Day of the Dragon King - Mary Pope Osborne [1]
www.randomhouse.com/magictreehouse
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Osborne, Mary Pope.
Day of the Dragon King / by Mary Pope Osborne; illustrated by Sal Murdocca.
p. cm. — (Magic tree house; #14) “Stepping Stone book.”
SUMMARY: The magic treehouse takes Jack and Annie back two thousand years to ancient China where they must find the original copy of an old legend before the Imperial Library is burned down by the evil Dragon King.
eISBN: 978-0-375-89471-8
[1. Time travel—Fiction. 2. China—History—Han dynasty, 202 B.C.–220 A.D.—Fiction. 3. Magic—Fiction. 4. Tree houses—Fiction.] I. Murdocca, Sal, ill. II. Title. III. Series: Osborne, Mary Pope. Magic tree house series; #14.
PZ7.O81167Day 1998 [Fic]—dc21 97-49199
Random House, Inc. New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland
A STEPPING STONE BOOK is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
v3.0
Cover
Dear Readers
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
1. The Bamboo Book
2. The Cowherd
3. The Silk Weaver
4. The Great Wall
5. The Scholar
6. The Dragon King
7. The Burning of the Books
8. The Tomb
9. The Silk Path
10. The Ancient Legend
More Facts
Special Preview of Magic Tree House #15: Viking Ships at Sunrise
For Peter and Andrew Boyce
One summer day in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, a mysterious tree house appeared in the woods.
Eight-year-old Jack and his seven-year-old sister, Annie, climbed into the tree house. They found that it was filled with books.
Jack and Annie soon discovered that the tree house was magic. It could take them to the places in the books. All they had to do was point to a picture and wish to go there.
Along the way, they discovered that the tree house belongs to Morgan le Fay. Morgan is a magical librarian from the time of King Arthur. She travels through time and space, gathering books.
In Magic Tree House #12, Polar Bears Past Bedtime, Jack and Annie solved the last of four ancient riddles and became Master Librarians. To help them in their future tasks, Morgan gave Jack and Annie secret library cards with the letters M L on them.
Jack and Annie’s first four missions as Master Librarians are to save stories from ancient libraries. When their first adventure ended (Magic Tree House #13, Vacation Under the Volcano), Morgan asked them to return to the tree house in two weeks to go to China and save another story.
Now the two weeks are over …
Annie peeked into Jack’s room.
“Ready to go to China?” she asked.
Jack took a deep breath.
“Sure,” he answered.
“Bring your secret library card,” Annie said. “I have mine in my pocket.”
“Yep,” said Jack.
He opened his top dresser drawer and took out a thin wooden card. The letters M L on it shimmered in the light. Jack dropped the card into his backpack. Then he threw in his notebook and a pencil.
“Let’s go,” said Annie.
Jack pulled on his pack and followed her.
What are we in for today? he wondered.
“Bye, Mom!” said Annie as they passed their mom in the kitchen.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“China!” said Annie.
“Great,” said their mom. She winked at them. “Have fun.”
Fun? thought Jack. He was afraid that fun wasn’t quite the right word.
“Just wish us luck,” he said as he and Annie headed out the front door.
“Good luck!” their mother called.
“If only she knew we aren’t pretending,” Jack whispered to Annie.
“Yeah,” said Annie, grinning.
Outside, the sun shone brightly. Birds sang. Crickets chirped. Jack and Annie walked up their street toward the Frog Creek woods.
“I wonder if the weather will be this nice in China,” Annie said.
“I don’t know. Remember, Morgan said this would be a very scary adventure,” said Jack.
“They’re always scary,” said Annie. “But we always meet animals who help us, or people.”
“True,” said Jack.
“I bet we meet someone great today,” said Annie.
Jack smiled. He was starting to feel excited now instead of scared.
“Let’s hurry!” he said.
They ran into the Frog Creek woods. They slipped between the tall trees until they came to a huge oak.
“Hello!” came a soft voice they knew well.
They looked