"Magic Tree House: Tonight on the Titanic by Mary Pope Osborne is one story of the many adventures two children have in their magic tree house. Jack and Annie are able to travel to the places they read about in different books by simply pointing and wishing. On a stormy night, Annie hears a voice and wakes up Jack to join her at the magic tree house. When they get there, there is a dog which they have never seen before. It pushes a book called, "The Unsinkable Ship" and they children go on their adventure with the dog. On this adventure, they must find four gifts to break the dog's spell; they find the first on this adventure. Jack and Annie arrive two hours before the sinking of the Titanic and although they are frightened, they cannot understand why the passengers aren't. As they continue through the ship, Jack refers to the book and knows facts such as one that explains how no other ship is remotely close enough to be able to save everyone. They make their way to third class where, with the help of the dog (who they end up naming Teddy), they come across a young boy, William, and his older sister, Lucy, who have no knowledge of the ship's sinking. All four of them make their way to the deck and when confronted with the lifeboats, Lucy and William do not want to go because they feel safer on this big 'unsinkable' ship over a small frail boat on this ocean. Annie helps with encouragement and ultimately sparks a bit of bravery for the children. After some concerns are shared for Jack and Annie's safety, Lucy and William are reassured that they will be safe. And as a parting gift, Lucy give Jack and Annie their father's watch as a gift for good luck. When Annie is lifted onto a lifeboat, Jack is later able to get her off and they begin searching for the tree house. The ship begins to sink and chaos for the children starts in their search. As the ship sinks, they find it with the help of their furry friend and enter leaving the sinking ship behind. When they are home, both are overcome with grief at the horror of this ship sinking with people still aboard. The dog disappears after saving the lives of these children and Jack and Annie return home remembering the Titanic in this book which keeps its memory alive.
The story is inspiring because even children, when called to the task, must and can be braver than most. Annie provided encouragement and they saved the lives of these children while their dog saved theirs. It's an exciting adventure as well as educational because of the facts Jack reads from his book. It also introduces a sad situation very delicately for young readers, in that being on a sinking ship with no hope of survival is beyond frightening. Also, it's sad because so many people lost their lives that day. However, as expressed, the lessons obtained from this story include courage and hope as well as being exposed to a bit of grief because of the scary situation and sad event that happened when the Titanic sank.
