Mabel O'Donnell (1890–1985) was an author of popular children's literature, mostly

basal reader Basal readers are textbooks used to teach reading and associated skills to schoolchildren. Commonly called "reading books" or "readers" they are usually published as anthologies that combine previously published short stories, excerpts of longe ...

s that helped young readers build stamina and endurance. O'Donnell is best known for the Alice and Jerry and

Janet and John ''Janet and John'' is a series of early reading books for children, originally published in the UK by James Nisbet and Co in four volumes in 1949–50, and one of the first to make use of the "look and say" approach. Further volumes appeared l ...

series. Books by O'Donnell sold more than 100 million copies around the world.

Early life

O'Donnell, was born in

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage, Kane, Kendall, and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located primarily in DuPage and Kane counties, it is the second most populous city in Illinois, af ...

and attended schools in

East Aurora Public School District 131 East Aurora Public School District 131 (also known as Aurora Public Schools: East Side) is a public school district serving preschool through high school students in Aurora, Illinois, United States. It is considered the state's first public school ...

. She graduated from

East Aurora High School East Aurora High School, (also known as EAHS or Aurora East High School), is a public, four-year high school located in Kane County, at the corner of Smith Boulevard and Fifth Avenue in Aurora, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois. ...

, then attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

. She returned to Aurora, and served as a teacher, primary supervisor (principal) and curriculum coordinator in the East Aurora School District. In 1946 she resigned to become an editor for Row, Peterson and Company whom she had been writing for since the late 1930s (see "Life as an Author") In 1965, the East Aurora School District named an elementary school on Reckinger Road after O'Donnell.

Life as an author

In 1938, O'Donnell began her activities as an author while still a primary grade supervisor and curriculum coordinator by writing a series of books for young readers. These books known as "The "Alice and Jerry Books" were published by Row, Peterson and Company, an Evanston-based textbook publishing firm became part of

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

. In all, there were more than 20 books published in "The Alice and Jerry Books" series. In 1949, O'Donnell worked on the

series, an Anglicisation of her Alice and John books. The books continued to be updated through the years, with different character names and slight modifications in the plots. The stories were illustrated by Florence and Margaret Hoopes. O'Donnell also worked on scholarly reading research, including '' Prevention and Correction of Reading Difficulties'' with Emmett Albert Betts.

Books by Mabel O'Donnell

''Happy Days'', ''Here and There'', ''Rides and Slides'', ''Skip Along'', ''Under the Sky'', ''Open the Door'', ''High on a Hill'', ''Day In and Day Out'', ''The Wishing Well'', ''Round About'', ''Anything Can Happen'', ''Down the River Road'', ''Friendly Village'', ''Through The Green Gate'', ''If I Were Going'', ''Five-and-a-Half Club'', ''Singing Wheels'', ''Engine Whistles'', ''Runaway Home'', ''It Happened One Day'', ''It Must Be Magic'', ''After the Sun Sets'' (Some of these books were later updated, with "The New" added to the front of the book titles.)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:ODonnell, Mabel American children's writers People from Aurora, Illinois 1890 births 1985 deaths University of Chicago alumni Columbia University alumni