Earthquake in the Early Morning

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Dear Readers,
    When I write a Magic Tree House book, I draw from three sources: my imagination, my research, and my own experience. While working on this book, my imagination came up with the idea of Jack and Annie visiting San Francisco during the earthquake of 1906. My research gave me information about the actual event. And my own experience inspired me to put my nephews, Andrew and Peter, into the story. Fortunately, my nephews and I have never been through an earthquake together, but we’ve shared many adventures, so it was fun to imagine them meeting Jack and Annie.
    Fun—that’s the magic word for me. Writing a story should always be fun. At the same time, it requires lots of work, such as rewriting and rewriting. I rewrite one Magic Tree House book many times, but I always try to have fun while I’m doing it.
    As I’ve said before, I hope you’ll try writing your own stories. You might want to check out our Readers & Writers Club on the Magic Tree House Web site. The address is listed on the back of this book. Find out where your imagination, your research, and your own experiences lead you. But watch out—you might end up in the middle of an earthquake!
    All my best,



Text copyright © 2001 by Mary Pope Osborne
Illustrations copyright © 2001 by Sal Murdocca
    All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
    www.randomhouse.com/magictreehouse
    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Osborne, Mary Pope.
Earthquake in the early morning / Mary Pope Osborne;
illustrated by Sal Murdocca.
p. cm. — (Magic tree house; 24) “A stepping stone book.”
SUMMARY : The magic tree house takes Jack and Annie to San Francisco in 1906, in time for them to experience one of the biggest earthquakes the United States had ever known.
eISBN: 978-0-375-89481-7
1. Earthquakes—California—San Francisco—Juvenile fiction.
[1. Earthquakes—California—San Francisco—Fiction. 2. San Francisco (Calif.) —Fiction. 3. Time travel—Fiction. 4. Magic—Fiction. 5. Tree houses—Fiction.]
I. Murdocca, Sal, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.O81167 Ear 2001 [Fic]—dc21 00-045701
    Random House, Inc. New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland
    RANDOM HOUSE and