Book Review: Leprechaun in Late Winter by Mary Pope Osborne

Leprechaun in Late Winter
by Mary Pope Osborne
Magic Tree House

Random House Books for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0-375-85650-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-375-85650-1
Publication Date: January, 2010
List Price: $12.99

Review: Have you ever heard about leprechauns? Ever read a book about them? If you would like to read a great book about leprechauns, read Leprechauns in Late Winter. It’s #43 in the Magic Tree House series starring Jack (about age 10) and Annie (about age 8) by Mary Pope Osborne.This fascinating book takes Jack and Annie to a beautiful place- Ireland! In this book, the kids are instructed by two young sorcerers named Teddy and Kathleen, and this time, their mission is to find a girl named Augusta who lives in Galway, Ireland, and Jack and Annie must inspire her so she can ‘give her gifts to the world’. Teddy and Kathleen give them a magic flute. Next, they find a book about Ireland and point to a picture of Galway and say, “I wish we could go there!” Then they are transported to Ireland while the tree-house spins and swirls around them. As their clothes also change, Jack and Annie look like simple street kids. When they reach her house, they meet Augusta, and after a short time in the parlor with Augusta’s rude sisters her mother comes in. Augusta walks to the lane with them and decides to bring them to Mary Sheridan so ‘Mary can tell them I’m a good person’. After Augusta brings them in, Mary tells them a tale about the Shee. Afterward, Mary tells Jack and Annie that they are special kids and Augusta runs away, crying because she says Mary likes them better than her. Jack and Annie go to her and explain that they will call the Shee with their magic flute. As they start to perform, Annie plays the flute and Jack sings, and out of the blue they hear a loud noise-it's the Shee! As Jack sings the last stanza, "In a swirl they leave, so wild, so free, with a lonely girl, to the hill of the Shee!", Annie realizes Augusta is gone! Now the children must find Augusta with the help of a leprechaun named Willy, who in exchange for bringing them to the Shee's secret hollow, will be taught to play the magic flute. If you want to know the rest, read the book!

Leprechauns in Late Winter is a really good children's book. When I was little, the Magic Tree House books were some of my favorites-and this one isn't any different. I liked how the author put surprises practically on every page, like Jack finding the letters in his notebook when him and Annie were summoned to the tree house, and like Augusta thinking she was better than poor people, because I thought she was going to be really nice and not high and mighty like she was at all, and Augusta being taken by the Shee, which I was really anxious to know what would happen next (I read that part really quickly!), and Willy appearing and attempting to play the magic flute and leading Jack and Annie to the Shee's secret hollow and-OOPS! Sorry, I can't tell you what happened next. One part I didn't like was how Augusta and her sisters were acting so superior. It made me feel bad for Jack and Annie that they had to deal with her, and I didn't like how Augusta was so prosperous and conceited. One other thing I didn't like was how Willy the leprechaun wasn't there until practically the very end, because I thought the whole book would revolve around a leprechaun, but it was revolving more around the Shee than Willy. One thing I really liked was that the book was kind of educational by helping you learn about Ireland, because it told you about all the fairies and where they lived and stuff like that, and so I liked how it taught you about the culture and folklore in Ireland. What's more, I liked how this book educated you on the famous people who lived in Ireland like Mary Sheridan and Lady Augusta Gregory. On a scale of one star to five stars, I would totally, definitely, without a doubt give this book 5 stars!

Review written by Emily (6th grade student).

We would like to thank Random House for providing a copy of Leprechaun in Late Winter for this review.

Have you read Leprechaun in Late Winter? How would you rate it?