Ever since 1992, Mary Pope Osborne has been thrilling kidseverywhere with her delightfully exciting Magic Tree House series.The globetrotting escapades of time travelers Jack and Annie arebrimming with adventure and magic (not to mention some subtlyplaced lessons on history and geography). With a life likeOsborne's, it's only natural that she would be capable of bringingsuch wondrous stories to life. Osborne was brought up in a military family, and her parents'work led to a lifestyle marked by constant change. "By the time Iwas 15," she says on randomhouse.com, "I had lived in Oklahoma,Austria, Florida, and four different army posts in Virginia andNorth Carolina." While many kids would probably feel disoriented bysuch constant change, Osborne wouldn't have had it any other way."Moving was never traumatic for me, but staying in one place was.When my dad finally retired to a small town in North Carolina, Inearly went crazy with boredom. I craved the adventure and changingscenery of our military lif
