The Knight at Dawn

Published in 1993, Mary Pope Osborne’s The Knight at Dawn is a middle grade historical/adventure novel and the second book in the renowned Magic Tree House series. The story takes young readers on an adventure with siblings Jack and Annie, who travel back to the time of knights and castles. In this magical journey, the children explore a medieval world filled with challenges and mysteries that they must navigate to find their way back home. The book explores themes including The Value of Teamwork and Problem-Solving, The Journey Toward Overcoming Fear, and The Excitement of Discovery. Osborne, who published her debut novel, Run, Run, As Fast As You Can, in 1982, has written over 60 children’s books, including over three dozen volumes in the Magic Tree House series.

This guide uses the e-book edition released by Random House in 2013.

Plot Summary

The Knight at Dawn begins the morning after Jack and Annie’s first adventure in the magic tree house, which Osborne presents in the first book in the series, Dinosaurs Before Dark. 

Siblings Jack and Annie live in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, and go on adventures in a magic tree house that transports them through time. One night, unable to sleep, Jack and Annie decide to return to the tree house and look for the person who created it, filled it with magical books, and lost their golden medallion in the Cretaceous Period.

The tree house is right where the children last saw it, perched atop the highest tree in the woods. When they climb inside, it’s empty except for the book collection. 

Despite Jack’s protestations, Annie picks up a book about knights and wishes to go back in time to the Middle Ages. The wind begins to blow, and the magic tree house starts to spin. It appears beside an enormous castle, where the children see a knight on a black horse. 

Jack wants to make a plan before they explore their new surroundings, but while he consults the book about castles, Annie follows the knight across the drawbridge and into the castle. Jack hurries after his sister, and they follow the sounds of music and laughter to a magnificent feast in the Great Hall. They see entertainers juggling, playing stringed instruments, and performing tricks with swords. The diners wear brightly colored clothes and eat dishes like pies, pork, and peacocks with their hands. The children are amazed at the lively festivities.

When one of the servers spots the siblings and angrily demands that they identify themselves, Jack and Annie run and hide in the armory. Jack tries on a heavy helmet and topples over some armor and weaponry, drawing the attention of the castle’s guards. 

Three men march the children down to the dank, cold dungeon, but Annie secures the siblings’ escape by convincing the guards that her flashlight is a powerful magic wand. They hide in a storeroom, and Jack discovers a secret trapdoor that leads to a tunnel by consulting the book. The batteries in the children’s flashlight die while they’re in the tunnel, and, unable to see where the tunnel ends, Jack falls into the moat. Annie dives in after him.

When Jack hears ominous splashes behind him, he remembers that the book about castles mentioned that the moat may contain crocodiles. Annie finds the edge of the moat first, and the sound of her voice guides her brother to safety. The night is so foggy that the children can’t see where they are on the castle’s grounds or determine how to find the magic tree house.

Suddenly, the mist parts, revealing a full moon and the knight on his black horse. Annie senses that the knight wants to help them, and he assists the children onto his steed. The experience of riding on the knight’s horse makes Jack feel transformed, both braver and more powerful than he was before. The knight takes the children to the grove where the magic tree house awaits them. The children thank their rescuer, who bows and vanishes back into the mist.

It’s so dark inside the tree house that Annie can’t be certain which book is which. She tries to identify the book about Pennsylvania by touch because it contains a silk bookmark. She points to a picture in the book and makes a wish. When Jack realizes that his sister isn’t sure she is pointing at a picture of home, he tries to make the tree house stop, but it’s too late. The wind blows louder and louder, and the tree house spins faster and faster.

When the tree house comes to a stop, the children feel warm air and see the brightness of dawn. The sound of their neighbor’s dog barking reassures them that they are back home. Jack and Annie slip quietly into their house without their parents realizing that they were ever gone. Annie smiles at Jack and then goes into her bedroom.

Inside his room, Jack changes into his pajamas and unpacks his backpack. He finds the blue leather bookmark from the book about castles and discovers that the bookmark bears the same ornate ‘M’ as the gold medallion that he and Annie found in the Cretaceous Period. He realizes that the person who dropped the medallion must be the same person who owns all the books in the magic tree house. He’s thrilled at this revelation and wonders who this mysterious person could be. 

Jack begins to make a note about this discovery, but he falls asleep before he can finish writing. He dreams that he and Annie are riding with the knight on his black horse again. In his dreams, the three of them leave the castle grounds and ride out into the night together.