Monday, March 5, 2012

Book Review: Leprechaun in Late Winter by Mary Pope Osborne

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is a weekly feature started by MG author Shannon Messenger and is a weekly post featuring an upcoming MG release, a MG Author Interview or a MG review. You can find out more about this series posts, and find links to author authors and bloggers who are taking part in this feature here. You can also my Must Have Middle Grade Reads feature on Mundie Moms


Published by: Random House Kids
Released on: January 12th, 2010
Source: bought
Ages: 7 & up
5 stars: We Loved It
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Series: book #43 in The Magic Tree House Series

Jack and Annie are on their third mission to find (and inspire!) creative people to bring happiness to others through the arts (Mozart and Louis Armstrong so far). Set in Ireland, Jack and Annie meet an Irish girl and go on a magical adventure that changes the girl’s life—she grows up to be Lady Gregory, who helped bring back the Irish legends, started a theater, and helped the Irish people regain both their heritage and their pride -quoted from Goodreads

I absolutely love how educational and inspirational this series is for my kids and young readers. Mary does an amazing job with not only taking kids on a history lesson in this story by taking them back in time to the mid 1800's in Ireland, she also teaches readers about this Irish lore, and introduces them to a real historical figure, Lady Gregory. I for one was fascinated about the lore of Irish fairies, known as Shee in this story, and the role they played in Jack and Annie's quest to help young Lady Gregory.

Jack and Annie once again set off another adventure for Merlin and this time it's to help a young Irish girl find her inspiration. When Jack and Annie set off in this lush, green and soaking wet country side of Ireland to find her, they didn't except to find someone who stopped believing and stopped telling stories. Young Lady Augusta Gregory remembered every story she was ever told and used to love roaming the country side looking for the Seer with her brothers. Now all that's changed and she no longer believes. With Jack and Annie's help and the help of an old friend of Lady Augusta Gregory's old nurse maid, Willie the Leprechaun, they set off to help Lady Gregory in a rather unexpected way.

This is truly a fun magical journey that introduces young readers to the enchanting lore of the Irish. I loved the history, the perfectly described setting and the characters that are introduced in this story. I was impressed with the amount of research that Mary put into this story. I liked that she not only lets readers know her inspiration for this story, but she includes detailed information about the Shee, Lady Gregory, as well as some fun games in the back of the book. This is a fabulous read for 1st and 2nd grade readers.


I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~ Anna Quindlen

Good children's literature appeals not only to
the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child.
~ Anonymous ~