Jack and Annie have basically become the patron saints of second-grade reading levels. It’s a phenomenon. You start with Dinosaurs Before Dark, and before you know it, you've bought sixty-something books and your kid is suddenly an expert on the Revolutionary War and ninjas. But then, the inevitable happens. You hit the end of the series, or maybe your reader is just getting a bit bored with the "we found a note, we went to the treehouse, we solved a riddle" formula.
What now?
Finding books like The Magic Tree House isn't just about finding more time travel. It’s about matching that specific "sweet spot" of difficulty. Mary Pope Osborne mastered the art of the transitional chapter book—short sentences, plenty of action, and just enough illustrations to keep a seven-year-old from panic-closing the book. If you jump too straight into something like Harry Potter or Percy Jackson, you might accidentally kill their love of reading with a wall of text they aren't ready for yet.
The Mystery of the "Reading Plateau"
Parents often freak out when their kids finish the series. They think, "This is it, they're readers now!" Then they hand the kid a 300-page novel and the kid stops reading entirely.
That’s because the Magic Tree House acts as a bridge. It’s a very specific scaffold. To find a true successor, you need to look for books that maintain that high-interest, low-vocabulary balance. You want series that prioritize "pacing" over "prose."
Honestly, the goal isn't just to replicate the treehouse. It's to replicate the feeling of being an explorer. Kids love Jack and Annie because they have agency. They go places without parents. They solve problems. They are the heroes of their own history lesson.
The Fact Tracker Alternative: The Who Was? Series
If your kid was more into the "Research Guide" companions than the actual stories, you have to look at the Who Was? (and What Was? or Where Is?) series. These are the "Bobblehead" books you see in every Scholastic book fair.
They aren't fiction. They don't have a magic portal. But they tap into that same hunger for "weird but true" facts that Osborne’s Fact Trackers do. For a kid who loved learning about the Titanic through Jack and Annie, reading What Was the Titanic? is the natural next step. It’s a lateral move, not a vertical one in terms of difficulty, which builds confidence.
When They Want the Magic: The Secrets of Droon
Tony Abbott’s The Secrets of Droon is probably the closest spiritual sibling to the Magic Tree House.
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It’s got the portal—a staircase under the basement stairs. It’s got the trio of kids. It’s got the episodic nature where each book feels like a new mission. However, it leans much harder into the "high fantasy" elements. If the historical stuff in Magic Tree House was a bit dry for your reader, Droon is the answer. It’s got wizards, flying carpets, and a recurring villain named Lord Sparr who is just scary enough to be interesting but not enough to cause nightmares.
The sentences are short. The chapters are punchy. It’s a win.
For the Animal Lovers: Zoey and Sassafras
Let’s talk about a series that is quietly taking over classrooms. Zoey and Sassafras by Asia Citro.
It’s brilliant.
Zoey is a young girl who can see magical creatures, and she uses the scientific method to help them. A dragon has a skin problem? She runs an experiment. A monster is sick? She tracks symptoms.
While it doesn't involve time travel, it shares that "discovery" DNA. It’s also incredibly inclusive and features a girl lead in STEM, which is a nice change of pace if you’ve spent the last six months with Jack taking all the notes while Annie does all the "feeling" (we love Annie, but let’s be real, the gender roles in the early MTH books are a little dated).
The "Scary" Transition: Eerie Elementary and The Last Kids on Earth
Some kids need a bit of a thrill to keep turning pages.
If you’re looking for books like The Magic Tree House but with a bit more "edge," look at Max Brallier’s The Last Kids on Earth. Now, full disclosure: this is a jump up in difficulty. It’s a "hybrid" book—lots of illustrations, almost like a graphic novel, but with plenty of text. It’s about a zombie apocalypse, but it’s funny. Think Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets The Walking Dead for eight-year-olds.
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For a closer reading level match, Eerie Elementary (part of the Scholastic Branches line) is perfect. The school is alive and trying to eat the students. It’s fast-paced, spooky, and has that same "kids against the world" vibe that makes the Tree House series so addictive.
Why the "Branches" Line is Your Best Friend
Scholastic actually created a specific imprint called "Branches" specifically to solve the "What do I read after Magic Tree House?" problem. They realized there was a massive gap between "learning to read" and "reading to learn."
If you see a book with that little Branches logo on the spine, it’s a safe bet. Series like Dragon Masters by Tracey West are basically the gold standard here.
Dragon Masters has everything:
- Magic stones.
- Different types of dragons with unique powers.
- A king who is a bit suspicious.
- Short chapters that end on cliffhangers.
It is arguably more popular than Magic Tree House in some modern second-grade classrooms. It’s fast. You can finish one in a night if you’re a strong reader, or over a week if you’re just starting out.
The "Graphic Novel" Pivot
Sometimes the best way to move on from Jack and Annie isn't another chapter book. It's a graphic novel.
A lot of parents worry that graphic novels are "cheating." They aren't. They’re actually great for building visual literacy and understanding context clues. The InvestiGators or Cat Kid Comic Club are high-energy, hilarious, and keep kids engaged with the page.
But if you want to keep the "historical adventure" vibe alive, check out Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales. These are graphic novels about real history. They’re grittier and much more detailed than Magic Tree House, making them a fantastic "step up" for a third or fourth grader who still wants to know about the Alamo or the Underground Railroad.
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Comparing the Options (In Plain English)
You’ve got the Magic Tree House which is basically "History 101."
Then you have Imagination Station (the Adventures in Odyssey series). It’s very similar—two kids, a machine, historical/biblical settings. If you’re in a household that prefers faith-based content, this is the direct clone. It follows the exact same structure.
Then there’s The 39 Clues. This is the "Level Up" option. It’s a multi-author series (Rick Riordan wrote the first one) that involves global travel and history but is much more complex. It’s what you give the kid who has mastered the Tree House and is looking for a real challenge.
Real Talk: The Longevity of Jack and Annie
Why are we even looking for alternatives?
Because the Magic Tree House is a bit of a "formula" series. After twenty books, the brain starts to predict exactly what happens. A Bookish Home creator Laura Wifler often talks about the importance of "stretching" a reader’s palate. You don't want them to get stuck in one genre.
If they loved the mystery, try A to Z Mysteries.
If they loved the history, try I Survived.
If they loved the magic, try The Kingdom of Wrenly.
The I Survived series by Lauren Tarshis is particularly effective. It takes a real disaster—the sinking of the Titanic, the shark attacks of 1916, the eruption of Mount St. Helens—and puts a fictional kid right in the middle of it. It’s visceral. It’s emotional. It’s a bit more intense than Jack and Annie's adventures, but it’s usually the series that turns "casual" readers into "obsessive" readers.
Actionable Steps for Parents and Teachers
Don't just buy a whole new set of 50 books. Start small.
- Identify the "Hook": Ask your kid why they liked Magic Tree House. Was it the time travel? The facts? The mystery?
- Try the "Five Finger Rule": Open a new book to a random page. Have your kid read it. For every word they don't know, they put up a finger. If they hit five fingers before the end of the page, the book is too hard for right now. Save it for later.
- Use the Library's "Read Alike" Lists: Librarians are the unsung heroes of this struggle. Most libraries have a printed list or a digital tag for "Books like Magic Tree House."
- Listen to an Audiobook First: If you’re trying to move up to a harder series like The Chronicles of Narnia or City of Ember, try the audiobook in the car. It builds interest in the story without the "labor" of decoding the text.
- Don't Ban "Easy" Books: If your kid wants to go back and re-read Mummies in the Morning for the tenth time, let them. Fluency is built through repetition. Reading an "easy" book builds speed and confidence.
The transition away from Jack and Annie is a milestone. It means the "training wheels" are starting to wobble because the rider is getting faster. Whether you move into the elemental magic of Dragon Masters or the gritty reality of I Survived, the goal remains the same: keeping the "magic" of the story alive while the reading level catches up to the imagination.
Next Steps for Building a Home Library
- Visit a local bookstore and specifically look for the Scholastic Branches section; these are curated specifically for this reading level.
- Check out the "I Survived" graphic novels if your child is a visual learner but wants more intense storytelling.
- Download the "Who Was?" app or visit their website to see which historical figures align with your child's specific interests.
- Create a "Series Tracker"—many kids at this age are motivated by "collecting" experiences, so a simple chart where they can sticker off books in a new series can replace the dopamine hit of the Magic Tree House numbering system.