my son brought one home … I have since introduced this great series to my class. They have absolutely fallen in love with these books! … My students are now asking me for more independent reading time to read them. Your stories have inspired even my most struggling readers.
—M. Payne
I love how I can go beyond the [Magic Tree House] books and use them as springboards for other learning.
—R. Gale
We have enjoyed your books all year long. We check your Web site to find new information. We pull our map down to find the areas where the adventures take place. My class always chimes in at key parts of the story. It feels good to hear my students ask for a book and cheer when a new book comes out.
—J. Korinek
Our students have “Magic Tree House fever.” I can’t keep your books on the library shelf.
—J. Rafferty
Your books truly invite children into the pleasure of reading. Thanks for such terrific work.
—S. Smith
The children in the fourth grade even hide the [Magic Tree House] books in the library so that they will be able to find them when they are ready to check them out.
—K. Mortensen
My Magic Tree House books are never on the bookshelf because they are always being read by my students. Thank you for creating such a wonderful series.
—K. Mahoney
Dear Readers,
I get many letters telling me how much kids learn from reading Magic Tree House books. But what you might not realize is how much
I
learn
writing
them. I’m not really an expert on any of the subjects I write about. So I have to do lots and lots of research.
Working on
Dingoes at Dinnertime
, I was surprised to discover how little I really knew about the continent of Australia. For example, I never knew why it was home to certain animals that lived nowhere else on earth, animals like kangaroos, koalas, wallabies, wombats, platypuses, emus, and black swans.
But after I did my research, I found out the answer. And when you read this book, you’ll discover the answer along with Jack and Annie.
I hope that reading
Dingoes at Dinnertime
will be just the beginning of your Australian adventure. I hope that when you finish, you’ll go out and do some research of your own and discover lots more about that wondrous land.
All my best,
Text copyright © 2000 by Mary Pope Osborne.
Illustrations copyright © 2000 by Sal Murdocca.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
www.randomhouse.com/kids
www.randomhouse.com/magictreehouse
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Osborne, Mary Pope.
Dingoes at dinnertime / by Mary Pope Osborne; illustrated by Sal Murdocca.
p. cm. — (Magic tree house; #20) “A Stepping Stone book.”
SUMMARY:
The magic tree house whisks Jack and Annie away to Australia, where they must save some animals from a wildfire.
eISBN: 978-0-375-89477-0
[1. Magic—Fiction. 2. Space and time—Fiction. 3. Zoology—Australia—Fiction. 4. Animals—Fiction. 5. Australia—Fiction.]
I. Murdocca, Sal, ill. II. Title. III. Series: Osborne, Mary Pope. Magic tree house series; #20. PZ7.O81167Dg 2000 [Fic]—dc21 99-40598
Random House, Inc. New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland
RANDOM HOUSE
and colophon are registered trademarks and
A STEPPING STONE BOOK
and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.
v3.0
For Ellen Mager, a great champion of children’s literature
One summer day in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, a mysterious tree house appeared in the woods.
Eight-year-old Jack and his seven-year-old sister, Annie, climbed into the tree house. They found that it was filled with books.
Jack and Annie soon discovered that the tree house was magic. It could take them to the places in the books. All they had to do was point to a picture and wish to go there.
Along the way, Jack and Annie discovered that the tree house belongs to Morgan le Fay. Morgan is a magical librarian from the time of King Arthur. She travels through time and space, gathering books.
In Magic Tree House Books #5–8, Jack and Annie helped free Morgan from a spell. In Books #9–12, they solved four ancient riddles and became Master Librarians.
In Magic Tree House Books #13–16, Jack and Annie had to save four ancient stories from being lost forever.
In Magic Tree House Books #17–20, Jack and Annie must be given four special gifts to help free an enchanted dog from a spell. They have already received a gift on a trip to the
Titanic
, a gift from the Lakota Indians, and a gift from a forest in India. Now they are about to set out in search of their last gift …