Mansour was born in 1950, in Shweika, which is located in the Tulkarm municipality of Palestine. She was the daughter of the commerce worker Murshid Abu Salah. Mansour was educated at Tulkarm Primary School before going on to be taught at Al-Asma'i School and completed her secondary education at Al-Adawiya Secondary School for Girls in the West Bank. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature. Mansour first developed an interest in children's literature when she was taken by her school teacher to go to the local municipal library at the age of nine years old. From 1967 to 1974, Mansour worked for the Kuwait Credit and Savings Bank, before moving to Jordan and resided in Amman. She thus became a secretary for the library of the Executive Office for Occupied Land Affairs between 1975 and 1977. Mansour relocated to Baghdad to be employed in Iraq's Culture House Children between 1977 and 1987. She was a contributor to the editing of the children's magazines Al-Muzmar, My Magazine and Science and Technology.
