Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs Before Dark — Chapter 6

About This Passage

This passage is the chapter's most surprising moment — Jack's bookish habit of reading actually saves them from being charged by a giant dinosaur. Notice how Mary Pope Osborne stages the trick: short imperative sentences ('Bow your head. Pretend to chew.'), Annie's puzzled echo ('Chew, said Annie'), Jack's confirmation ('Yes, said Jack'), and finally the source of the knowledge ('I read'). The whole exchange is built out of clipped commands and a single defense of the strategy. Students will study how a writer can make book-knowledge dramatic by showing it work in a moment of real danger.

Narration Prompt

In your own words, tell the story of this chapter. What were the most important moments? What made them important — and how do you know?

Discussion Questions

1. Jack rescues Annie from the angry mother dinosaur using a trick he read in a book — pretending to chew. Why does the chapter give the rescue to JACK and his BOOKS? Has the author been preparing us for this moment? Look back at how Jack has used his books in earlier chapters.
2. The mother anatosaurus is afraid first of Annie and her babies, then calm with Annie, then suddenly afraid again at the end of the chapter. The same creature shows three different feelings in just a few pages. What is the author teaching us about how animals — and maybe people — actually feel?

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide