When my son first took an interest in the Magic Tree House series of books, I didn’t realize how serialized the story was.  We just started reading and he would pick out books that interested him.  It was only after we were a few books into the series that I realized that there was something of a continuing story throughout all of the books.

The series is the story of eight year old Jack and his seven year old sister Annie who discover a tree house in the woods behind their home.  There are books in the tree house, many of which look like they were in the middle of being read.  The only clue that Jack and Annie have to whoever built or used the tree house before them is a medallion found in their first adventure with an “M” on it.

The Knight at Dawn picks up immediately following the first book in the series.  It’s the wee hours of the morning on the day after Jack and Annie’s first adventure in the tree house and neither of them can sleep.  Jack is reading through the notes he took about their adventure in his notebook when Annie comes to his room and urges him to go back to the tree house despite it still being dark out.

This time, the book they pick up is all about knights and castles.  It’s Annie who points at a picture of a knight and wishes to see him for real.  Soon they are transported to a world outside of a castle where a knight on a horse rides toward it.  Jack and Annie go into the castle themselves and find a feast going on.  Once again, Jack takes notes on all that they see.

When they are discovered, it appears they will be imprisoned in the dungeon.  Jack and Annie must think quickly to escape their predicament and get a little bit of help from an unexpected source.

Only 66 pages in length, The Knight at Dawn was a quick read even for my nine-year-old son on the autism spectrum.  It held his interest fine, although he finished it in one afternoon as his reading for the day.  It’s also been a book he went back to a few times, especially once we realized that there was a mystery in the series unraveling throughout the books.  It was easy for me to read as I finished it in about ten minutes.  It would also make a good story to read to a child at bedtime, with chapter breaks that work well for stopping points.  The book is also great for young readers who are just graduating to chapter books.

There was a decent amount of suspense in the book without there being too much peril.  Jack and Annie are trapped in the castle, yet they manage to outwit their much larger captors rather than overpowering them.  This encourages children to use their brain power.  I find that to be more inspiring than some books with traditional superheroes that have physical superpowers.  There are also some good facts listed for children to learn from, such as the weight of a knight’s helmet, what animals might lurk in a castle’s moat, and what happened at a traditional castle feast.  My son was so immersed in the story, he didn’t even realize that he was learning at the same time.  I liked the way Jack wrote down the facts in his notebook as this emphasized important points for children to learn in a covert way as well.

At the same time, there is not a tremendous amount of time spent in the world of the knight.  I didn’t see it as the total fantasy experience with a dragon and princesses and the like.  This seemed to be more grounded in giving a child a realistic look and some might be disappointed that some of the usual fantasy characters don’t make an appearance in the story.

There were a few illustrations in the book.  Most of these black and white drawings were quite dark to create the illusion of Jack and Annie’s adventure taking place at night.  The pictures have a good amount of detail to illustrate the adventure taking place.  They don’t dominate the story and take away from a child’s own imagination.

The Knight at Dawn also serves up another clue as to what’s going on in the tree house, although it doesn’t reveal much.  Still, it’s a small piece of the puzzle to keep children interested in the next book.  My son has picked out some stories that interest him in the bookstore and I fill in the stories he’s missing.  This was one that he read out of order, but we came back to it as the serial nature of the series began to unfold for us.  The books can be read out of order, but the underlying clues make much more sense when they are read in order.

If you’re lucky you can find the books from your local library.  We’ve found them for $3.99 from our local bookstore in paperback format.  Most nine-year-olds will probably think the series is a bit young for them.  My older daughter would have probably read stories like this when she was in first grade.  However, it’s something parents can introduce to their children and help them build their reading skills.  It’s easy enough to pick up and check out for yourself in the bookstore to decide if your child is the right age for the series.