Magic Tree House Boxed Set, Books 1-28 Paperback – Box set, September 23, 2008

I know several folks about my age who read some of these growing up, but I'm reading these for the first time when reading to my son at bedtime. These are approachable, easy to read aloud to a child, not too stimulating, and the chapters are short enough and the structure predictable enough that it makes a parent's role easier. The contents are also predictable in the sense that you don't have to worry too much about content filtering for age appropriateness; no questionable moral messages.A couple minor criticisms:(Acknowledging that these are children's books...) The contents are generally very simple, sometimes too simple in my opinion, even for the target audience. There's a good variety of settings, but the arc of each book (and even the longer arcs that carry across books) are like boring side quests to an aimless video game. I've observed it's hard for any of us to get invested in the characters or feel their adventures are much more than an errand. I think part of the problem is the limitations of the format, but also limited stakes, growth, and hurdles.There's also errors that can be annoying if you let them. Like the Moon book where the author obviously used her imagination and pre-1950 ideas about being on the moon, rather than doing some homework on it before world building. To be fair, I think these were written in the mid 90s before most of the modern Internet, but still... gravity doesn't change when you step outside, space suit oxygen systems and airlocks don't work that way, you wouldn't build a pressurized dome as the landing pad for a rocket, etc. Similar ideas in other books, like the antics with the octopus and mini-sub in the Reef book. These sorts of things aren't explained a way by contrivances or magic systems, but are giving children the idea that "this is how it really works". Truly, these are nitpicks, but depending on how much you care about a given topic, you may feel the need to pause and correct the author's lack of due diligence.

My 9-year-old absolutely loved this series and couldn’t put the books down! The stories are engaging, imaginative, and educational, with just the right balance of adventure and history. This set kept my child entertained for hours and inspired a love for reading. The fact that my child is already asking for more books in the series speaks volumes about how much they enjoyed it. Highly recommend for young readers who love adventure and learning!

28 books is a lot of books for the price. I could see some kids getting bored with such a large set, but not mine, so I'll tell you what I know. We read them at bed time and my kids love it. The books are just exciting enough to keep them interested, but not so much so that they get too wound-up or nervous before bedtime. My 7 y/o gets into them a bit more than my 4 y/o, but that shouldn't be a surprise. The kids find the repetition and standard template of the stories comforting I think - there's a little sense of pride they get by shouting out catch phrases as I read them aloud. My older kid will sneak off with the books to read ahead sometimes, which is a credit the interest the books can hold even with so many of them. We're on book 14 and they still want to keep reading them, so if you consider the hours spent doing active listening and a calming activity before bed, versus the low cost of the set, it's an extremely good deal.

Said used-very good condition but came like new and sealed. Very happy since this is a gift for my son and I paid about $40. THANK YOU!

Perfect gift for my 10 year old grandson. Nicely boxed and a popular series for kids. Highly recommend

Great condition.

The books themselves are great but the box that holds them hardly keeps them all upright, it's very unstable

I read these as a kid and here I am reading them to my kids!! They did take forever to get to me!!!!! But it’s great to have them.