Mary Pope Osborne

Growing up

• Grew up as an army brat and lived in Oklahoma, Austria, Florida, and four different Army posts in Virginia and North Carolina all by the age of 15
• described as living in her own world and using imagination constantly

growing up cont.

• After her family settled, she became very involved in theatre
• After college she traveled through europe and lived in a cave in crete.

Growing up, CONT...

• She met some travelers and ended up traveling around and ended up in Nepal before getting sick and having to return to the us
• While living in DC, She fell in love with an actor who she swore was Jesse James; they later got married

How she became a writer

Journey to writing

• After she moved to NYC with her husband, she wrote her first book, a young adult novel
• Mary had written about 20 children's books that ranged from mysteries to folklore to picture books by 1991
• Wrote first of the Magic TreeHouse books in 1992

Magic Treehouse the Musical

• Magic Treehouse became a musical
• She and her husband produced it and cast it locally, now it is a traveling show

Magic Treehouse Phenomenon

• Originally written as a 4 part book series
• quickly took off and had a major demand for more
• She would get ideas for new books from kids on her book tours and readings

MTH Phenomenon Cont.

• She has companion materials for parents and teaching curriculum
• ow sold in 29 different countries

Publications

• Magic Treehouse Series
• Run, Run As Fast As You Can
• The Deadly power of medusa
• Jason and the Argonauts
• Favorite greek myths
• american tall tales
• spider kane and the mystery under the may-apple

Publications Cont.

• mermaid tales from around the world
• haunted waters
• favorite norse myths
• rocking horse christmas
• favorite medieval tales
• standing in the light
• my secret war

Publications Cont.

• my brother's keeper
• kate and the beanstalk
• tales from the odyssey
• moonhorse
• johnny appleseed
• the life of jesus in masterpieces of art

references

• https://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/osborne/transcript#osborne
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Pope_Osborne#Other_books