
E-text prepared by David Edwards, Carla Foust, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries (http://www.archive.org/details/americana)
Transcriber's note
ILLUSTRATIONS
"EVERY GOOSE A SWAN"
"GAMES IN GARDENS"
"A BRAND FROM THE BURNING"
FRIENDS
THE MAGIC CAPE
"BAILEY'S BABIES"
"THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES"
The story opens with a thoughtful look at the tug‑of‑war between home and school, where mothers and teachers each try to shape a child’s mind. Through gentle humor and vivid pictures of garden games, the narrator points out how expectations can feel as strange as an alien encounter for a youngster. It sets the tone for a lively exploration of how everyday learning becomes an adventure in its own right.
Soon a handful of bright‑eyed kids slip into a world where ordinary chores and classroom lessons blend with whimsical misunderstandings. Their small missteps and bursts of imagination turn a simple trip to the schoolyard into a quest for understanding each other’s quirks. As they navigate the confusion of grown‑up rules, the children discover that cooperation and curiosity are the best tools for making sense of the “little alien” moments that pop up in daily life.
Language
en
Duration
~3 hours (215K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Release date
2010-05-29
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1876–1910
Best known for warm, lively stories drawn from New York classroom life, this Irish-born writer turned her experience as a teacher into memorable portraits of immigrant children and city neighborhoods. Her work mixes humor and sympathy in a way that still feels fresh.
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