Jack and Annie are seeking out four secrets of happiness to help Merlin, and they find themselves in 17th Century Japan, where they are quickly taken under the wing of master haiku poet Basho. The theme of poetry and appreciation for nature runs strong through the story, even as the kids have to dodge samurai who are looking to arrest foreigners.

This had a fairly complex plot for the series, good thematic elements, and a chance for Jack and Annie to break out the high-powered magic to help save the city of Edo. The use of haiku through the story, and Jack's struggles to find his poet's voice were a good subtle addition to the more action-packed elements.

I also enjoyed the ending conversation between Jack and Annie.

The Kiddo is eleven years old, and has mostly moved on to reading longer books, but he still enjoys Jack and Annie's adventures.

I Liked it

Cute and short, reminded me of borrowing these books from my neighbors when I was a kid lol

Good book for middle school EFL students.

Same old same old!

Sean and I left off with the series at High Tide in Hawaii (#28). My son picked up Dragon of the Red Dawn because of the dragon on the cover. The Magic Tree House books build on each other and a lot has happened between those ten books.

The Dragon of the Red Dawn is a Merlin mystery. In the books we read, Merlin was a minor character. Now he's a recurring character and he's troubled. He's not eating and sleeping. Morgan needs help to cheer him up. Tim (the ex-dog) is also there to advise to the siblings and he has given them a wand to help them in their time of need.

Despite our initial confusion, once Jack and Annie leave for Edo (now Tokyo) to find the secret of happiness, Sean and I were in love with the book. Sean has been studying haiku in school so it was fun for him (and me) to see Jack and Annie meeting Matsuo Basho the poet who is known as a master of the haiku.

Besides Basho's poetry, the book includes a Japanese water spirit dragon. Sean is also learning about Chinese dragons at school and the dragon who comes to the rescue here is very much like Jin Jin by Grace Chang. It was fun to see Sean's face light up as he recognized the dragon and knew how it would be able to help.

After we had finished reading Dragon of the Red Dawn Sean asked me to check out a book of Basho's poetry. Fortunately our library was able to oblige his request without even needing a hold. We checked out The Essential Basho (review coming). Any book that inspires further reading or research gets top a rating.

Fun kids book that my son browbeat me into reading, and continually threatened violence on me until I finished it.

Book #23 for 2017
Mt TBR Challenge #8
Better World Books Challenge:
- A book with a color in the title
- A book set in a place you want to visit (Japan)
- A book under 200 pages
- A fantasy novel
- A book by a female writer
- A book set in Asia
- A book about a historical event
GenreLand: May - Historical Fiction
PopSugar Challenge:
- A book involving travel
- A book involving a mythical creature
- A book with a red spine
Possible Book Bingo Squares:
- A Book Under 150 Pages
- A Book with Pictures
Read Harder Challenge:
- A book set more than 5,000 miles from your location (Fort Collins, Colorado)
- A fantasy novel
The Legendary Book Club of Habitica's Ultimate Reading Challenge: A book with a red spine
Personal Challenge: An illustrated children's book

This is also part of the "Merlin Missions" sub-series. I gave it to a friend's nine-year-old daughter, and she was delighted to have it. I probably would have enjoyed it when I was her age, but as an adult (and a non-mommy), I wasn't crazy about it. The story contained all sorts of interesting information, but the reportage-style exposition annoyed me. I gather that's common for this series, as several adults have mentioned it to me as something they like about the books. So, yeah, YMMV.

I also thought the plot wandered all over the place and seemed unrealistic, even for a story about a magic tree house and an ancient dragon. Probably what bugged me the most, though, was that there was zero explanation for everybody speaking English. No babelfish. No translator microbes. Not even an "it's just magic, get over it."

Nice illustrations, though.