Meet Author Mary Pope Osborne

Meet Author Mary Pope Osborne

The latest book in her Magic Tree House series hits shelves this week

By Rachael Horowitz

Author Mary Pope Osborne is the imagination behind the popular Magic Tree House series. In her latest book, A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time, Jack and Annie, the brother and sister team, travel to Victorian England to bring inspiration to writer Charles Dickens. Magic Tree House #44: A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time and its non-fiction companion, Rags and Riches: Kids in the Time of Charles Dickens, hit bookstores on September 14. Osborne talked to TFK about the importance of creativity and how she comes up with the ideas for Jack and Annie's amazing adventures.

TFK:

Did you always know you wanted to be an author?

OSBORNE:

I never imagined as a kid that I could be an author. The most writing we ever did was a book report or a social studies report. But, I did love to live in my imagination and I was always pretending. The banister in my house was a horse that I would get on and ride. The tree in the yard was a fort that I would climb up into. The picnic table was a ship that my brothers and I would climb on and pretend we were going around the world. We were always in our imaginations. When I was a young adult, I thought I wanted to be in theater. I loved the pretend element, but what I did not love was that I was not making up my own lines.

TFK:

You didn't write when you were younger?

OSBORNE:

No, I never did. When I first started writing, I wrote poetry. Then I had to learn how to tell a story. I always found it fun. My idea is: just write. Even if you write badly, write. Don't judge yourself so harshly. Writing is hard work, but try to always have fun as if you were playing in your yard and creating another world.

TFK:

How did you come up with the idea for Magic Tree House?

OSBORNE:

After I'd published about 20 books of all kinds—mythology, picture books, novels, biographies, fairy tales—I began work on Magic Tree House. After seven different drafts, my husband and I came upon a tree house in the woods in Pennsylvania. Both of us started talking about how we always wished we had a tree house and the next thing I knew, I had it. Now I'm working on the 45th book, almost 20 years later.

TFK:

Why write for children?

OSBORNE:

If you write for children, there are so many different things you can write about. You can write mythology, you can write non-fiction, you can write picture books about horses that fly through the night, like my book, Moonhorse. You have to get a lot across with fewer words, so the words have to really live, they can't just lie there and be skimmed over.

TFK:

One of the themes in Magic Tree House is creativity. Why do you think that's an important message?

OSBORNE:

I think our lives are so improved if we have big imaginations. If we're in a bad situation, we can imagine a good situation. If we're facing a problem, we can imagine the solution. If we are bored, we can imagine something that will entertain us. If you can develop your imagination, no matter how you use it, I think you'll have a richer life.

TFK:

What's your writing process?

OSBORNE:

I'm always looking for subjects. I can hardly read a newspaper or have a conversation without thinking about a subject. When I find a few subjects for future books, I often have kids vote on those ideas.

I think because I started writing in New York City, I wrote all over the place. I wrote in libraries. I wrote in cafes. I wrote in parks. I even used to ride the Staten Island Ferry back and forth and write on the ferry. I'm always in training. I feel like I can never learn enough about writing.

TFK:

How did you decide to start doing the non-fiction companions to the Magic Tree House books?

OSBORNE:

Teachers have played a big part in Magic Tree House. They were the first to make the books popular by using them in their classrooms. I would say it was inspired by conversations I'd had with teachers. Also, some kids prefer non-fiction, so it's a way to bring them into reading with something they really like.

TFK:

How many more Magic Tree House books can readers expect?

OSBORNE:

As long as I've got the energy and have a good mind I think I'll keep doing it because it's so much fun. I'm just so attached to Jack and Annie and I love to think of things to throw at them and find out what they do. At this point, they almost have their own lives separate from me.

Max- I like the Magic Tree House series, because they have an adventure every time, and no matter from the first book to this book that just hit the shelves, I think that was exciting! I often read these kinds of books in Caves Books, and at first I didn’t like it, though, but after I read it, I think this was good! After, I first read those books by random, and after I finished, I read Magic Tree House Books that just hit the Taiwan’s bookshelves (from Book 37-43). In Magic Tree House, Jack and Annie travel through time and places, and I thought- that was cool! And they met many people, from Morgan and Merlin to Teddy and Kathleen. I think the magic they used from the series are very cool too (I think the spell “Turn into Ducks” was still the funniest). I hope the Magic Tree House series will keep on going, because I want to see more exciting adventures! But, the most I like in the series is they help people in need, beat the villains, and always finish the quest in time (or the series wouldn’t continue). This is the best series after all!