I decided to challenge myself to reading all the books in the Magic Tree House series (as of September 2022). One of my favorite things to do with a list is to create a ranking, but with so many entries with many similarities I needed a good way to rate them that took several factors into account. Enter the CAWPILE system, this rating system looks at: Character, Atmosphere, Writing Style, Plot, Intrigue, Logic, and Enjoyment. I chose to view this as much as possible taking the target age range into consideration. I also added another category, Education, since so many people use these books in the classroom and as jumping off points for non-fiction studies. (I do understand the educational value of mythology but have chosen to strictly focus on the non-fiction angle since it is a major selling point of the series.)
I created a guide that I used as a baseline for my ratings, sometimes I shift things up or down. A brief explanation of what my ratings mean:
Characters
5 = Annoying Jack and/or Annie
6 = Basic J and A
7 = J and A at top of game
8 = Basic side characters
9 = Interesting side characters
10 = Really Vibing with J/A and side characters
Atmosphere
1 or 2 - basic, not particularly exciting
3 or 4 - premise is more interesting than the execution
5 or 6 - execution is better than the premise
7 or 8 - Decent execution and premise
9 or 10 - Truly captures the imagination
Writing Style
Doesn’t vary much generally 8
Plot
1 or 2 - J/A just doing stuff
3 or 4 - J/A just doing interesting stuff
5 or 6 - J/A with a plot line
7 or 8 - J/A with a good premise
9 or 10 - Conflict and Resolution are both satisfying
Intrigue
1 or 2 - premise didn’t excite (and probably wouldn’t excite many kids) me read out of duty
3 or 4 - premise has niche interest
5 or 6 - premise initially good, bad execution
7 or 8 - good premise with wide appeal
9 or 10 - kids generally love the premise and it carries through the story
Logic
1 or 2 - disregards history and general rules of a story
3 or 4 - PARADOXES / doesn’t really make sense
5 or 6 - puts J/A too much into a specific historical event / makes some sense but not totally
7 or more 8 - history adjacent / mostly makes realistic animal/ story choices
9 or 10 - choices made make sense/ involved in history without affecting events
Education
1 or 2 - based primarily in myth and legend
3 or 4 - relies heavily on stereotypes/ doesn’t present many facts about subject
5 or 6 - portrays historical people and events with heavy mythology influence (or animals in unrealistic fashion)
7 or 8 - light fantasy influence or mostly realistic animals
9 or 10 - well-represented historical people and events, facts woven into story
Check out Part 1 here.
60. Good Morning, Gorillas
This is like the third rehash of Afternoon on the Amazon. I dunno, there's only so much wandering around a jungle I can take. The ending with teaching the gorillas a sign language phrase was a bit cloying for my taste but no matter. No, what really set me off was one tiny detail: smiling at gorillas. Don't do that, gorillas don't like it, showing teeth is aggressive. Weird hang-up, I know, but that was enough to drop my opinion to number sixty.
Character - 6
Atmosphere - 5
Writing Style - 8
Plot - 4
Intrigue - 5 - Gorillas could have been fun, I just didn't quite feel like this broke out of the 'wander around with animals' trope.
Logic - 7
Enjoyment - 5
Education - 6 - Again, don't smile at gorillas. Probably avoid direct eye contact as well.
Final Score: 5.75
59. A Crazy Day with Cobras
I thought the set-up was interesting and the conclusion was also decent. But the middle? A whole lot of wondering around, and yes dear reader, some of it is in the jungle. What I thought was going to be a people-centric story turned into an animal-centric story halfway through. I liked the set-up with giving a story as a gift to the Great Mogul was good, but then it derailed HARD.
Character - 6
Atmosphere - 4
Writing Style - 8
Plot - 3 - By book number 45, I was so tired of plots involving just wandering around, the fact that it is in the jungle is the proverbial icing on the cake.
Intrigue - 6
Logic - 9
Enjoyment - 5 - Honestly, this came close to tying with Polar Bears Past Bedtime in enjoyment. I thought the wrap up with the Great Mogul telling Jack and Annie about the Taj Mahal was pretty good.
Education - 5
Final Score: 5.75
58. Civil War on Sunday
Oooooooooo. This is the first time they really messed with one of the basic problems of time travel. Paradoxes. Also, were there any kids really clamoring for this story? How many second graders are interested in the Civil War? Props to MPO for at least grazing the surface of how bad this war was injury wise (don't forget 2nd grade reading level).
Character - 7
Atmosphere - 5
Writing Style - 7
Plot - 6
Intrigue - 4
Logic - 4 - This is the story that I added the paradoxes clause to my rankings for. You cannot save your ancestors - that's not how this works.
Enjoyment - 5 - Civil War ain't my thing. Honestly, everyone should be impressed it drew this high.
Education - 9
Final Score: 5.875
57. The Knight at Dawn
Oooof. This early book set the bar pretty... low. This particular entry has three variations - the original book, an anime adaptation, and a graphic novel adaptation. Each version is totally different, and this is the worst one.
Character - 6
Atmosphere - 4 - The set-up is so perfect. A party in a castle - but it takes half the book for them to even reach the door and look in at the party. Then they go hide in the armory and leave the castle.
Writing Style - 7
Plot - 2 - My problems with plot are largely similar to my issues with atmosphere. Nothing more interesting than describing the castle happens until the end when the knight gives Jack and Annie a ride.
Intrigue - 6
Logic - 7
Enjoyment - 6 - Only rates this high because I'm still riding the high of Jack and Annie being siblings that actually have a good relationship with each other. Also continues the mystery of the tree house fairly well.
Education - 9 - Perhaps... too educational? I would have traded a couple pages worth of mapping out a castle in order to squeeze a plot in there.
Final Score: 5.875
56. Monday with a Mad Genius
Here is the first book on the list that I would say I genuinely enjoyed, even though it's overall score is brought down by some other factors. The biggest hurdle for this book is its own target audience. I enjoyed it... but how many third or fourth graders are really looking for the down low on da Vinci?
Character - 8 - There are really only two characters of note, da Vinci and Mona Lisa. There is only a brief scene dedicated to painting her portrait, but it is a fun little bit that invites more research from me. Da Vinci himself is a great addition to the historical side characters introduced in the series.
Atmosphere - 5
Writing Style - 8
Plot - 5
Intrigue - 3 - I just don't see many kids picking this one up unless they are HARDCORE fans of the series. *
Logic - 5 - Not only do Jack and Annie help da Vinci fly through the power of magic (!) they convinced Mona Lisa to smile for him.
Enjoyment - 7
Education - 6
Final Score: 5.875
55. Carnival at Candlelight
A return to concept after the first four Merlin Mission books taking place in mythological lands. This book takes us to Venice on the night of Carnival. Jack and Annie put together clues to discover that a flood threatens the city. But instead of a historically based solution we straight-up implore Neptune not to destroy the city.
Character - 7
Atmosphere - 6 - It's Carnival, in Venice! Except Jack and Annie are still really good at skipping out on parties. They instead talk to a painter's son and get thrown in jail.
Writing Style - 8
Plot - 5 - On reflection I'm realizing that prison breaks occur in a fair number of these kids' books.
Intrigue - 4
Logic - 7
Enjoyment - 6
Education - 5 - Does fairly well at introducing different historical aspects until the big storm. Then Jack and Annie ride a flying lion out to sea and ask Neptune to stop his storm.
Final Score: 6
54. Revolutionary War on Wednesday
Another entry in the paradox trilogy. Managed to save itself from a lower rank by the skin of its teeth. I happen to really be into Revolutionary War fiction so I'm sure that skewed my numbers favorably a couple times.
Character - 5 - A fairly interesting couple of side characters (including George Washington himself) are not enough to save this category from an Annie that seems absolutely determined to say every wrong thing. She always is a bit more loose-lipped than Jack, but often it comes off as excitability. Here she just keeps plowing ahead with her litany of history spoilers even though she catches on that she has spilled the beans.
Atmosphere - 6
Writing Style - 6
Plot - 6
Intrigue - 4
Logic - 5 - Jack and Annie help convince Washington to go through with his plan to attack the Hessians on Christmas. Dances dangerously close to a paradox, perhaps this could have played out without quite so much of their involvement.
Enjoyment - 7
Education - 10 - Does a pretty good job of squeezing lots of information into a pretty slim book.
Final Score: 6.125
53. Lions at Lunchtime
I spent most of the book wondering the same thing as Jack: Where are the lions? Page 55 out of 70 is when the lions show up. If I were a lion loving kid reading this book - I'd be furious.
Character - 6 - I have one hang-up in the character department. The tree house always seems to translate so that Jack and Annie can communicate with people they come across in their travels. Always, this is, except in this case. (And possibly the sorcerer in the Sabertooth book.) WHY does the Masai warrior not talk? I don't get it, it seems off.
Atmosphere - 4
Writing Style - 8
Plot - 4 - Guess what Jack and Annie spend most of this book doing. Guess. Guess! If you said wander around a jungle, then you are the winner! Okay fine, it is more grassland and adjacent forest, but we hit SO MANY of those familiar beats. I probably shouldn't be this mad seeing as this is only the second entry with this theme, but I'm writing this reflection after having read them all.
Intrigue - 5
Logic - 7
Enjoyment - 7
Education - 8
Final Score: 6.125
52. Sunset of the Sabertooth
This one does pretty good at hitting all the beats from an ice age story. Annie once again is upset that hunting is a thing that exists (Jack shuts her down pretty quickly) this actually might be the first time it comes up in the series. I might have liked meeting the Cro-Magnon family but what we get is decent enough.
Character - 7 - So the sorcerer in this book also does not speak. However, the idea that he has trouble understanding Jack and Annie is never conveyed. They also wear a heavy mask the entire time that perhaps makes speaking difficult. Whatever the reason, it doesn't feel as weird as the Masai warrior.
Atmosphere - 5
Writing Style - 8
Plot - 3 - This book amounts to go into cave and then come back out of cave. Cave paintings and prehistoric animals make appearances.
Intrigue - 7
Logic - 7
Enjoyment - 6
Education - 6 - This book didn't give quite as much towards the research details that the early books were really good at. Jack pretty much abandons his research halfway through.
Final Score: 6.125
51. Leprechaun in Late Winter
This one came pretty close to breaking the top 50. Unfortunately, the slow burn 'plot' combined with a pretty bleh atmosphere held this entry back.
Character - 7 - Jack and Annie are both rocking their duties in this book, but the principal side character is a bit of chore to sympathize with, she even manages to bring down the rating that could have been higher thanks to two other side characters: her nanny and the leprechaun.
Atmosphere - 6
Writing Style - 8
Plot - 5
Intrigue - 4 - Premise was good (Irish folklore) but the execution is such a chore. This book feels like it takes forever to get to the point, despite actually introducing the fairy folk halfway through.
Logic - 7
Enjoyment - 6
Education - 6
Final Score: 6.125
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