About the Book

Climb the ladder to the Magic Tree House. There’s a world of adventure inside!

When the tree house whisks Jack and Annie back to the Dark Ages, they’re in real danger!

They’ve landed on the coast of Ireland, and Viking warriors are heading straight towards them! But in all the fog and mist it’s going to be difficult to escape – can they do it before they’re captured by the scary invaders . . .?

RHCP DIGITAL

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First published Red Fox, 2009
First published in the US as Viking Ships at Sunrise by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House Inc, 1998
This ebook published 2011

Text copyright © Mary Pope Osborne, 1998
Magic Tree House™ is a trademark of Mary Pope Osborne, used under licence

The moral right of the author has been asserted

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978–1–446–49521–6

All correspondence to:
RHCP Digital
Penguin Random House Children’s
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL

Contents

Cover

About the Book

Title Page

Dedication

Author’s Note

Prologue

1. Before Dawn

2. The Steep Climb

3. Brother Patrick

4. Books of Wonder

5. Warships on the Waves

6. The Vikings Are Coming!

7. Fogbound

8. Lost at Sea

9. Sea Monster!

10. Sunrise

More Facts for You and Jack

About the Author

Also by Mary Pope Osborne

Copyright

For Benjamin Dicker

About the Author

Mary Pope Osborne is the author of over forty books for young people, including novels, picture books, biographies, mysteries, and retellings of fairy tales and myths. Mary was the president of the Author’s Guild, the leading organization for professional writers in the United States for two years, and has won many different awards for her books.

She lives in New York City with her husband, Will, and their Norfolk terrier, Bailey – who sleeps on the top of Mary’s desk every day while she writes.

Also by Mary Pope Osborne

1–4 The Mystery of the Tree House

1 Valley of the Dinosaurs

2 Castle of Mystery

3 Secret of the Pyramid

4 Pirates’ Treasure!

5–8: The Mystery of the Magic Spell

5 Night of the Ninjas

6 Adventure on the Amazon

7 Mammoth to the Rescue

8 Moon Mission

9–12: The Mystery of the Ancient Riddles

9 Diving with Dolphins

10 A Wild West Ride

11 Lions on the Loose

12 Icy Escape!

13–16: The Mystery of the Lost Stories

13 Racing with Gladiators

14 Palace of the Dragon King

15 Voyage of the Vikings

16 Olympic Challenge!

Dear Readers,

Imagine a time in Europe over a thousand years ago, when every single book had to be written by hand on animal skins, and writers had to make their ink and paints from plants and minerals. In spite of these hardships, Christian monks in Europe – especially in Ireland – made decorated, or “illuminated”, manuscripts, which are some of the most beautiful books the world has ever seen.

Now imagine a warship that can travel far across rough seas, weather terrible storms and land on rocky coasts. The Vikings of Scandinavia made such ships completely by hand. They were the most elegant sailing vessels of all time.

In the last few years, I’ve seen illuminated manuscripts at the British Museum in London and Viking warships at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway. Ever since, I have wanted to write about both of these wonders. Finally, this book has given me that opportunity.

I hope you find them as “wonder-full” as I do.

All my best,

Mary Pope Osborne

Prologue