Myra Kelly, who later became Mrs. Allan Macnaughton, was born in
Dublin, Ireland, in 1876 and died in England in 1910. She lived almost
all of her short life, however, in New York City. Here she was educated
in the public schools and at Teachers College, Columbia University.
She was an American teacher and author. She taught in the New York
public schools from 1899 to 1901 and at Teachers College in 1902 and
1903. She first became known by her stories of children in the primary
schools of New York City. She wrote chiefly of the children of the East
Side, with whom she had had first-hand experience, while teaching in
the public schools. Her stories give the Yiddish dialect inimitably and
they show a fine, wise tolerance as well as a shrewd knowledge of child
character.
Mrs. Macnaughton's published volumes include _Little Citizens_, _Wards
of Liberty_, _Rosnah_, _Little Aliens_, _New Faces_, and _Her Little
Young Ladyship_. The story "Friends," presented in this collection, is
taken from _Little Aliens_.
_Little Aliens_ contains nine stories, of which the settings are all in
the homes of the children. Most of the stories in her first volume,
_Little Citizens_, have their settings in the schools. The stories
reveal a rich humor, an underlying pathos, a deep understanding of
child nature, and a full grasp of the conditions with which all aliens,
big or little, must contend.