Magic Tree House is an American children's series written by American author Mary Pope Osborne. The original American series was illustrated by Salvatore Murdocca until 2016, after which AG Ford took over ^{[citation needed]}. Other illustrators have been used for foreign-language editions.

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The series is divided into two groups. The first group consists of books 1–28, in which Morgan Le Fay sends Jack and Annie Smith, siblings from the fictional small town of Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, on adventures and missions through a magical tree house. The second group, called Magic Tree House: Merlin Missions, begins with book 29, Christmas in Camelot, and has ancient wizard Merlin the Magician giving Jack and Annie quests. These books are longer than others, and some take place in fantasy realms such as Camelot. Kathleen and Teddy are apprentices who befriend Jack and Annie and provide support, occasionally joining them on adventures. In Super Edition #1, Teddy sends them on a mission instead of Morgan or Merlin. The companion Magic Tree House Fact Trackers are co-written by Mary Pope Osborne with her husband Will Osborne or sister Natalie Pope Boyce.

After graduating from college, Osborne and a friend went traveling.^[1] Osborne spent time in Crete and traveled through Iraq, Iran, India, Afghanistan, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, and Pakistan.^[2] The trip ended when Osborne experienced blood poisoning in Nepal and was hospitalized for several weeks, during which she read The Lord of the Rings.^[1] Remarking on her travels, Osborne said, "That journey irrevocably changed me. The experience gathered serves as a reference point every day of my life. I encountered worlds of light and worlds of darkness — and planted seeds of the imagination that led directly to my being an author of children's books."^[2]

Osborne's travels and experiences have largely factored into her writing, which has allowed her to experience the thrills of traveling. She has stated that, "Without even leaving my home, I’ve traveled around the globe, learning about the religions of the world."^[3]

Osborne's writing career began "one day, out of the blue"^[3] when she wrote Run, Run As Fast As You Can in 1982, which she has said is semi-autobiographical, as she stated: "The girl was a lot like me and many of the incidents in the story were similar to happenings in my childhood."^[3] The book served as the starting point for Osborne's writing career; her early work received mixed reviews.^[4][5] Her work includes young adult novels, picture books, retellings of mythology and fairy tales, biographies, mysteries, a six-part series of the Odyssey, a book of American Tall Tales, and a book for young readers about major world religions.

The idea for the series came when Penguin Random House asked Osborne to start writing a series of children's books.^[6] Osborne knew from the beginning that she wanted to include time travel,^[6] and the idea for the treehouse as the means of time travel came to her when she and her husband saw one while on a walk in the forest in Pennsylvania.^[6]

Osborne says that she can work on Magic Tree House up to 12 hours a day and seven days a week^[7] and has used space at shared office space, The Writer's Room.^[8] She has modeled her writing after Hemingway by trying to be simple and direct^[7] and is "noted for writing clear, lively, well-paced prose in both her stories and her informational books."^[2]

When Osborne started writing the series, she wrote Jack as a main character and added Annie as a typical annoying younger sister.^[9] After writing her in, Osborne eventually decided to make her a main character.^[9] Osborne highlights Annie’s bravery as a characteristic that is the main difference between Annie and herself, as Osborne has noted she often wished she was braver.^[9]

Mary Pope Osborne's books have been featured in several Best Books of the Year Lists, including School Library Journal, Parents’ Magazine, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, and Bank Street College of Education.^[2] She has received honors from organizations as the National Council of Teachers of English, The Children's Book Council, and the International Reading Association.^[2] She received the 1992 Diamond State Reading Association Award,^[2] 2005 Ludington Memorial Award from the Educational Paperback Association^[13] and the 2010 Heidelberger Leander Award.^[14] She has also received awards from the Carolina Alumni Association,^[15] the Virginia Library Association^[2] and in spring 2013, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.^[16]

Osborne served two separate terms as president of the Authors Guild and also chaired its Children's Book Committee.^[2] She has since traveled extensively in the states and throughout the world, visiting schools and speaking on issues related to reading and books. In 2011, she attended the Tokyo International Film Festival for the premiere of the Magic Tree House anime film and visited schools in the tsunami-hit area of Japan.^[17] The film grossed 5.7 million dollars; Osborne donated all proceeds into her educational works.^[18]

She was profiled on NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams for her continued efforts to give children books while on a Magic Tree House-themed tour bus.^[18] She spoke of the pressure she feels as an author that children look up to, "for a child to value someone who writes books is so extraordinary."^[18]

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Magic Tree House series in 2012, Osborne created a Magic Tree House Classroom Adventures Program, through which she aims to inspire children to read and love reading^[19] while helping them to read at grade level by the end of 3rd grade.^[18] The program is free of charge and provides a set of online educational resources for teachers and allows for Title 1 schools to apply for free Magic Tree House books.^[19] Under Classroom Adventures, Osborne, in partnership with the First Book organization in Washington, D.C., has donated hundreds of thousands of Magic Tree House books to underserved schools.^[20]

According to its official website, Magic Tree House books are for beginning chapter book readers.^[30]