School Library Journal Mobile
Log In  |  Register          Free Newsletter Subscription
Subscribe to SLJ Magazine

Q&A: Mary Pope Osborne

The author's latest book is Kate and the Beanstalk

Staff -- School Library Journal, 11/1/2000

Children's book writer Mary Pope Osborne's latest book is Kate and the Beanstalk (Atheneum, 2000).

Why did you rewrite Jack and the Beanstalk with a girl heroine?
I had always lamented that in my childhood, in the '50s and '60s, there were so few female heroes. The ones that I was most familiar with were Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Goldilocks. I was telling this to my husband not long ago, and he said, "They were all famous for sleeping. And Cinderella was famous for having a small foot." I thought, my brothers could be Jack, but I couldn't be Jack. My role models had to sleep and have small feet. I realizedâ?¦ that it was insane that there hadn't been [books with] girls having adventures that had nothing to do with finding a prince, or winning the favor of a man.

Is there anything about Kate that reminds you of yourself? I was very terrified as a child. I suffered from every possible kind of fear. I would imagine, constantly, terrible things happening to myself or my family. I was always trying to fight against that. I was terrified of little things, like insects and worms and big dogs, crabs in the ocean. And it was always a struggle to get over those fears. But I wasn't that afraid of people situations, like standing up for somebody. When Kate says she fears nothing when she is doing rightâ?¦ if I had one strength it was that.

Does Kate's story have a message for girls? I had a number of books come out this year. Andâ?¦ even though they're all quite different from each other, they all involve the quest taken by a female hero. For thousands and thousands of years [in world literature], women didn't go on those [adventures unless] they pursued a manâ?¦. Now, thank goodness, [girls] are being given a lot of wonderful books [with female heroes]. But when I was growing up, we weren't. I think I would have been less of a frightened child if I had read books like this.

Talkback

We would love your feedback!

Post a comment

» VIEW ALL TALKBACK THREADS

Related Content

Related Content

 

By This Author

Sponsored Links




 
Advertisement

MOST POPULAR PAGES

More Content

  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Photos

Blogs


Sorry, no blogs are active for this topic.

» VIEW ALL BLOGS RSS

Photos

Advertisements





SLJ NEWSLETTERS

SLJ Extra Helping
Curriculum Connections
SLJTeen
Booksmack
LJXpress
LJ Academic Newswire
LJReview Alert
LJ Criticas Review Alert
PWDaily
Children's Bookshelf
PW Comics Week
Cooking the Books
Religion BookLine
Please read our Privacy Policy
©2009 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved.
Use of this Web site is subject to its Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
Please visit these other Reed Business sites