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Forum -> Parenting our children -> School age children
Do Magic Tree House books need to be censored?
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amother
Ruby


 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 10:38 am
My son is devouring them recently, which is great. He's 7 and is new to reading chapter books. I am a big reader and love it that he's getting into it, but is there anything I need to be worried about in this series? I've flipped through one or two, just wondering if I need to be more thorough. Thanks!
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Mimisinger




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 10:46 am
We have heard almost all of them. IMO there is nothing to be censored. But I think there is an x-mas book. Besides that, they're all good and you can get them on cd for the car!
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gold21




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 10:58 am
No. They don't need to be censored. I have not read the second set, which are a bit more advanced, they're called Magic Tree House Merlin Missions, so don't take my word on those. I refer only to the original set. (Except maybe maybe if you have an issue with dinosaur references-- Dinosaurs at Daybreak, is that the name of the book, I think).
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momofone613




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 11:14 am
I loved those books! Nothing to b censored Smile but, like mimisinger said, the xmas book u can hav him skip Smile
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Moonlight




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 11:18 am
My 7 yr old is also devouring them! Thanks for bringing this up!
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bigsis144




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 11:29 am
Another vote for the audiobooks!
Even with the more exciting parts, the narration is relatively gentle and good for listening to around bedtime without riling them up.
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gold21




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 11:52 am
momofone613 wrote:
I loved those books! Nothing to b censored Smile but, like mimisinger said, the xmas book u can hav him skip Smile


That's the first of the Merlin Mission books, Chr*stmas in Camelot. (Imamother auto-censors the word if I don't put in a star, lol)
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queenert




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 1:03 pm
I heard something once about them having X-tian undertones.
Didn't catch it myself, and I read them when I was older, but you might want to look into it.
Then again, they say that for A Wrinkle in Time and I totally missed that too..
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Zeleze




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 1:06 pm
We all grew up with these books, and survived alos in our Yidishkeit, I can't see it as a problem, but these days many are becoming FRUMMER than we were then
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gp2.0




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 1:12 pm
queenert wrote:
I heard something once about them having X-tian undertones.
Didn't catch it myself, and I read them when I was older, but you might want to look into it.
Then again, they say that for A Wrinkle in Time and I totally missed that too..


Really? Some books have very obvious xtian undertones like the chronicles of narnia and Redwall.

But I've never heard of the magic tree house books or a wrinkle in time having xtian undertones...
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bigsis144




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 1:23 pm
gp2.0 wrote:
Really? Some books have very obvious xtian undertones like the chronicles of narnia and Redwall.

But I've never heard of the magic tree house books or a wrinkle in time having xtian undertones...


In Wrinkle in Time, Yoshke is listed with figures like Buddha, Shakespeare and other artists/humanitarians of note as people from our planet who have helped fight the darkness.

Madeleine L'Engel was Xtian and used biblical imagery and themes in many of her books (Many Waters was the first time I'd ever heard a non-Jew mention nephilim and Noach's extended family), but nothing is preachy or overtly allegorical like Narnia.
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amother
Ruby


 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 1:26 pm
Thanks all!
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gp2.0




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 1:28 pm
bigsis144 wrote:
In Wrinkle in Time, Yoshke is listed with figures like Buddha, Shakespeare and other artists/humanitarians of note as people from our planet who have helped fight the darkness.

Madeleine L'Engel was Xtian and used biblical imagery and themes in many of her books (Many Waters was the first time I'd ever heard a non-Jew mention nephilim and Noach's extended family), but nothing is preachy or overtly allegorical like Narnia.


Ah that makes sense.

I forgot about many waters! I loved learning about nephilim.
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amother
Plum


 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 1:56 pm
I work for the publisher. I won't show them this thread, but if I did, I can guarantee it would raise some eyebrows and cause many people here to burst out laughing. Censor MTH? I have to admit, that's one of the funniest things I've heard in a very long time! Rolling Laughter Rolling Laughter Rolling Laughter
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gold21




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 2:06 pm
amother wrote:
I work for the publisher. I won't show them this thread, but if I did, I can guarantee it would raise some eyebrows and cause many people here to burst out laughing. Censor MTH? I have to admit, that's one of the funniest things I've heard in a very long time! Rolling Laughter Rolling Laughter Rolling Laughter


Haha. I can definitely see why you would find the notion of censoring Magic Tree House to be humorous. Tongue Out

But anyways, I dunno, I recently mentioned a series of books to someone, and she said she doesn't allow it because there are some VERY MINOR action/ fighting scenes. Whatever. You never know.
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amother
Seagreen


 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 3:21 pm
Would my 8 yo son who is scared of everything, get scared from this series? I never read them...
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Miri7




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 10:51 pm
My kids have all read them - all of them, it seems, though I don't remember an x-mas one. They tend to skip over that stuff on their own. I don't recall anything problematic about them at all. In fact, they are so much better than a lot of garbage that's put out there for kids at that age and level. Real garbage.

Apparently Lord of the Rings has x-ian overtones, though I'm not sure how so. I love those books (yes, lots of violence, etc) and our kids read them. Again, much prefer that to the some of the other garbage out there. I especially find the number of romantic type novels that are directed at teen girls to be staggering and upsetting. I'm pretty ok with my kids reading some edgy stuff, but I don't want them reading books were the main theme is the girl fawning after some guy.

There is a great website I like called "common sense media" that has information for parents on books and movies and will give an age recommendation. I really like it as they tend to flag all sorts of things - including positive messages and scariness factor. Here is what they say about the MTH series:


"WHAT PARENTS NEED TO KNOW

Parents need to know that the Magic Tree House books, written by Mary Pope Osborne, all revolve around siblings Jack (age 8) and Annie (7), who discover that a tree house in the woods near their home can transport them to different places and historical periods. The children are sent all around the globe to achieve specific goals, usually to rescue an important historical document. The books are all highly entertaining and educational. Each volume follows a certain suspenseful arc, so the children end up in at least one precarious situation, but things always turn out well. Later books in the series have a little more sophisticated language and some have more fantastical plots, for slightly older readers, but they are no more scary than the early books."

Then they also rate the book on several factors, but that won't copy and paste in here.
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5mom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 30 2016, 11:18 pm
To those who would censor a book because of Xmas (just as religious as writing out the whole word, not sure why one is acceptable and the other not. But I digress ..) - do your children not know that non-Jews have holidays of their own? What's offensive about this? Would you expect non-Jews to censor a book in which Jews observe shabbos or yom tov?

As to the larger issue of themes, as in Narnia, A Wrinkle in Time etc, that depends on the child's sophistication. I think it's possible to discern an underlying message and still read the book on a different level. I don't see any insidious brainwashing at work. Some authors with a religious bent see the world through the lens of their religion. So what? It's an interesting dimension but it's not the whole book. Critical thinkers can recognize and reject messages that are not for them.
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animeme




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 01 2016, 6:25 am
This is going to depend on your level of sensitivity to what your children read about. The kids in the book travel to many societies, and take the societies as they are. So there are sometimes spirits that are worshipped, and who seem to answer and/or influence events. Think Native American or Eskimo spirits, and Greek gods (I think). So it really depends what you are willing to have your kids read about.
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FranticFrummie




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 01 2016, 9:11 am
I don't believe in censoring books. The very idea makes me cringe.

I will read books before I let DD read them, and then decide if they are age appropriate, or whether we need to read and discuss them together. I don't believe in banning ideas, just in timing when and how those ideas will be shared.

Developing critical thinking skills is way more important than sheltering your kid from every little thing (of course, that actually involves being actively involved with your kid.) It's way easier to just ban everything, but you're doing more harm than good in the long run.
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