Night of the Ninth Dragon

by Mary Pope Osborne

Grades ; Genre - Fantasy; GRL N; AR pts: 2.0

The magic tree house whisks Jack and Annie through space and time to find that the castle of Camelot has been attacked and King Arthur has been gravely wounded. To save the kingdom—and the king—Jack and Annie have only one day to solve a riddle that will help them find a missing dragon!

Comprehension Questions

Chapter 1

1. Why did Jack and Annie go into the Frog Creek woods? Oki ran in, so they chased after him p.5
2. Where did they find Oki? At the bottom of a tree looking at the magic tree house p.6
3. What’s going to be the setting of this book? Camelot p.10

Chapter 2

1. Who sent the tree house for Jack and Annie? Queen Guinevere p.16
2. Why did the guard aim a crossbow at Jack and Annie as they approached Camelot? They’re under attack and didn’t know if the kids were friends or enemies p.20
3. Where did the queen lead Jack and Annie? Morgan le Fay’s secret garden p.23

Chapter 3

1. What were the statues of in the garden? Dragons p.25
2. What’s been stolen out of the garden? The gold dragon; the ninth dragon p.32
3. Why do the kids need to help find the ninth dragon? To get Merlin, Morgan, Teddy and Kathleen back from Avalon and to send King Arthur there to heal from his wound p.33

Chapter 4

1. Why were the Jack, Annie, the king and queen going to Cafelle’s? She can prophesy and tell them where the ninth dragon is p.37
2. Why were they traveling in a hay cart? No one will suspect the king riding in a hay cart p.39
3. Why was Jack nervous when he found out the knights weren’t coming with them? he knew they could be attacked by invaders and they wouldn’t have the protection of the knights p.45

Chapter 5

1. Describe Cafelle. She’s an old woman who’s blind, but could describe Jack and Annie perfectly, she’s kind and has a dog that cannot hear p.51
2. What is Cafelle’s special ability? The leaves and wind speak to her and tell her what she desires to know p.56

Chapter 6

1. When did the ninth dragon need to be returned to the garden? Dawn the next day p.59
2. What did the seer give to both Jack and Annie? Red stones from the mountains of fire before time p.61
3. Why was Jack frustrated about the stones? He didn’t know how to use them p.66

Chapter 7

1. How did Annie help get rid of the invaders that questioned them? she put yellow spots on her face with a highlighter and said she had yellow fever p.72
2. Why was Jack freezing as they traveled in the rain? He’d given his cloak to the king p.78
3. What did Guinevere tell the kids about as they traveled? The Isle of Avalon p.78

Chapter 8

1. Why did the kids send the oxen back to Camelot? The rope that connected the oxen to the cart had torn and they weren’t of use anymore p.83
2. How did Jack, Annie and Guinevere get the cart to Munith Mor without the oxen? They pushed and pulled p.85
3. What represented the curtain in the riddle? A waterfall p.88

Chapter 9

1. What did Jack and Annie find in the cave behind the waterfall? The dragon statue p.96
2. Why was the queen giving up? The healing water was gone, Arthur was dying, they heard the robbers coming on horses p.98
3. What happened when Jack and Annie used their stones? A giant red dragon rose out of the erupting mountain above them p.101

Chapter 10

1. Where did the portal take Jack, Annie, Guinevere and Arthur? To Avalon p.103
2. How did Merlin, Morgan, Teddy and Kathleen respond when they first saw Jack and Annie in Avalon? Bewildered, amazed, surprised, astonished p.106
3. Why did Jack and Annie need to return the dragon statue to Camelot before dawn? If it’s not returned by dawn, it’s power will be lost forever and those in Avalon will never return p.109

Chapter 11

1. Where did Jack and Annie leave their magic stones? By the dragon statue in the garden p.115
2. What message did Jack and Annie give the knights? That the kind and queen are healing in Avalon and will be back to restore order to the kingdom p.118