The Harvard Crimson, Harvard University’s daily newspaper, recently published a thoughtful profile of Mary Pope Osborne and the enduring impact of the Magic Tree House series.

In the interview, Mary shares how the idea for the series first emerged, the research and imagination behind each adventure, and the deeper purpose that has guided her work—helping children cross the threshold into a lifelong love of reading.

Below is an excerpt from the article. You can read the full feature in The Harvard Crimson here.

Returning to Your Magic Tree House

By Audrey A. Chalfie and Laura B. Martens, Crimson Staff Writers

February 3, 2026

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.”

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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.

“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.

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“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.