Quotes from Mary Pope Osborne

I would love to live in 'The Lord of the Rings.' J. R. R. Tolkien's world is so vivid and rich and sensual. I love the country setting and the routine of the hobbits. Of course, I would like to be a hobbit who goes on small adventures - not huge, horrifying ones like Frodo's quest.

I believe we're entering a new era, where dynamic female leaders will have an opportunity to bring greater harmony and peace to the planet.

There is no water and still less soap. We have no city, but lots of hope.

I wanted to be a cowboy in cowboy movies.

When I was four years old, my father, who was a colonel in the army, was stationed in Salzburg, Austria. Across the street from our house was an ancient castle on a cliff. So when I first heard fairy tales, I felt as if the magic of 'Cinderella' or 'Sleeping Beauty' was taking place right in my own neighborhood.

Reading is the basic springboard for learning. And books provide the liftoff. They are the great equalizer, opening up new worlds to everyone.

I loved Frances Hodgson Burnett, who wrote 'The Little Princess' and 'The Secret Garden.' And I loved the 'Little House on the Prairie' books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

When I was a teenager, I continued to visit imaginary places by spending all my free time at our local community theater. Whether I acted in a play or worked backstage, the world of Tennessee Williams or Shakespeare always seemed more real to me than the dreary life of high school.

My imagination is closer to a child's imagination than to a grown-up's.

I love teaching. It's a job that lasts forever. Whatever you teach children today travels with them far into the future.

Jack handed the notebook and his pencil to the moon man. They looked tiny in his big hands. The moon man looked down at the message. He looked at the tiny pencil. Then he turned the notebook over. Jack and Annie watched as the moon man put the pencil to the paper. He was writing something very carefully.

There," Annie said. "You look just like a mother kangaroo.

That burning lava is miles deep," said Nancy. "Its temperature is over seventeen hundred degrees Fahrenheit.

There was silence.

Problems make us focus our energy, said Merlin. They can help us think more sharply and act more swiftly. Never wish for all your problems to disappear. Problems can help you achieve your goals.

His heart nearly stopped. A ship was outlined against the sky! Behind it, he saw two smaller ships. As the ships came into view, their bright sails were filled with wind and their serpent prows blazed in the new sunlight.

What do 'civilization' and 'monks' mean?" asked Annie. "I think civilization is when people have books and art and good manners," said Jack.

The Holocaust The Nazis were extremely prejudiced against the Jewish people. Under Hitler's leadership, the Nazis killed millions of Jewish people, as well as members of many other ethnic and political minority groups. To escape prison and death, some Jewish families went into hiding. They hid in caves or barns or under the floorboards of a friend's house. They had to be very secretive and quiet, often for days at a time. The Diary

More than 3,000 women helped out as nurses during the Civil War. Nursing was a new job for women in America. Before the war, only men had been nurses.

In the 1800s, the United States was divided over the issue of slavery. The North wanted the country to end all slavery. But the South wanted to keep slaves because more than four million African-American slaves worked in the huge plantation fields there. This disagreement between the North and South led to the Civil War. Jack

They came across more ragged men resting in the shade of an oak tree. These soldiers all wore blue uniforms. Again

Come with me." Roberto

You are simple, brave, and honest. With training, you could be excellent warriors. Not me, said Annie. I don't like to fight. Sometimes one must fight for the right things, said the emperor. Like what? said Jack. Freedom and justice, and the emperor. Truth.

We're tenting tonight               on the old camp ground;        Give us a song to cheer        Our weary hearts,               a song of home,        And friends we love so dear.