Lions at Lunchtime by Mary Pope Osborne

Teachers and librarians love
Magic Tree House ® books, too!
    Thank you for opening faraway places and times to my class through your books. They have given me the chance to bring in additional books, materials, and videos to share with the class.
—J. Cameron
    It excites me to see how involved [my fourth-grade reading class] is in your books.… I would do anything to get my students more involved, and this has done it.
—C. Rutz
    I discovered your books last year.… WOW! Our students have gone crazy over them. I can’t order enough copies! … Thanks for contributing so much to children’s literature!
—C. Kendziora
    I first came across your Magic Tree House series when my son brought one home.… I have since introduced this great series to my class. They have absolutely fallen in love with these books! … My students are now asking me for more independent reading time to read them. Your stories have inspired even my most struggling readers.
—M. Payne
    I love how I can go beyond the [Magic Tree House] books and use them as springboards for other learning.
—R. Gale
    We have enjoyed your books all year long. We check your Web site to find new information. We pull our map down to find the areas where the adventures take place. My class always chimes in at key parts of the story. It feels good to hear my students ask for a book and cheer when a new book comes out.
—J. Korinek
    Our students have “Magic Tree House fever.” I can’t keep your books on the library shelf.
—J. Rafferty
    Your books truly invite children into the pleasure of reading. Thanks for such terrific work.
—S. Smith
    The children in the fourth grade even hide the [Magic Tree House] books in the library so that they will be able to find them when they are ready to check them out.
—K. Mortensen
    My Magic Tree House books are never on the bookshelf because they are always being read by my students. Thank you for creating such a wonderful series.
—K. Mahoney

Dear Readers,
    Your letters continue to help me write the Magic Tree House series.
    One day while I was writing Lions at Lunchtime , I got stuck—I couldn’t figure out what should happen when Jack and Annie get caught by the Masai warrior. Finally, I decided to take a break and read some letters from you. I read a letter from a boy named Mark, who lives in Massachusetts. He had written to suggest that Jack and Annie decide to visit the tree house on their way home from the grocery store. A light bulb went on in my head, and I figured out a way Jack and Annie could make friends with the warrior.
    Thank you, Mark. Thanks to all you readers. Your enthusiasm for the series keeps me writing more books.
    All my best,



Text copyright © 1998 by Mary Pope Osborne.
Illustrations copyright © 1998 by Sal Murdocca.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
Published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York.
    http://www.randomhouse.com/
http://www.randomhouse.com/magictreehouse
    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
    Osborne, Mary Pope. Lions at lunchtime / by Mary Pope Osborne ; illustrated by Sal Murdocca.
p. cm. — (The magic tree house series ; #11) “A stepping stone book.”
Summary: The magic tree house takes Jack and Annie to Africa where they meet up with wonderful wild animals, a very hungry warrior, and where they even solve a riddle.
eISBN: 978-0-375-89468-8
[1. Tree houses—Fiction. 2. Magic—Fiction. 3. Zoology—Africa—Fiction.
4. Africa—Fiction.] I. Murdocca, Sal, ill. II. Title. III. Series: Osborne, Mary Pope.
Magic tree house series ; #11. PZ7.O81167Li 1998 [Fic] 21 97-19885
    Random House, Inc. New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland
    v3.0

 
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    To Shana Corey,
with appreciation for all her help

 
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    Jack and Annie were walking home from the grocery store.