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

basal reader Basal readers are textbooks used to teach reading (process), reading and associated skills to schoolchildren. Commonly called "reading books" or "readers" they are usually published as Anthology, anthologies that combine previously published sh ...

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 northeastern Illinois, United States. It is located along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River west of Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, second-most populous city in Illinois, with a popul ...

and attended schools in East Aurora Public School District 131. 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, Illinois, Kane County, at the corner of Smith Boulevard and Fifth Avenue in Aurora, Illinois, a western suburb ...

, then attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. 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 a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

. 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 Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

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