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"Magic Tree House"-ese ("Please respond in kind!" Said Annie.)


nmoira
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Hemingway, Faulkner, Mary Pope Osborne... What other great literary mash-ups will this thread yield?

 

"What d'ye see?" cried Jack, flattening his face to the sky.

 

"There she blows!--there she blows!," cried Anne, "A hump like a snow-hill! It is Moby Dick!"

 

"He is heading straight to leeward, Annie," cried Jack

 

"By salt and hemp!" cried Annie, "but this swift motion of the deck creeps up one's legs and tingles at the heart. This ship and I are two brave fellows!--Ha, ha! Some one take me up, and launch me, spine-wise, on the sea,--for by live-oaks! my spine's a keel. Ha, ha! we go the gait that leaves no dust behind!"

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:D

 

Now that made my evening. If only we could work Hemingway into the drinking game.

 

‘It’s pretty hot,’ Jack said.

‘Let’s drink Fanta.’

‘Dos Fantas,’ Jack said into the curtain.

‘Big ones?’ a woman asked from the doorway.

‘Yes. Two big ones.’

The woman brought two glasses of Fanta and two felt pads. She put the felt pads and the Fanta glasses on the table and looked at Jack and Annie. Annie was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry.

‘They look like white elephants,’ Annie said.

‘I’ve never seen one,’ Jack drank his Fanta.

‘No, you wouldn’t have.’

‘I might have,’ Jack. ‘Just because you say I wouldn’t have doesn’t prove anything.’

Edited by Spy Car
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Just then the wind started to blow. The leaves began to shake.

“Here we go!†cried Annie.

The wind whistled louder. The leaves shook harder.

Jack closed his eyes as the tree house started to spin.

It spun faster and faster! And faster! Suddenly everything was still.

Absolutely still.

Not a sound. Not a whisper.

Jack opened his eyes. He found himself transformed into a gigantic insect.

He was lying on his armor-plated back. He lifted his head and could see his thorax divided into segments. His numerous legs, which were painfully thin, waved helplessly before his eyes.

“What has happened to me?†Jack cried.

“Oh wow!†Annie cried.

Annie and Jack looked out the window. One could hear rain drops.

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"I want to read" said ds#1.

"I want to read a chapter book" he said.

"I want to read this MTH chapter book to you, Mom"

 

So Mom sat down to listen.

It went achingly slow.

So Mom had a plan.

She shared it with ds#1.

"You will read one page and I will read 2 pages" said Mom.

 

The one page was achingly slow to listen to. The two pages were painfully choppy to read.

 

After one MTH book, Mom said "Let's wait".

She said "Let's wait and read these in a couple of months".

She said "When it is easier for you to read them".

 

Ds#1 read the rest when he could read himself.

Then dd#1 wanted to read MTH like big brother.

Mom said "You can read them yourself. You are smart".

And she added "Or big brother can read them to you".

She said "I have to take care of baby brother (chuckle)".

 

ds#1 and dd#1 have read all the MTH books many many times.

ds#1 and dd#1 are proficient and confident readers.

ds#1 and dd#1 will eventually read MTH to ds#2 and ds#3.

 

Someday Mom will read 500 page books again. Until then, Mom will gladly listen to almost any book that ds's and dd want to read out loud. But Mom doesn't think she can stand to read MTH books again. Ever.

 

One last funny thing about Mom....MTH books are NOT the only children's books where Mom changes sentence structure when she reads. This becomes a problem when reading to kids that can read themselves. :tongue_smilie:

 

This was all hilarious. But I lost it on the bolded. Esp the baby bit and chuckle. :lol:

Edited by JENinOR
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My kids love these books. A lot. So I used them. To study fragmented sentences.

 

Okay, it hurts my brain to write like that any longer. Here's what you do: Photocopy any two pages of a book, give the child a highlighter, and have him/her find all of the sentence fragments.

 

We reinforced fragments and also discovered the difference between good and poor writing styles, even though both can provide enjoyable reading. ;)

 

--Pamela

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"What d'ye see?" cried Jack, flattening his face to the sky.

 

"There she blows!--there she blows!," cried Anne, "A hump like a snow-hill! It is Moby Dick!"

 

"He is heading straight to leeward, Annie," cried Jack

 

"By salt and hemp!" cried Annie, "but this swift motion of the deck creeps up one's legs and tingles at the heart. This ship and I are two brave fellows!--Ha, ha! Some one take me up, and launch me, spine-wise, on the sea,--for by live-oaks! my spine's a keel. Ha, ha! we go the gait that leaves no dust behind!"

 

Now that's an improvement on the original. I could have gotten into the Jack and Annie version of Moby Dick.

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My son does not like to read about kids who misbehave. When reading "on the banks of plum creek". He had to leave the room since Laura was disobeying her father. He can't stand hearing about people getting into trouble.

 

That's funny. My kids side with Mr MacGregor, but maybe because we've got animals eating our vegetables. I don't understand why this desire to be well-behaved is limited to reading material and does not extend into real life.

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This thread is so funny I am going to choke to death!

 

I love it, DH and I had these same conversations when DD was going through the MTH phase. I thought we were the only people who were this sarcastic about the poor MTH books....:lol::lol::lol:

 

This was the first series of books DD really wanted to go to the library and get out, so it was very cool at the time.

 

HOWEVER, we got them on CD (along with a preview of the Jack and Annie MUSICAL) and I thought I would die....has anyone heard the MUSICAL? Oh. Boy. ;)

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Oh. My. Goodness! lol I have never read these but think I will have to avoid them like the plague! That would drive me crazy!

 

It is unfortunate that someone hasn't decided to write on such subjects with great sentence structure. Mary Pope Osborne does a great job of introducing historical topics. Isn't there a market for this sort of thing with well-written sentences? I know my boys would love them.

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It is unfortunate that someone hasn't decided to write on such subjects with great sentence structure. Mary Pope Osborne does a great job of introducing historical topics. Isn't there a market for this sort of thing with well-written sentences? I know my boys would love them.

 

There are many who have: Fritz, d'Aulaire, Adler, and so forth.

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It was the best of times.

 

It was the worst of times.

 

It was the age of wisdom.

 

It was the age of foolishness.

 

It was the epoch of belief.

 

It was the epoch of incredulity

 

It was the season of Light.

 

It was the season of Darkness.

 

It was the spring of hope.

 

It was the winter of despair.

 

We had everything before us.

 

We had nothing before us.

 

We were all going direct to Heaven.

 

We were all going direct the other way.

 

"Oh, brother." Said Jack.

 

"My head hurts." Said Annie.

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1-28 have short sentences.

 

Mom combines the sentences when she reads.

 

Dd6 reads them on her own.

 

The second group, from 29 through the present 45, are written at a higher reading level.

 

Yes, I read them ALL aloud to my older two.

 

I'm amazed!

 

said Jack.

 

Why are you amazed?

 

asked Annie.

 

That Maus is such a patient mother. Maus read all of the books. Aloud.

 

Said Jack.

 

Let me write that in my notebook. Maus read all the books aloud.

 

 

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It is unfortunate that someone hasn't decided to write on such subjects with great sentence structure. Mary Pope Osborne does a great job of introducing historical topics. Isn't there a market for this sort of thing with well-written sentences? I know my boys would love them.

 

"Look what I found" said Annie.

 

"I found books like MTH" said Annie.

 

"But with longer sentences" said Annie.

 

"Where" said Jack.

 

"Here" said Annie.

 

"They are Canadian" said Annie.

 

"Let me write that down" said Jack.

They are Canadian.

 

http://www.mapletreepress.com/canadianflyeradventures/default.aspx

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There are many who have: Fritz, d'Aulaire, Adler, and so forth.

 

I am very familiar with these authors, and they are not the same. These authors focus on a person or time period without the mystery and interaction with non-related people. Time-warping and mystery are quite attractive to children. These are all in the nonfiction genre. We read and enjoy them, but they're not the same.

Edited by nestof3
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"Look what I found" said Annie.

 

"I found books like MTH" said Annie.

 

"But with longer sentences" said Annie.

 

"Where" said Jack.

 

"Here" said Annie.

 

"They are Canadian" said Annie.

 

"Let me write that down" said Jack.

They are Canadian.

 

http://www.mapletreepress.com/canadianflyeradventures/default.aspx

 

Thanks. I'll check them out. :D

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I am very familiar with these authors, and they are not the same. These authors focus on a person or time period without the mystery and interaction with non-related people. Time-warping and mystery are quite attractive to children. These are all in the nonfiction genre. We read and enjoy them, but they're not the same.

 

My kids did not like the Canadian Flyer series. (My kids also didn't like the MTH books. So the fact they don't like these ones don't say much.) But I think they fit what you want. At least the time-warping part of it. I think that every book the two main characters ride the sled to a different point in Canadian history.

 

There is also the "Wright Time" series. But I think that only 4 books have been published in that series. In that series a homeschool family travels around the USA in a RV. Each book takes place in a different state. No time travel, but a mystery in every book.

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