Christmas With Mary Alice Jones

Dr. Mary Alice Jones (June 23, 1898 - September 23, 1980) was a lecturer, teacher, and the author of dozens of books for children about the Bible, Jesus Christ, prayer, God...and Christmas which sold over 20 million copies and were translated into multiple languages. She held masters' and doctoral degrees from Northwestern University and Yale University and was a widely respected consultant for Christian children's education.

"Stories of The Christ Child" by Mary Alice Jones. Illustrations by Eleanor Corwin.
Published by Rand McNally & Co., 1953

Some of Dr. Jones' credentials that were usually published on the back covers of her books. 

She is best remembered today for her "Tell Me About..." series which began in 1943 while she was the children's religious editor for Rand McNally beginning in 1945. Many online sources do not have a complete biography of Miss Jones and creating one has been a goal of mine for some time. This year would have been her 120th birthday, and the 75th anniversary of her first children's book Tell Me About God, so now may be a special time to reintroduce her work online.

To research the life of Mary Alice Jones, I have built a small but growing collection of her works.
Some of Jones' books were made into audio-visual aids for school, home and church use. I was fortunate to have purchased a super-rare A/V filmstrip & LP record version of her book "Tell Me About Christmas".

Very rare cover box for the filmstrip and 33 R.P.M record for Mary Alice Jones' "Tell Me About Christmas". 

I am interested in learning more about Jones' work in radio and instructional technology, (a woman as educated as her has to have an archival collection out there) and there will be more writings about her to come.