• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews - Audio And Video Online Reviews 1991-2018
  Author Osborne narrates this longer Magic Tree House adventure, which will introduce listeners to many of the issues of WWII. Jack and Annie travel back in time at the request of their friend Teddy (a magician apprentice in training and here a member of Special Operations) to find Kathleen, another friend from the magical world. It is the night before D-Day, and topics such as resistance fighters, Nazi arrests, carrier pigeons, wireless messages, and parachute drops are introduced and briefly explained. Themes of needing to remain hopeful, having confidence, and being brave add to the value of the story. As narrator, Osborne is very deliberate in her delivery, because of the serious nature of the topic, and at times sounds wooden in her delivery as Teddy, who has to explain much of the background. She is more expressive as Annie and Jack, as their moods swing from surprise to worry to joy at the daring rescue they accomplish. Although listeners may be disappointed in the lack of accent differential between the characters, it may have been omitted in the interest of clarity for this complex subject. Grades 2-4. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

MARY POPE OSBORNE is the author of the New York Times number one bestselling Magic Tree House® series as well as coauthor of the Magic Tree House Fact Tracker series, along with her husband, Will, and her sister, Natalie Pope Boyce.