Reliving my Childhood: The Magic Treehouse

Hey y’all! Remember my “books that shaped my childhood” post a few weeks ago? Back when I went down memory lane and told you all about the lives I lived through these stories. Well, I decided to actually reread one of those books and boy do I have something to say.

A Little Backstory

The Magic Treehouse series was one of my all-time favorites as a kid. I remember reading every single one that my classroom library had, then going to the school library to get any others that it didn’t. And if there were books that the school library didn’t have… well then I’d make sure to look for them at my public library when my mom took me there every week. Libraries have always been safe havens for me.

I’ve always had a fascination with history. Don’t ask me why because I honestly don’t know. It’s just something I’ve loved to learn about for as long as I can remember. Books like The Magic Treehouse and Dear America made it easy to not only learn about history, but also connect to it. The first time I learned about the Titanic was through The Magic Treehouse and that’s a fact that’s stuck with me, to this day.

Even though I read the series during the early 2000s, The Magic Treehouse books were originally published between 1992 – 2003 and have been updated in recent years, though with very minimal changes.

Does it still hold up?

Short answer: Yes!

Long answer: I listened to the audiobook of Dinosaurs Before Dark (Book 1) through the CloudLibrary app. It’s actually narrated by Mary Pope Osborne (what a legend) and I must say, she really knows how to draw a reader in. There’s just something so special about hearing a book you love told through the voice of the person that created it.

The story itself was so fun. The adventure and little facts interspersed in reminded me of just why I loved this series so much. Not only was it fun for me as a kid, I was also learning a ton as I read it. So yeah, this book totally holds up.

What were your childhood favorites?

Do you like to reread books?

If you were to write a children’s book series, who would be your inspiration?

Let me know in the comments below, let’s chat!

Author: Rachelle Saint Louis

Rachelle Saint Louis is a Haitian-American writer, born and raised in South Florida. She received a 2018 Silver Medal in the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition for her poem “Red Blood Cell.” She is currently a Psychology and English double major at Florida Atlantic University. Her poetry has been published in Rigorous Magazine. Rachelle has been writing poetry since the 7th grade and you can often find her performing Spoken Word at local open mics. View all posts by Rachelle Saint Louis