Day of the Dragon King is the fourteenth installment to the Magic Tree House series. The book is preceded by Vacation Under the Volcano and succeeded by Viking Ships at Sunrise.
Plot[]
The magic tree house takes Jack and Annie 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.
Chapters[]
- The Bamboo Book
- The Cowherd
- The Silk Weaver
- The Great Wall
- The Scholar
- The Dragon King
- The Burning of the Books
- The Tomb
- The Silk Path
- The Ancient Legend
Plot[]
It has been two weeks since their adventure in Pompeii. Once the Master Librarians returned to the Magic Tree House, Morgan le Fay sent Jack and Annie to ancient China to preserve another threatened tale. She handed them a bamboo stick, the writing medium used before paper was invented, and instructed them to save the story before the Imperial Library was destroyed. The book that transported them there was titled "The Time of the First Emperor".
Upon reading, Jack learned about the first emperor of China, known as the Dragon King, named for the dragon symbol he had chosen. Upon arrival, a cowherd asked the children to deliver a message to a silk weaver, asking her to meet him at twilight. However, the cowherd became uneasy when they inquired about the Imperial Library and warned them to beware of the Dragon King. Grateful for their help, the silk weaver gave them a ball of silk, cautioning that the Dragon King would have anyone who tried to steal China's most precious secret arrested and executed.
While riding in an ox cart, Jack read that the Dragon King had forced his people to construct the Great Wall of China as protection from invaders. He was the first emperor to do so, though later rulers extended its length. The man in the cart turned out to be a scholar who had gone into hiding, as the Dragon King feared the power of books and knowledge, wanting only his ideas to prevail. Jack and Annie soon realized that it was the day the Dragon King would burn the books at the Imperial Library. The scholar agreed to take them to the library to save the story, as he knew the tale well—it was both true and recent.
As they passed the Imperial Burial Grounds, where the Dragon King’s ancestor was buried, Jack noticed smoke in the distance, signaling that the burning had begun. The Dragon King himself stood outside the palace, watching the bonfire as his soldiers added more books to the flames. A bamboo book fell from a pile, and the scholar confirmed it was the one they needed. Annie quickly grabbed it, enraging the Dragon King, who commanded his soldiers to capture them. As arrows were shot in their direction, the scholar instructed them to hide in the burial grounds, where the soldiers feared the spirits of the ancestors.
The cowherd and silkweaver waving goodbye.
Inside, they discovered life-size clay figures the Dragon King had made, hoping they would protect him after his death. While amazed by the statues, the children realized they were lost and could not find an exit. Remembering Morgan’s words that the research would guide them, but the story would save them in their darkest moment, Jack asked the story for help. Miraculously, the ball of silk rolled toward the exit, leaving behind a trail for them to follow. Just before they left in the Magic Tree House, they saw the silk weaver and the cowherd waving goodbye.
Once they returned to the Magic Tree House, Jack gave the book to Morgan. The story was about very famous Chinese tale about a silk weaver and cowherd, who just might be the same ones the two had met! The two were heavenly beings who fell in love after arriving on Earth, this must have been around the time they met them. Unfortunately, when they returned to the sky, the king and queen separated them with the Milky Way. However, once a year, birds made a bridge so they could be together. Morgan told them their next mission is in two weeks, where they will go to Ireland a thousand years ago to save a story from Vikings. On their way home, Annie says the crickets are telling their children a story, their mom also believed that they were playing about being in China.