Rationale

Deciding on who I wanted to do my author study on was difficult at first.  I had many different authors in mind that I would like to get to know more about, but I also wanted to study an author that had written books that I loved to read when I was young.  I thought back to books that I really enjoyed and automatically thought of the Magic Treehouse series.  These were among the first chapter books that I read as a child.  I do believe Junie B. Jones was my first experience with books with chapters, but the Magic Treehouse books by Mary Pope Osborne always kept me interested and wanting to read more.  Choosing Mary Pope Osborne as the author I wanted to study gave me the opportunity to dive back into this series and really get an understanding of why I enjoyed these books so much.  The books were based on Jack and Annie who found books in this treehouse, and these books took them on so many different adventures.  I can remember reading one so fast just because I wanted to know what happened at the end.  I also read them so quickly because I wanted to go on more adventures with Jack and Annie.  With these characters being so brave and adventurous,  it made me want to be the same way.  As a child, I felt like I was going on these adventures and helping Jack and Annie along the way.   This series wasn't necessarily a picture book so it didn't have many pictures but it did have some illustrations.  I enjoyed for the first time not having all the pictures and just letting my mind create its own pictures and images.  The illustrator of the Magic Treehouse series, Salvatore Murdocca, definitely guided my thinking along and made me think outside the box and gave me a huge imagination.  I am excited about learning more and more about Mary Pope Osborne, the author that guided me in a direction that would lead to my love for reading and books.    

All About Mary Pope Osborne

It seems as if Mary Pope Osborne's life was full of adventure.  She was born on May 20, 1949 on the Military base, Fort Sill in Oklahoma.  Until Osborne was fifteen, she moved to many different places including Austria, Florida, Virginia, and finally came to rest in North Carolina.  After she graduated from high school, she enrolled at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill.  Osborne had decided to major in drama, but somewhere along the way she learned to love mythology and also studying many different religions.  After some time, she decided to change her major to religion so that she could learn about the different cultures and their religions.  As stated before, Osborne loved an adventure.  So the fact that after graduation, she decided to travel for a year.  She explored through Asian countries including Afghanistan, Turkey, India, Nepal, Iraq, Lebanon, and ten others.  Before heading to these countries, Osborne was in Europe for six weeks living in a cave in Crete.  If that wasn't enough adventure and excitement, she experienced earthquakes and riots along with many other things.  Osborne was not afraid to admit that she was frightened most of the trip.  Her trip was beginning to end when she got sick in Katmandu from blood poisoning.  She began to read the Lord of the Rings trilogy while she was resting and recovering.  She finished the three books within two weeks and was then ready to go home.  Osborne has said that events that she went through in that year let her experience different things and built her imagination, which led to becoming an author.  Osborne's most famous works are the Magic Treehouse series so when she asked about the adventures that the characters, Jack and Annie, encounter in the those books, she responded "My characters are a combination of real people and my imagination and research. My two brothers and I used to pretend lots of things together--that we were cowboys, soldiers, etc. That's the basis for the whole series" ("Mary pope osborne," 2007). This series along with her other many books have won many awards.

Awards/Honors:

• Children's Choice Selection for Run, Run as Fast as You Can
• Children's Book of the Year List for Last One Home 
• Orbis Pictus Honor Award for One World, Many Religions 
• Children's Choice Award for Dolphins at Daybreak & Midnight on the Moon

("Mary pope osborne," 2007)

This list is in no way exhaustive.  Mary Pope Osborne has written many amazing books and has won many different awards.  

Osborne's Major Works

 

American Tall Tales

Adaline Falling Star

 

One World, Many Religions

Midnight on the Moon

 

Dolphins at Daybreak

 

Tigers at Twilight

 

Dinosaurs Before Dark   

Run, Run, as Fast as You Can

Mo to the Rescue

Last One Home

("Mary pope osborne," 2013) 

Web Resources

1. http://marypopeosborne.com/
• As you can see, this is Mary Pope Osborne's official website.  On the opening page is notes from Osborne herself in which she posts every once in a while to update her fans.  Also on this website is a list of her different books.  This was very useful when learning about books she wrote that weren't in the Magic Tree House series.  There is also a link from this website to the Facebook page for Magic Tree House and Mary Pope Osborne.  Anyone can like this Facebook page and be updated on different events.
2. http://www.edupaperback.org/Default.aspx?pageId=864464
• This website was very helpful when researching all about Osborne.  It had many details about her past and about her present life.  This website informs its readers on the reasons for Osborne becoming an author and for beginning the Magic Treehouse series.  A very long list of each awards won for each of her books can also be found on this website. 
3. http://www.magictreehouse.com/#home?intro=0
• This is the official Magic Tree House website.  This can be a website for children, teachers or parents.  The site has games to play, lesson plans to incorporate in the classroom, all the different books in the series, and even has information on Mary Pope Osborne and the illustrator, Salvatore Murdocca.  

Response to Works

My Responses:

1. Osborne, M. P. (1996). Mummies in the Morning. New York, NY: Scholastic Incorporated 
• In this book, the main characters, Jack and Annie, travel to Egypt and end up learning many new things about this place.  I felt that this book was entertaining but also educational in the fact that they introduced the Queen of the Nile and hieroglyphs.  This might would be a fun book to read with the class when talking about Egypt in a geography lesson.  This series of books does only have two white children in them so children of other races or ethnicities might feel a little left out.  These books do incorporate different countries so you might be able to connect with a child if they are from that country.  For example, if you have a child from Egypt, they might really enjoy that the class is learning about where they are from.
2. Osborne, M. P. (1996). One World, Many Religions: The ways we worship. New York: Alfred A. Knopf Incorporated
• This nonfiction book is a great informer on some of the largest religions in the world.  This book includes Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism.  Each religion is given its own chapter and talked about in detail.  This is a rather large book with sixty-nine pages, so reading this book word for word with an elementary class might not be best, but taking facts from this book to make a lesson of your own would be a great idea.  This book more than likely isn't for younger children.  The book also has a glossary at the very end, which I find very helpful in a nonfiction book like this.  
3. Osborne, M.P. (1997). Rocking Horse Christmas. New York, NY: Scholastic Incorporated
• This was a great book about a little boy and the rocking horse he got for Christmas.  He would ride the horse to these many different places.  After a while, the boy got older and not longer rode the horse.  The horse was then forgotten until the boy had grown into a man and had a little boy of his own.  The horse ended being happy again because the new little boy wanted to ride him.  I felt like this was a great story for children and had really colorful and detailed images.  The only problem I would have with this book is that it is centered around Christmas.  If reading this in the classroom, a child might feel left out because they don't celebrate Christmas.  If I wanted to read this book in class, I would also read a book about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.  

Other's Responses:

1. Phelan, C. (2006). Booklist [Review of the book Ancient Rome and Pompeii: A Nonfiction Companion to Vacation under the Volcano]. American Library Association. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.proxy-remote.galib.uga.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=473c0d1e-2a68-4d7f-b355-71210913d6f8%40sessionmgr13&vid=7&hid=8
2. Roback, D., Brown, J. M., Britton, J., & Zaleski, J. (2002, September 09). The One-Eyed Giant [Review of the book The One-Eyed Giant: The Land of the Dead]. Publishers Weekly. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.proxy-remote.galib.uga.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=473c0d1e-2a68-4d7f-b355-71210913d6f8%40sessionmgr13&vid=18&hid=8

Classroom Applications

1.  For the book Dinosaurs Before Dark there is an activity in which you can incorporate Mathematics. This activity is called Counting Baby Dinosaurs.  In the book, Jack and Annie come across Anatosaurus eggs.  The activity is a fun activity to introduce multiplication.  First you split the class into  small groups and you give each group a paper cup which represent nests.  Then you give each group a handful of dried beans and those represent dinosaur eggs.  After handing those out, you write a multiplication problem on the board.  So for example, you could write 4x3.  You explain that the first number is the number of nests (4) and the second is the number of eggs per nest (3).  Next, you let the students use their nests and eggs to show the problem and to help them find the solution.  You can repeat using new problems as many times as needed. You follow this up by letting the students write word problems to share.  (Example: Jack and Annie found 3 Anatosaurus nest with 6 eggs in each.  They also found 5 Stegosaurus nests with 3 eggs in each.  How many eggs did they find all together?) You can adjust these multiplication problems to be easier or harder depending one your class. You could make sure you are near the children who might need help so you can answer any questions or aid them in finding the right answer.    

2. This activity includes the book Pirates Past Noon and can be brought into Mathematics.  This activity has to do with the use of the Cartesian coordinate system and practicing with them.  You will give the children a copy of a "Pirate Cartesian Coordinate" graph and pictures of ships (worksheet attached to website).  You will then have them cut out the ships and tape them to the grid-lining them up with the squares.  Next, pair up the students and have have them sit back-to-back.  Let them take turns calling out coordinates to locate each other's ships.  They can mark successful guesses in one color and unsuccessful ones in another.  If a student is struggling with this activity, the teacher could pair up with them and work with them to help them understand the coordinate system and the concept of locating those coordinates. 

• Website used for activities one and two: http://www.polk-fl.net/staff/grants/pefgrants/documents/lkcountry.pdf

3.   Titanic Timeline Match up is an activity you could do in your class that would encompass Mathematics as well as Mary Pope Osborne's books Tonight on the Titanic and Titanic (the research guide).  For this activity, all around the room there will be clocks with pictures underneath in chronological order of the important events that took place on the Titanic from April 10 to April 18, 1912.  The students will get a worksheet that has the dates and events that are out of order.  For them to match them correctly, they have to go around the room and find the right matches.  (Specific events listed on website) 

• Website used for activity three: http://www.sturdyforcommonthings.com/2012/04/adventures-of-annie-aboard-the-titanic/

Works Cited

Adventures of Annie Aboard the Titanic. [Web log message]. (2012, April 20). Retrieved from http://www.sturdyforcommonthings.com/2012/04/adventures-of-annie-aboard-the-titanic/

Barajas, E., Baugh, C., Cope, S., Cosgrave, J., Propst, R., & Tomlinson, A. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.polk-fl.net/staff/grants/pefgrants/documents/lkcountry.pdf

Mary pope osborne. (2007). Retrieved from http://www.edupaperback.org/Default.aspx?
pageId=864464

Mary pope osborne author of magic tree house . (2013). Retrieved from http://marypopeosborne.com/marys-books/