MYRA KELLY (Page 77)
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.
Friends
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77, 1. Friends. The dialect spoken by the child in this story is the American adaptation of the Yiddish, which is a German dialect spoken by the Jews of eastern Europe, containing many Hebrew and Slav expressions.
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78, 1. Board of Monitors. A group of children appointed by the pupils to help the teacher in various ways.