Mary Pope Osborne facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mary Pope Osborne
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Mary Pope Osborne, photographed in 2012 by Elena Seibert.
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| Born | Mary Pope May 20, 1949 Fort Sill, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1982–present |
| Genre | Children's picture books, fantasy, myths and fairy tales retold, American biography and fictional diary |
| Notable works |
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| Spouse | Will Osborne |
Mary Pope Osborne (born May 20, 1949) is a famous American author. She writes many children's books and also reads her own stories for audiobooks. She is best known for creating the Magic Tree House series. This popular series has sold over 134 million copies around the world.
Mary Pope Osborne and her books have won many awards. She has also been recognized for her work in helping children learn to read. She grew up moving often because her father was in the military. After college, she traveled a lot before settling in New York City. She started writing almost by accident, and her first book came out in 1982. She wrote many different kinds of books for kids and young adults. Then, in 1992, she began the Magic Tree House series. Her sister, Natalie Pope Boyce, has also written companion books for the series, sometimes with Mary's husband, Will Osborne.
Contents
About Mary Pope Osborne
Her Early Life and Travels
Mary Pope Osborne grew up in a military family. She has a sister, Natalie, a twin brother, Bill, and a younger brother, Michael. Because of her father's job, her family moved very often. As a child, Mary lived in places like Salzburg, Austria, and also in Oklahoma and Virginia in the U.S. She once said that moving was never hard for her, but staying in one place was!
After her father retired, her family settled in a small town in North Carolina. Mary spent all her free time at the local community theater. She loved being involved in plays.
College and World Adventures
Mary Pope Osborne first studied drama at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. But in her third year, she changed her focus to religion. She was very interested in different religions around the world.
After graduating in 1971, Mary and a friend went on an amazing trip. For six weeks, she lived in a cave on the island of Crete. Then, she joined a group of Europeans traveling to the East. This journey took her through eleven countries in Asia, including Iraq, Iran, India, and Nepal. Her trip ended when she got sick and had to stay in a hospital. While there, she read The Lord of the Rings.
Mary said that this journey changed her forever. She learned so much and saw many different parts of the world. These experiences helped her imagine the stories she would later write for children.
After her travels, Mary lived in California and Washington D.C. In Washington D.C., she met her husband, Will Osborne, at a theater show. They got married in 1976 and moved to New York City. Before becoming a full-time author, she worked many different jobs. She was a medical assistant, a travel agent, a drama teacher, and even a bartender. She also worked as an assistant editor for a children's magazine.
Life as a Writer
Mary Pope Osborne has written over 60 books for children. These books cover many different types of stories and are for various age groups, from young children to young adults. Many of her books have been named to "Best Books of the Year" lists by groups like the School Library Journal.
She has also received special honors from organizations like the National Council of Teachers of English. In 2013, she received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Mary Pope Osborne has served as the president of the Authors Guild twice. This is a group that supports writers. She has traveled a lot, visiting schools and talking about reading and books. In 2011, she went to the International Tokyo Film Festival for the premiere of the Magic Tree House anime movie. She also visited schools in Japan that were affected by a tsunami. The movie earned a lot of money, and Mary donated all her earnings to her educational projects.
She was featured on a TV show called Rock Center with Brian Williams. This show highlighted her efforts to give books to children who don't have many. She uses a Magic Tree House-themed tour bus for this. Mary said she feels a lot of responsibility as an author because children look up to her.
In 2012, to celebrate 20 years of the Magic Tree House series, Mary created the Magic Tree House Classroom Adventures Program. Her goal is to inspire children to read and love books. She also wants to help kids read at their grade level by the end of 3rd grade. This program offers free online resources for teachers. It also allows schools that need help to apply for free Magic Tree House books. Through this program, Mary has given hundreds of thousands of books to schools with the help of the First Book organization.
How She Writes Her Books
Mary Pope Osborne's travels and experiences have greatly influenced her writing. She says that writing allows her to experience the thrill of traveling without leaving home. She has learned about different religions and cultures through her stories.
Her writing career began "out of the blue" in 1982 when she wrote Run, Run As Fast As You Can. This book was partly based on her own childhood. It was the start of her journey as a writer. Her early books received mixed reviews. She has written young adult novels, picture books, and retellings of myths and fairy tales. She has also written biographies, mysteries, and a series based on the ancient Greek story of the Odyssey.
Mary says she can work on the Magic Tree House books for up to 12 hours a day, seven days a week. She tries to write in a simple and direct way, like the famous author Ernest Hemingway. She is known for her clear, lively, and well-paced writing in both her stories and her informational books.
Her Family Life
Mary Pope Osborne married Will Osborne in 1976. She met him after seeing him in a play. Mary says that Will is very important to her writing. She says he gives her the support she needs to be a "professional daydreamer," which is how she describes being a children's author.
Will and Mary also work with Mary's sister, Natalie, on the non-fiction "Fact Tracker" books that go with the Magic Tree House series. Mary enjoys doing book tours with both of them. Mary does not have any children of her own. She has explained that she "got too busy" with her writing.
Her home by a lake even has a treehouse!
The Magic Tree House Series
The Magic Tree House series is Mary Pope Osborne's most famous work. Since the first book came out in 1992, over 134 million copies have been sold worldwide. The series has also spent a total of 132 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. Because the books were so successful, Mary resisted making them into movies or other products for many years. She wanted the characters and stories to live in children's imaginations.
The first Magic Tree House book, Dinosaurs Before Dark, was published in 1992. Mary was inspired to write the books while working at a shelter for homeless teens. She saw how much it helped them to imagine themselves in exciting stories. She tried writing the first book seven different ways before she found the right one.
The series introduces two main characters: Jack and Annie. They are a brother and sister who go on adventures through time and to different places thanks to a magical treehouse. The first book set the pattern for all the books that followed. It also introduced characters like Morgan le Fay and Merlin, who are from the King Arthur legends. Mary says she is more like Jack, but she wishes she was more like Annie.
Mary often ends each chapter with a small cliffhanger. This makes readers want to keep reading to find out what happens next. This is one reason why the books are so popular with kids. Another important reason for their success is that the series is educational. The books make students interested in history. Mary also uses new words, which helps young readers learn. The books also teach readers to be thankful and to understand different cultures.
Magic Tree House Adaptations
The Magic Tree House stories have been made into other forms of entertainment.
Musicals and Planetarium Shows
Will Osborne and Randy Court created a full musical version called Magic Tree House: The Musical. It first opened in September 2007. Mary hoped it would be popular with both kids and adults, like The Lion King musical. This musical is based on the Magic Tree House book Christmas in Camelot. It has toured around the country and has a cast album.
There is also a planetarium show called Magic Tree House: Space Mission. Will Osborne also created this show. It is shown only at the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
In 2011, Will Osborne worked with composer Allen Toussaint and writer Murray Horwitz. They wrote A Night in New Orleans, a musical based on Magic Tree House book #42: A Good Night for Ghosts. This musical is about the life of the famous jazz musician Louis Armstrong. It has a cast and a live jazz band. It first opened in 2012 in New Jersey. Every 4th-grade student in Newark, New Jersey, was able to see it for free.
Magic Tree House Kids Shows are plays based on the books that children can perform. These shows were created by Randy Courts, Jenny Laird, and Will Osborne. Some of the books adapted for these shows include Dinosaurs Before Dark and The Knight at Dawn. A new children's show about William Shakespeare called Stage Fright on a Summer Night premiered in October 2017.
Film Versions
In 2011, the series was made into a Japanese animated fantasy film. It was called Magic Tree House (or Majikku Tsurī Hausu in Japanese). The film was directed by Hiroshi Nishikiori. The story was based on the Japanese version of the book series.
In 2016, Lionsgate Films bought the rights to make an American movie. Will Osborne and Jenny Laird wrote the script. This movie was planned to use parts of book #29, Christmas in Camelot. As of 2025, there has been no new information about this movie.
Other Books by Mary Pope Osborne
Mary Pope Osborne has written many books that are not part of the Magic Tree House series. Here are some of them:
- Run, Run As Fast As You Can (1982)
- The Deadly Power of Medusa (1988), with Will Osborne
- Jason and the Argonauts (1988), with Will Osborne
- Favorite Greek Myths (1989)
- American Tall Tales (1991)
- Spider Kane and the Mystery under the May-apple (1992) — first book in the Spider Kane series
- Mermaid Tales from Around the World (1993)
- Haunted Waters (1994) — a young-adult fantasy novel
- Favorite Norse Myths (1996)
- Rocking Horse Christmas (1997)
- Favorite Medieval Tales (1998)
- Standing in the Light: The Captive Diary of Catharine Carey Logan, Delaware Valley, Pennsylvania, 1763 (from the Dear America series, 1998)
- My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck (from Dear America, 2000)
- My Brother's Keeper (from the My America series, 2000) — first of three Virginia's Civil War Diary books
- Kate and the Beanstalk (2000) — a picture book based on Jack and the Beanstalk
- Tales from the Odyssey (2002 to 2005) — six children's novels based on the ancient Greek poem Odyssey
- Tales from the Odyssey (2010) — a two-volume edition
- Moonhorse (2010) — a chapter book
- Johnny Appleseed
- The Life of Jesus in Masterpieces of Art (1998)
Audiobooks (Excerpt)
Mary Pope Osborne has also recorded some of her books as audiobooks.
- 2005: Magic Tree House Collection: Books 17-24 (read by the author)
- 2011: Magic Tree House Collection: Books 1-8 (read by the author)
See also
In Spanish: Mary Pope Osborne para niños
