Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Magic Tree House #8

Midnight On The Moon

Rate this book
Tom et sa soeur Lea sont projetes dans une base spatiale installee sur la lune afin de decouvrir le dernier element qui leur permettra de delivrer la fee Morgane.

70 pages, Paperback

First published October 29, 1996

Loading interface...
Loading interface...

About the author

Mary Pope Osborne

964 books2,378 followers
Mary Pope Osborne is an American author of children's books and audiobook narrator. She is best known as the author of the Magic Tree House series, which as of 2017 sold more than 134 million copies worldwide. Both the series and Osborne have won awards, including for Osborne's charitable efforts at promoting children's literacy. One of four children, Osborne moved around in her childhood before attending the University of North Carolina. Following college, Osborne traveled before moving to New York City. She somewhat spontaneously began to write, and her first book was published in 1982. She went on to write a variety of other children's and young adult books before starting the Magic Tree House series in 1992. Osborne's sister Natalie Pope Boyce has written several compendium books to the Magic Tree House series, sometimes with Osborne's husband Will Osborne.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
6,376 (38%)
4 stars
4,526 (27%)
3 stars
4,150 (25%)
2 stars
982 (6%)
1 star
330 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 612 reviews
Profile Image for Sophia Triad.
2,240 reviews3,658 followers
September 2, 2020
I love the book because finally Morgan becomes her true self and not the mouse everyone thought she was. Very nice memories about this book :)
Profile Image for Bookishrealm.
2,793 reviews6,017 followers
June 11, 2024
This was a nice conclusion to the Morgan Le Fey story arc where Jack and Annie are tasked with finding clues to break the spell. This felt a little less intense than previous installments but I loved the mention of all things related to space. Merlin’s name was dropped in this as well and I’m wondering if it’s somehow connected to the Magic Treehouse Merlin Missions. Either way, I’m still enjoying this series and plan to dive right into the next one.
Profile Image for DivaDiane SM.
1,086 reviews110 followers
December 14, 2016
This one was really fun. For my 5 year old it was not necessary for him to know that there's no way they could've gotten a space suit on, even helping each other. He did wonder why Annie (a 7 year old) would think she could drive a moon buggy. A healthy amount of willing suspension of disbelief is necessary for this one, but it's still full of fun and good info about the moon.

We are rereading them. My son is now 7 and can read them himself now, but this one I read aloud. Still fun.

First read 1 April 2015
Profile Image for Melissa Wood.
219 reviews4 followers
May 2, 2023
This book is bad. It’s called a space rover not a moon buggy! And an astronaut not a moon man! ~6 year old
Profile Image for Charisse.
79 reviews41 followers
May 22, 2012
Out of all the Magic Tree House books I've read, this is my first one. I just read it when I was young and around last last year, I discoveredit again, read it and just saw how informative it is! And that's when I started reading the whole series. And I never regret that it.
Profile Image for Briar's Reviews.
2,068 reviews547 followers
January 14, 2021
Magic Tree House was an amazing, middle grade series I used to read back in my youth. I binged these books for the Summer Reading Challenge, but they never had all of them in order. So, much like my youth, I'm randomly finding these books out of order and reviewing them. Why not? I need the nostalgia trip.

This book is sweet, fun and highly enjoyable. I can easily see middle graders throwing themselves in this series to find out the mysteries going on with the Magic Tree House. This imaginative series brings our leads to the moon this time, and it feels realistic. It doesn't feel goofy or not real, which is awesome.

If you're seeking a short chapter book that is highly engaging, grab this series! It holds up all these years later.

Four out of five stars.
9 reviews1 follower
February 25, 2019
Midnight on the Moon was written by Mary Pope Osborne and is the eighth book in the Magic Tree House series. This fantasy book really takes readers on a fun adventure. The book begins with an explanation of the magic tree house, then the two main characters Annie and Jack travel to the moon in their tree house. Once on the moon the two go on a wild adventure before returning back to their Pennsylvania home. I think that 3rd and 4th graders would especially love this book.
Right from the beginning, I noticed that the author used very description language. Since the language is so descriptive I think that a fun activity would be for students to choose different settings or events within the book to illustrate. While doing this they would be analyzing and interpreting the language in the book. Another activity that would fit this book would be having students make inferences or predictions. The story line takes a lot of turns throughout, so students could write their predictions down at the beginning and then they can compare what actually occurred to their predictions.
This book was a WOW book for me because I had a lot of fun reading it. It was really engaging and I truly felt like I was on the adventure with Jack and Annie. The strong usage of descriptive language and the surprises throughout added to this.
Profile Image for Kathryn.
4,609 reviews
February 10, 2021
Some issues with this one. For one, it's quite speculative, as they go to the future. Also, some of the science is just plain wrong. If you plan to share this with your child for educational purposes, please read the one and two star reviews here (and, dare I add, on Amazon) for details as to what, exactly, is messed up here. Still, my seven-year-old enjoyed it, so it two stars for entertainment value.
But, really, this is fantasy it is not science.
Profile Image for Book2Dragon.
409 reviews165 followers
July 17, 2022
Another delightful episode in the search for four things that will break the spell placed on Morgan. This time the twins go all the way to the Moon! They find the plaque left by the astronauts in 1969, and leave a note there too. They only have 2 hours of air in their spacesuits however, and still need to find the clue.
I'm glad there are so many Magic Tree Top books and look forward to reading more.
Profile Image for Colby Prince.
12 reviews
September 26, 2020
I gave it a four because i thought it was a little long. My favorite character was the moon man . my favorite part was when Morgen la fey turned back to human well she was a mouse. i,m excited for the next book because it,s all about dolphins.
Profile Image for Ellie Mae.
8 reviews
April 5, 2024
Wow this was also really great I can’t believe how good this book was and Morgan was penut WOAH I never saw that twist come in
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for ..
169 reviews1 follower
Read
February 4, 2021
Review: "It was good, but let's play now."
36 reviews
January 11, 2018
Personal Response:
I read the book, Midnight on the Moon, by Mary Pope Osborne. I thought it was a good book and well written. I enjoyed reading it because it was interesting to learn about the moon.

Plot:
A lot of interesting events happened in the plot. In the beginning, Annie told Jack that they needed to go to the magic tree house even though it was midnight. In the past, they had been to many different places over many different centuries. During one of their visits, they met an enchantress named Morgan Le Fay. Morgan told them she was under a spell put on to her by a wizard named Merlin. She told them the need to find four objects that begin with the letter M to free her. They had already found a moonstone, a mango, and a mammoth bone. There was a mouse named peanut that lived in the tree house and always helped them to find their next object. This time the mouse was on a book about the moon. Jack pointed at the book and they were immediately sent to the moon. They landed in a space station that took place in the year 2031. When they arrived, they decided to look for their next object in order to free Morgan. They put on their space suits and entered into a space rover and drove it around to look. When they were driving, they found a spaceman. They were very scared of him, so they decided to turn around and make a run for it. They almost got away until a meteorite landed in front of them. They got out of the rover and jumped over the meteorite, but on the opposite side the space man was waiting for them. He took a piece of paper and drew a map of a constaliton on it. Jack and Annie took the map back to the space station. They then realized it was a constellation of a mouse. That was when they knew the fourth object was their mouse: Peanut. After that, Peanut transformed into Morgan Le Fay and they freed her.

Characterization
The two main characters of this book are Jack and Annie. Jack is Annie's older brother. Jack starts off the story reluctant to go to the moon. He develops and listens to Annie and helps to free Morgan. Annie is ready for anything. She learns and develops into making the proper decisions and she helps to free Morgan.

Setting:
The setting in this book is in the future on the moon. It is very important that it is in the future, because they are predicting there will be a space station on the moon. It also is important it takes place on the moon, because that is what the story is teaching you about.

Thematic Connection:
The theme of this book is to stick to the mission in order to accomplish the goal. At times, Jack and Annie were stuck or confused. They keeping looking and the eventually freed Morgan.

Recommendation:
I would recommend this book to males or females from the age 8-12. It is relatable for either gender, because the two main characters are male and female. It is important that they are within this age group, because they will be able to read, understand, and relate to the entire book.

Profile Image for Charity (Booktrovert Reader).
700 reviews506 followers
February 14, 2023

BLOGINSTAGRAM

This is probably so far, the most outrageous of all of the books in the series. Because well...they landed in the space station, and they decided to go on a spacewalk. Like as if kids roaming the moon is normal or something.

Here...on the moon...they looked for the last clue to help save Morgan Le Fay from the magic spell she is under. I made an exasperated sigh at the end, of course, it's a kid's book though.

Still good overall.
Profile Image for Kaytlyn Singell.
40 reviews8 followers
August 7, 2020
⚠️ Contains Spoilers ⚠️


I knew that mouse was Morgan
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Marti (Letstalkaboutbooksbaybee).
1,526 reviews136 followers
February 19, 2024
The fun thing about watching my 7yo son become a reader is that he tries to guess the twists and turns and how its all going to play out, and he actually was right about things in this book!

I think this is one of his favorites in the series.
Profile Image for Meghan John.
100 reviews9 followers
June 19, 2024
I found this story to be dull, but my daughter loved it, evidently.
147 reviews1 follower
May 2, 2021
I thought it was so fun because their last thing that they had to find in chapter 8 was a mouse, but they already had a mouse, so they didn't have to go on a mission to find the mouse. All they had to do was just say the spell.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Amanda Carpenter.
77 reviews15 followers
June 23, 2012
As I always say, my 8 year old niece brought me the first 2 of these books to read. She loves them and she wanted me to read them too so we can talk about them. I find them fun and informative for kids about different time periods and different things around the world.

I decided on book 5 to start reading them aloud for my dogs enjoyment too. (I know, you may think I am crazy - but they like them. Well one gets rather scared sometimes, but the other loves to listen). Surprisingly enough the nervous dog didn't get scared with this story either. It must have seemed a little more calm than some of the others. Either that or she didn't understand the talk of going to the moon. Or perhaps she is just a dog and does not pay attention or understand what I am saying when I read these books outloud. However, I like to think of my dogs as intelligent enough to understand human speak, and they seem to enjoy when I read them a story at bedtime. I enjoyed it just the same as the rest though. I think they are all quite fun so far.




SPOILERS BELOW

In the spoiler section of my reviews, I like to make note of things in the stories I read that stand out to me. These are the elements I either most enjoy, find interesting, don't enjoy; or understand, or things that just stick with me in my mind after I have read a story and put it away.

I thought the moon was a very neat place to take Jack and Annie for a trip. I am glad they figured out that the fourth M thing was Peanut the mouse! I had a sneaking suspicion that Peanut was Morgan trapped in the Mouse's body from the time Peanut appeared. However, I am an adult. I figure this may have been more of an actual surprise to children as that is the audience for which these books are written. I liked the adventure Jack and Annie got to take on the moon. They found the space suits, and the air tanks and even found a little moon buggy that they could use to travel across the moon surface faster to investigate. I love Annie's curiosity in these books! It was a nice touch that a space man flew in to save them by giving them their clue and helping them out of their jam as someone always does! I thought it was cool that they had to be on the moon to enact the spell - that is why they didn't figure out the mouse was the 4th part of the spell until they got there!

I thought it was kind of funny that the suits were so heavy on the kids that they could not get up when they fell over in them. It was a little scary too when they both had fallen and were stuck, but like I said at least the space guy came and saved them! The danger elements in this story were interesting and very neat facts for children to learn, but weren't as scary as the danger elements in some of the other books. This was a nice change of pace. And by scary, I do not mean scary to me. I am imagining the scary-factor in a child's eye when I say that; especially when I have a nervous dog that gets scared at some story points in other books.
11 reviews1 follower
May 27, 2016
Personal Response
I liked this book because it talked about outer space. I like to read books about outer space because my uncle was an astronaut. Every little kid wants a treehouse that travels and wishes they can go anywhere in the world.

Plot Summary
One day Jack and Annie walked into the woods and went to the tree house. Their tree house was full of books. Jack grabbed one of the books about the moon and the tree house spun until they were on the moon. They landed in a dome shaped structure which was a moon base which was built in 2031.They were looking for the fourth M item to free Morgan the owner of the tree house from a spell that turned her into a mouse.
They put spacesuits on that had 2 hours of oxygen so they could search the moon for the item. Anny found a moon buggy to drive around. They saw a flag planted into the moon that was stuck on the moon from the first astronauts that were on the moon in 1969.
A moon man appeared and drew them a map that was made out of stars. Jack conetected the stars and made a mouse picture. They realized the mouse map was the fourth M item they needed to change the spell. They returned to the bass chanted all four M’s and Morgan appeared and the mouse was gone.

Characterization
The main Characters in this book are Jack and Annie. Jack is eight years old and Annie is seven years old they are brother and sister. Morgan is the owner of the tree house, and was put under a spell by Merlin the magician. There's a mouse named Peanut that has befriended Jack and Annie. The Moon Man appeared to them on the moon they couldn't communicate with him because he might be an alien.

Impact of the setting
The book first started with Jack and Annie living in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania.They traveled
to the moon and back to Pennsylvania. It starts in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania and Jack and Annie ran to the treehouse at midnight. They got to the treehouse and the mouse named Peanut was waiting there for them with the moon book already out. They traveled to the moon, returned back to the treehouse and Morgan returned to Camelot.

Thematic Connection
A theme of this book is fear because they run into an unknown character the moon man. They try to communicate with him but were unable to. This made him more fearful of him. They overcome this fear when he helps them get up off the ground and gives them the space map.

Recommendation
I think this book would be best for the ages 8 and up. I recommend this book because it teaches the reader about traveling to space and the moon. Both girls and boys would enjoy reading this book.

Rating
I rate this book 3 stars because it's not really a motivating book for me.
1 review
June 18, 2009
Generally I like these books a lot and so do my kids.
I do have to point out that the author was incorrect in her description of how gravity works on the moon. The children only feel low gravity while outside the moon base...this is wrong. It's worse that there is an explanation given as to why they feel normal while in the moon base (it is said that the air pressure gives them their normal weight. Not so. They would feel the same 1/6th gravity whether inside (with air) or outside (without air). If a research guide is created for this book, I hope the error is clearly pointed out.
Osborne is strong on history but should consult on matters of physics.
Profile Image for Emma Shi.
77 reviews1 follower
December 22, 2023
1.5

Wow, I'm so not keeping up with Goodreads but I read this on 12/31 to meet my reading goal and man was it mid. Like, I thought Magic Tree House was kinda cool in elementary school, but it's SO MID. The story was just so boring?? I could write something better than this; you could write something better than this. Idk what the point is lol like don't read old childhood favorites thinking you'll like them :(.
Profile Image for Alex.
708 reviews
September 18, 2017
I enjoyed this book because I liked the part when Jack and Annie freed Morgan from her spell. I did not like this book because I do not like the moon. On the moon you cannot breathe.
October 6, 2017
It was a preaty good book. I read it in spainish so it was not ideal but it still was a good book.
January 19, 2018
Emerson got scared watching zootopia a few nights ago so we read a few chapters to get his mind off it. Turns out he got up again in middle of night and finished the whole book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 612 reviews

Join the discussion

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.