● Born in Fort Mill, Oklahoma on May 20, 1949
● Before she was 15, she lived in Oklahoma, Austria,
Florida, Virginia and North Carolina.
● Dad retired to a small town in North Carolina.
● She was afraid of a lot of different things like bugs, spiders, and the ocean.
● She was a very adventurous child and liked to travel.

● Dad - William Pope: U.S. Army Colonel
● Mom - Barnette nee Dickens: homemaker
● Twin brother - Bill
● Younger brother
● Older sister - Natalie (helps write some of the books)

● She spent multiple hours at the community theatre (acting and working backstage).
● The theatre was her escape.
● “When I was five, we moved to
Virginia and lived inside an old fort that was surrounded by a moat. So when I heard stories of
American history, I felt as if those dramas were taking place right in my own backyard. Maybe those early environments explain why mythical and historical times and places seem more real to me than the modern world of shopping malls and freeways.” - Mary Pope
Osborne

 Mary studied drama at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill her first 2 years of college.
 In her junior year, she switched to become a religion major
 Mary loved to study about other cultures while she was in college.
 She graduated from college in the early 1970’s

 In the early 1970's - camped in cave on island of Crete
(located south of Greece, above South Africa)
 She rode in vans with young European’s travelling through
Asian countries, including Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, India, and Nepal
 She almost died in an earthquake in northern Afghanistan
 In Kathmandu, she got blood poisoning and stayed in a hospital overlooking the Himalayas for months
 After almost dying twice, she moved back to the United
States where she worked as a window dresser, a medical assistant, and Russian travel consultant

● After spending some time traveling, Mary Pope
Osborne settled in New
York City and married Will
Osborne in 1976
● Will Osborne is an actor, musician, playwright, and
Mary’s occasional collaborator on her books
● She first met Will when watching a play about Jesse
James, which Will starred
“From the balcony I fell in love…I loved his boots and his white cowboy hat; I loved how he sang and strummed the guitar. A year later, in New York City, we were married.”

● Mary Pope Osborne does not have any children, but she does have a dog named
Bailey that she loves her very much
● In an interview, she describes Bailey as “the most disobedient dog who ever lived”

● After living in New York
City for 26 years, Mary
Pope Osborne and her husband moved to
Northwest Connecticut
● Today, they live in a house overlooking a lake


1.
Author History:
Magic Tree House
Series
(52 fiction & 27 non-fiction)
1.

Young Adult Novels:
Haunted Waters




Adaline Falling Star
Run, Run as Fast as You
Can
Best Wishes, Joe Brady
Love Always, Blue

. Picture Books:


Moonhorse
New York’s Bravest






Pompeii: Lost and Found
Kate and the Beanstalk
Sleeping Bobby
Happy Birthday, America
The Brave Little
Streamstress
Rocking Horse Christmas

4. Biographies
5. Mythology, Fairytales and Folklore
6. The Spider Kane
Mysteries
7. Dear America Books

 She had been published for over ten years before writing the Magic
Treehouse Series.
 First book-1982
 First Magic Treehouse book- 1992
 She works with her husband (Will Osborne) and her sister (Natalie
Pope).
 From 1993-1997 she served as the 27 th president of the
Author’s Guild.
 2013 she received a
Honorary Doctorate of letters from the University of NC at Chapel Hill

● American Tall Tales: School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book, NCSS–CBC Notable
Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies and an
ABC Children’s Booksellers’ Choice Award
● Moonhorse: American Bookseller Pick of the Lists and A
Parents Magazine Best Book of the Year
● Spider Kane and the Mystery at Jumbo Nightcrawler’s: An
Edgar Award Nominee for Best Juvenile Mystery
● Spider Kane and the Mystery Under the May-Apple:
Parents’ Choice Story Book Honor and A Children’s Book
Committee at Bank Street College Best Book of the Year
● One World, Many Religions:The Ways We Worship: An
Orbis Pictus Honor Book, National Council of Teachers of
English

● JetBlue’s “Soar with Reading” Program partners with
Mary Pope Osborne’s classroom adventures program.
○
○
Provides lesson plans that align Magic Tree House books to core curriculum standards free of charge
Provides a “Gift of Books” to selected Title 1 schools who submit a proposal of how the books will be used

 Osborne has traveled to most of the places her books are written about.
 One of her favorite books is A Little Princess by
Frances Hodgson Burnett.

 She always wanted a tree house, but never received one; her book series was a way of receiving it.

● http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writerdetails.asp?cid=968075
● www.marypopeosborne.com
● http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/mary-pope-osborne-0
● http://www.nypl.org/author-chat-mary-pope-osborne
● http://www.angelfire.com/planet/bookreview/MPOfunfacts.html
● http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/catalog/author.pperl?authorid=22894&view=sml
_sptlght
● http://www.jetblue.com/corporate-social-responsibility/
● http://mthclassroomadventures.org/index.php?r=site/about
● http://803221696272338294.weebly.com/fun-facts.html
● http://www.shelfari.com/authors/a99919/Mary-Pope-Osborne/
 Pope Osborne, M. (n.d.). Biography :: Mary Pope Osborne. Retrieved September 23, 2013, from http://marypopeosborne.com/biography/