Artist Profile: Mary Pope Osborne on Rekindling Wonder through the ‘Magic Tree House’ Series

A staple of elementary school libraries, Mary Pope Osborne’s “Magic Tree House” series has sold more than 194 million books worldwide. Protagonists Jack and Annie — ordinary siblings from Frog Creek, Pennsylvania — have explored the Egyptian pyramids, traveled aboard the Titanic, and saved their ancestor’s life during the American Civil War, among many other adventures during their seemingly endless childhood.

In spite of the incredible length and breadth of her “Magic Tree House” series, Osborne didn’t expect to be a children’s author. She studied comparative religion at the University of North Carolina and spent a decade writing and publishing retellings of mythology from around the world.

“So when Random House asked me to do a series, at first I didn't want to do a series, because I love doing so many different things. And then I thought, well, what if I did time travel, and I could bring in all these different places I've been writing about and thinking about forever,” said Osborne in an interview with The Crimson.

Osborne’s relationship with her brothers was a crucial part of the development of “Magic Tree House.”

“Raised in the military, we always had to move, but we had each other, and most of our life was make-believe and pretend and playing outside,” Osborne said. “So [in “Magic Tree House”] I could play, and have mythology, and world cultures, and history.”

Random House’s idea was to create a series of chapter books for early readers, filling the gap between picture books and middle grade readers. After the series — expecting it to be only four books long — Osborne decided that she needed to learn more about second graders before agreeing.

“So my brother and I made a pilgrimage back to the army post where we lived in second grade in Virginia, and there was a parade field that we used to play on, and we sat there, and I got in touch with [our younger selves] in my head then, because that was the scene of all of our make-believe,” Osborne said.

Osborne reached out to local schools to sit in on the second graders’ classrooms, and she asked teachers for their expertise on that age group.

“I can't even tell you the magic of second graders. I mean, if you had seen the letters I've gotten over the years, and the gifts,” Osborne said.

After the initial four books were completed, Osborne was under no obligation to continue writing the “Magic Tree House” books. The letters her young readers sent her convinced her to continue.

“I said, ‘I think I have this thing where I can help kids cross the threshold to reading.’ So then, that really became my life,” Osborne said.

Osborne is also passionate about supporting underfunded schools with access to the “Magic Tree House” books. Independent of her publisher, Osborne created the Magic Tree House Classroom Adventures program in 2012, which gave teachers lesson plans for every single book alongside curriculum guides and grants for underprivileged schools. The program has given 1.3 million “Magic Tree House” books to Title I schools, which are schools that receive federal funding due to their high percentage of low-income students.

“Although the writing is just going on all the time, I was like ‘What's your purpose? What's the meaning of your life?’ I think it was to get kids reading. And now I'm hooked. I can't stop,” Osborne said.

Osborne can write up to twelve hours a day, seven days a week. She begins her writing projects with Staples notebooks that have spiral binding on the top.

“I make maps of the location, of where it is. I do a lot more than I ever get into the books, but it's to put me in that place, at that time. And smell it, and feel it, and engage with it,” Osborne said.

For years, Osborne lived in a small apartment in New York City, but the notebooks gave her the freedom to write anywhere.

“I could write in Grand Central Station. I would even go back and forth on the Staten Island Ferry, and just pay the toll so I could just write without people around me that I knew, or my family,” Osborne said. “And then today, even now, I have a big house, but I go out of the house to do research, especially in the summer, and sit in a coffee shop and just fill my notebooks.”

After a couple of months of research, Osborne begins to outline the plot of her book and finds a singular moment to hinge her story on. Her books follow a particular formula that allows her to teach children about history while providing modern kids — represented by Jack and Annie — a chance to alter the world. Communication and connection are crucial parts of Osborne’s inner and outer worlds.

“I think the one reason I keep going and can't stop is that I go to a different place, meet different people, have different settings in every single story. So, I just gobble up the wonder of the world, really, and try to share it,” said Osborne.

This sense of adventure is something that Osborne wants to imbue in the children of today, who may not have had the same wide-ranging childhood that she did.

“This sounds too ambitious, but I'm trying to get kids now out of their fear of the world and out of their consumerism, and look at themselves as doers, even at a young age. They can help the grown-ups, they can learn things and be responsible,” Osborne said.

In addition to being such an accomplished author, Osborne considers herself an avid reader as well, drawing inspiration for her novels from the books she reads.

“I’m a — what would you call it? — a reading addict. I have so many books. I’m going into so many books all the time outside my work books, and it’s just the joy of my life,” Osborne said.

While her original dream was not to author children’s literature, Osborne has now fallen completely in love with the world of her “Magic Tree House” books.

“It's all kind of wonderful, I have to say. I love it so much. I'm working on the 67th book right now, after 35 years. It's almost intoxicating how you start to explore history, and then it just unfolds for you, and then you discover things you didn't know existed,” said Osborne.

The “Magic Tree House” series has touched millions of lives across the globe, remaining influential in the lives of adults and children alike and selling more than 194 million copies worldwide.

“A lot of time, I meet people in their 20s who come up to me. I’ll meet them at a store, or on the street, or anywhere, and a lot of them get emotional and they’ll say, ‘Oh, you know, I loved your books,’ and I realized early on that it wasn’t my books, and it wasn’t me, it was who they were when they read the books,” said Osborne.

The true magic of Osborne’s books lies in their ability to transport adults back to the wonder they experienced as children, exploring the world and growing up alongside Jack and Annie.

“I think that you want to get back that seven-year-old in yourself as you approach the world, and you have so much more now than you ever had at seven, but sometimes, you’ve lost the seven-year-old in the young adult, and you gotta get it back,” said Osborne.

—Staff writer Laura B. Martens can be reached at [email protected].

—Staff writer Audrey A. Chalfie can be reached at [email protected].