Mary Alice Jones (1898–1980) was an author of religious books for children.

Biography

Mary Alice Jones was born in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in 1898. She was involved in religion from an early age, joining the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

at age 10. She received her initial college education at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

before attending

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, earning a master's degree in religious education, and then receiving a Ph.D. from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. She served as the director of children's work for the

South Carolina Annual Conference The South Carolina Conference is an annual conference (regional episcopal area, similar to a diocese) of the United Methodist Church. This conference serves the state of South Carolina with its administrative offices and the office of the bishop (c ...

and also for the

International Council of Religious Education International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

. She was the first woman teacher at the

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

. She became a children's book editor at Rand McNally & Company in 1945, before transitioning into writing work, authoring such books as ''Prayers for Little Children'', which sold over 2 million copies, and ''Tell Me About God''. In 1951 she left Rand McNally and became the director of children's work for the General Board of Education of the Methodist Church.

Bibliography

*''Tell Me About God'' (1943) *''Tell me About Jesus'' (1944) *''Tell Me About the Bible'' (1945) *''Tell Me About Prayer'' (1948) *''First Prayers for Little Children'' (1949) *''Stories of the Christ Child'' (1953) *''Bible Stories: Old Testament'' (Elizabeth Webbe illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1954) *''God Is Good'' (Elizabeth Webbe illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1955) *''Prayers and Graces for a Small Child'' (Elizabeth Webbe illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1955) *''Tell Me About Heaven'' (Marjorie Cooper illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1956) *''Tell Me About Christmas'' (Marjorie Cooper illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1958) *''The Baby Jesus'' (Elizabeth Webbe illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1961) *''God Loves Me'' (Elizabeth Webbe illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1961) *''Tell Me About God's Plan for Me'' (1965) *''Me, Myself and God'' (1st Edition 1965 USA & UK) Rand Mcnally. *''Bible Stories for Children'' (1983) *''The Story of David'' (Manning de V. Lee illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, year unknown)

References

1898 births American children's writers Methodists from Texas Methodist writers Writers from Dallas Yale University alumni Northwestern University alumni Yale Divinity School faculty 1980 deaths 20th-century American women writers American women children's writers 20th-century American writers {{US-writer-stub