Traveling the World with
Magic Tree House: A Q&A with
Mary Pope Osborne
by the Brightly Editors
With more than 50 books (and over 130 million copies sold worldwide), the Magic Tree House series has inspired kids everywhere to pick up a book and join Jack and Annie on their adventures through time and space. Blending simple language with fascinating history and science facts, these action-packed stories are an introduction to chapter books for many young readers.
We caught up with Mary Pope Osborne, the creator of this legendary series, to talk about her lifetime love of reading and learning, her commitment to helping shepherd kids down the path toward becoming lifelong readers, the fun facts that blow her mind, and what’s next for Jack and Annie in The Night of the Ninth Dragon (which goes on sale July 26, 2016).
What was your favorite chapter book as a child?
I loved the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. One of my favorites was The Long Winter, a harrowing story of a severe winter in the 1880s in the Dakota Territory. I sometimes reread it during New England snowstorms and admired the strength and courage of Laura’s family.
What does raising kids who love to read mean to you?
My mother was a second grade teacher, so she made sure that her four children all learned to read well and visited the library frequently. Her efforts led to a lifetime love of reading. Recently together on vacation, the four of us were talking constantly about our favorite books.
Can you tell us a little about your recent philanthropic efforts related to child literacy?
For over twenty years I’ve been told that Magic Tree House books have helped children learn to read. So my husband, Will, and I started a program called MTH Classroom Adventures that gives Magic Tree House books to Title I schools. We’ve given hundreds of thousands of books away — often in conjunction with school performances of our Magic Tree House plays. Most recently we gave a book to every second grader in Chicago.
The Magic Tree House chapter books are chock-full of reference information. In addition to these fiction books, the Magic Tree House world includes nonfiction books called Fact Trackers. How did you come about creating these companion books?
After many teachers and parents praised the educational aspect of the fiction books, my husband, Will, decided to create a companion nonfiction series that would give even more factual information about Jack and Annie’s adventures. Will wrote the first eight Fact Trackers. Then he moved on to create a planetarium show and various musicals based on the series, and my sister, Natalie Pope Boyce, took over writing the nonfiction. Natalie has written more than thirty Fact Trackers so far.
You must be full of fun facts. Do you have any favorites?
Yes, I can’t get over the fact that even though a female polar bear can weigh as much as 750 pounds, she can walk on ice too thin to hold a person by balancing her weight and sliding her paws. Or the fact that a giraffe, the tallest animal in the world, has legs six feet long and hooves as big as dinner plates.
Do you see yourself being more like Jack (thinker, scientist) or like Annie (impulsive, adventurous)?
I’m a bit of both, but not nearly as smart as Jack and not nearly as brave as Annie.
What was your reaction to hearing that Lionsgate acquired movie rights to the series?
Will and I had been negotiating for almost a year with Lionsgate, so it wasn’t a surprise. We’ll be very involved with their creative team. In fact, Will and I will be executive producers, and he and his writing partner, Jenny Laird, are the screenwriters of the film.
You’ve visited many places in your lifetime, both in actuality and in your imagination. What have been your favorite destinations in real life and in the Magic Tree House world?
Three of the many places that I’ve visited and written about are Venice, Italy; Paris, France; and Bagdad, Iraq. MTH destinations that I’ve only visited in my imagination but would love to travel to are the Serengeti plain, Antarctica, and the moon.
Balto of the Blue Dawn had Jack and Annie dogsledding in Alaska in 1925. Have you visited Alaska?
No, I regret that I’ve never been to Alaska. But I would love to! Learning about the history of Alaska, the beauty of its natural world, and the heroism of sled dogs was the best part of working on that book.
Where and when can we expect to see Jack and Annie next?
This summer, in Night of the Ninth Dragon, they’ll visit the kingdom of Camelot. Their mission: to transport a badly wounded King Arthur to the magical, healing Isle of Avalon. Now that’s a place we should all hope to visit someday.
Mary Pope Osborne is an ardent advocate and supporter of children’s literacy, and the award-winning author of more than 100 books for children and young adults, including novels, retellings of mythology and folklore, picture books, biographies, and mysteries. From 1993 to 1997, Ms. Osborne served as president of the Authors Guild, the country’s leading organization for published authors. She has traveled extensively in the U.S. and abroad, visiting schools and speaking on issues related to children’s literacy. She recently spoke at the United Nations regarding the importance of worldwide literacy and was profiled on NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams for her continued efforts. Mary routinely donates books to schools in need, including a donation of an entire Magic Tree House boxed set to every third grader in Newark, New Jersey, in 2012. She resides in Connecticut.