Monday with a Mad Genius (9 page)

Authors: Mary Pope Osborne

BOOK: Monday with a Mad Genius

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L
eonardo da Vinci, (say lee-uh-NAR-doh duh VIN-chee) was born on April 15, 1452, in Vinci, Italy, just outside Florence. He died on May 2, 1519, in France.

Leonardo da Vinci lived in a time called the Renaissance (say REN-uh-sahns).
Renaissance
means “rebirth.” The time was given this name because in those years, learning and creativity reached new heights after a long period called the Middle Ages. The Renaissance began in Italy in the 1300s and then spread to other parts of
Europe. Leonardo has always been the perfect example of the “Renaissance man,” which is a person who has many different talents. He was not only one of the world’s greatest painters, but he was also an inventor, mathematician, botanist, geologist, cook, musician, philosopher, engineer, and sculptor.

Monday with a Mad Genius
was inspired by many true facts about Leonardo da Vinci, such as his reverse handwriting and his keeping of many notebooks. Historians think that his notebooks may have totaled as many as 13,000 pages, but only 7,000 pages of his writings and drawings have been found.

Leonardo really did begin painting a fresco of a vivid battle scene called
The Battle of Anghiari
in the hall of the great council in Florence. A
fresco
is a plaster painting on a wall or ceiling.
The Battle of Anghiari
was indeed damaged because Leonardo experimented with a new painting technique and parts of the painting melted down
the wall. Sadly, he never finished it.

Leonardo really had a great interest in birds and flying. He wrote in one of his notebooks that a bird had visited him as a baby in his cradle. One of his earliest biographers wrote that Leonardo bought caged birds in the market and freed them. Leonardo’s notebooks had designs for a flying machine with flapping wings, which he called a “great bird.” Leonardo wrote that the “great bird” was about to take its first flight and would fill the universe with amazement and bring “eternal glory to the nest where it was born.” It was not recorded that his machine ever flew successfully. It is possible that he or an assistant may have tried to fly the plane and failed.

Leonardo really did take three or four years to paint one of the world’s most famous works of art, the
Mona Lisa.
And he really did keep the painting with him until he died. But no one knows—or will ever know—the real reason for the Mona Lisa’s mysterious smile.

Mary Pope Osborne
is the award-winning author of many novels, picture books, story collections, and nonfiction books Her bestselling Magic Tree House series has been translated into many languages around the world. Highly recommended by parents and educators everywhere, the series introduces young readers to different cultures and times in history, as well as to the world’s legacy of ancient myth and storytelling. Mary Pope Osborne is married to Will Osborne, a co-author of many of the Magic Tree House Research Guides and librettist and lyricist for
Magic Tree House: The Musical
, a theatrical adaptation of the series. They live in northwestern Connecticut with their Norfolk terriers, Joey and Mr. Bezo. You can visit Mary, Will, Joey, and Mr. Bezo on the Web at
www.marypopeosborne.com
.

Sal Murdocca
is best known for his amazing work on the Magic Tree House series. He has written and/or illustrated over two hundred children’s books, including
Dancing Granny
by Elizabeth Winthrop,
Double Trouble in Walla Walla
by Andrew Clements, and
Big Numbers
by Edward Packard. He has taught writing and illustration at the Parsons School of Design in New York. He is the librettist for a children’s opera and has recently completed his second short film. Sal Murdocca is an avid runner, hiker, and bicyclist. He has often bicycle-toured in Europe and has had many one-man shows of his paintings from these trips. He lives and works with his wife, Nancy, in New City, New York.

Here’s a special preview of
Magic Tree House #39
(A Merlin Mission)
Dark Day in the Deep Sea

Available now!

Excerpt copyright ©
2008
by Mary Pope Osborne.
Published by Random House Children's Books,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

J
ack felt raindrops. He looked up and saw a summer storm cloud.

“Hurry!” Jack called to Annie. They were riding their bikes home from the library. Jack’s backpack was filled with library books. He didn’t want them to get wet.

As Jack and Annie pedaled faster, a large white bird swooped over them and flew into the Frog Creek woods.

“Did you see that?” cried Jack.

“A seagull!” called Annie. “It’s a sign!”

“You’re right!” said Jack. The last time they’d seen a seagull in Frog Creek, the magic tree house was waiting for them!

“The woods!” said Annie.

Jack and Annie bumped their bikes over the curb. The rain fell harder as they headed into the wet woods. Their bike tires bounced over the rough ground, crushing leaves and snapping twigs.

“It must be time to look for another secret of happiness for Merlin!” Jack called.

“I hope Merlin’s feeling better!” shouted Annie.

“I hope Teddy and Kathleen came with the tree house!” shouted Jack.

“Me too!” shouted Annie.

Jack and Annie steered their bikes under canopies of wet leaves. By the time they came to the tallest oak in the woods, the seagull had disappeared. But the magic tree house was back! It was high in the tallest oak, its rope ladder swaying in the wind and rain.

Jack and Annie climbed off their bikes and propped them against the trunk of the tree.

“Teddy! Kathleen!” Annie shouted.

There was no answer.

“I guess they didn’t come this time,” Jack said.

“Darn!” said Annie. “I really wanted to see them.”

“Boo!” Two older kids looked down out of the tree house window: a curly-haired boy with a big grin and a girl with sea-blue eyes and a beautiful smile. Both were wearing long green cloaks.

“Yay!” cried Annie and Jack.

The rain fell harder as they started up the rope ladder. When they climbed into the tree house, they yanked off their bike helmets and hugged Teddy and Kathleen.

“Morgan sent us to tell you about your next mission for Merlin,” said Teddy.

“How
is
Merlin?” asked Annie.

Teddy stopped smiling. He shook his head.

“Merlin still suffers from an unspoken sorrow,” Kathleen said sadly.

“When can we see him?” asked Annie.

“We’ve learned two secrets of happiness to share with him,” said Jack.

“You may visit him after you have learned two more secrets,” said Kathleen. “Morgan believes four is the magic number that will ensure success.”

“We have come to send you on your search for a third secret,” said Teddy.

Kathleen took a book from under her cloak and handed it to Jack and Annie. “From Morgan’s hands to our hands to yours,” she said.

Jack took the book from her. The cover showed waves crashing on a beach.

“Wow,” said Jack. “We’re going to the ocean?”

“Yes,” said Teddy. “That is where you will next search for a secret of happiness.”

“The ocean always makes me happy,” said Annie. “Once Jack and I traveled to a coral reef and swam with dolphins. And we ran into an octopus. But he was nice and shy and—”

“But the shark we saw
wasn’t
shy,” Jack broke in. “It was a big hammerhead.”

“Oh, my,” said Kathleen.

“We took a ride in a mini-sub,” said Annie. “It was so cool!”

“Until it started to leak and—” said Jack.

“We had to escape!” said Annie.

“Yeah,” said Jack. “We tried not to splash—so the shark wouldn’t notice us.”

“We had so much fun!” said Annie.

Kathleen smiled. “Well, I hope you will not find the same ‘fun’ on this journey,” she said.

“But in case you do, you have your wand to help you, do you not?” asked Teddy. “The Wand of Dianthus?”

“Of course,” said Jack. “I always carry it, just in case.” Jack reached into his backpack and pulled out the silvery wand. It was shaped like the spiraled horn of a unicorn.

“You remember the three rules?” asked Kathleen.

“Sure,” said Jack. “To make magic, we use a wish with only five words.”

“And before we use the wand, we have to try our hardest,” said Annie.

“And the wand can only be used for the good of others,” said Jack, “not just ourselves.”

“Exactly,” said Teddy.

“I wonder who the ‘others’ will be on this mission,” said Annie. She looked at Teddy and Kathleen. “Maybe you guys?”

“I fear not,” said Kathleen. “You must find the third secret on your own.”

“Just remember to keep your wits about you,” said Teddy.

“And listen to your hearts,” said Kathleen.

“Okay,” said Annie. “We’ll tell you all about it when we see you again.”

Lightning flashed through the woods as Jack pointed to the cover of the ocean book. “I wish we could go there!” he said.

Thunder cracked in the dark sky. The wind blew harder.