mom2bee Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 I know that Jack and Annie are kids, but how old are they in the more recent books. I know that seems like an odd question, but I'm very curious to get a feel for the series... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennynd Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Book 1-28, I think they are 7 and 8.Book 29 and on, They are 10 and 11.They are targeted for 3-4th grade readers rather than 1-2nd grade. And there is a whole new series that are teenagers... I think... I thought I saw that once somewhere.. But can not find it right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlened1974 Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 There are also non-fiction resource guides for them. My oldest (dd12) never liked the series, but loved the guides, but my youngest (dd7) reads a chapter from the series almost every day. Can't wait to check out teenage Jack and Annie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennynd Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Can't wait to check out teenage Jack and Annie!I know I saw it somewhere but can't find it now... I feel bad now... Going to try to find it... Maybe in one of my DD' book... I don't know... Grrrrr.. Still can't find it.. I must be dreaming... Sorry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2bee Posted July 24, 2013 Author Share Posted July 24, 2013 Yeah, I'm trying to find some decent chapter books for a very skilled, but not interested in reading little boy. He doesn't want to read the books if the characters don't age because it 'isn't realistic' yet he watches every superhero show, draws power rangers and drinks green colored Hawaiian Punch. *grr...* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitterpatter Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 That's interesting since most books take place over a couple of hours to just a few days or weeks. When Jack and Annie leave for an adventure in Magic Tree House, they return to the exact same time. So if an adventure takes them all day to complete in another time, they return to the exact same moment as when they started in their time. Yeah, I'm trying to find some decent chapter books for a very skilled, but not interested in reading little boy. He doesn't want to read the books if the characters don't age because it 'isn't realistic' yet he watches every superhero show, draws power rangers and drinks green colored Hawaiian Punch. *grr...* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 We've read every single one of these books, up to the current one. My 6 year old has been obsessed with them since he was 4. It doesn't appear that they ever change their age. Even in the illustrations. My kids and I have had talks about that before. The first books mention their age, and the later books don't. Likely it's because they go back to the very same moment before they traveled through time. They are forever 8 and 7 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 If you read carefully, the seasons change & time passes for the kids. It is obvious, IMO, that they get older if you compare the first 20 books to the last 20 books. Even Annie changes some, but it is the most obvious with Jack. (He seems to have a crush on the girl selkie in some of the books.) They get more tweenish in a stereotypical way in the latter books. I read at one point that Mary Pope Osborne didn't plan to write them as full teenagers, but she's a woman -- so she's free to change her mind. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 If you read carefully, the seasons change & time passes for the kids. It is obvious, IMO, that they get older if you compare the first 20 books to the last 20 books. Even Annie changes some, but it is the most obvious with Jack. (He seems to have a crush on the girl selkie in some of the books.) They get more tweenish in a stereotypical way in the latter books. I read at one point that Mary Pope Osborne didn't plan to write them as full teenagers, but she's a woman -- so she's free to change her mind. :tongue_smilie: Yes I did notice all of those changes, but it's so subtle and barely noticeable that I was still able to read them all to my 4-5 year old without losing his interest. The first books mention their ages, and then they just stop talking about ages all together. The reading level barely changes as well. Compare it to something like, say....Harry Potter, where the reading level matures as the characters age. MTH books are always at a 1st/2nd to 3rd (at best0reading level, regardless of the characters aging. Regardless of those subtle references to age, I can't imagine that MTH would be interesting to a typical "tween" at all. Even though the characters age, it's apparent that it is downplayed because little kids are the primary audience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 They start off at 7 and 8 and end up at 10 and 11. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Regardless of those subtle references to age, I can't imagine that MTH would be interesting to a typical "tween" at all. My kids are 10 and 11 and they just brought home 10 Jack and Annie books from the library. They still like them. For my dd (11) they are "light reading" (her term) and for my son (10) they are a comfortable reading level, as he is a bit of a struggling reader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 While my older two don't re-read the series much, they do check out the new ones as they appear at our library. (My oldest is definitely NOT a 'typical' tween.) It is interesting to note the "reading level" (AR, Lexile, Grade Level Equivalent) listed for each of the books in series. There is a big variety. They aren't considered top quality, but they are enjoyed (silently, mostly) and my kids all get some information from each book. I try to integrate a few each year into science & history for my youngers. The guides are generally written at a higher level than the books. (My library only has a few of the guides.) I agree that the primary audience are younger kids (6-8) vs. older (10-12). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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