author
Josephine Franklin
A little-known 19th-century children’s writer, remembered for gentle moral tales about everyday family life and growing up. Her books, including the Martin and Nelly stories, were published in Boston and have been preserved by Project Gutenberg and other digital libraries.
2 Audiobooks
Little Bessie, the Careless Girl, or, Squirrels, Nuts, and Water-Cresses
by Josephine Franklin
Nelly's First Schooldays
by Josephine Franklin
About the author
Josephine Franklin appears to have been a 19th-century author of children’s fiction, best known for stories such as Nelly's First Schooldays and Little Bessie, the Careless Girl; or, Squirrels, Nuts, and Water-Cresses. Surviving catalog and library records connect her with the Martin and Nelly Stories, a series of juvenile books published in Boston in the 1860s.
Very little clearly verified biographical information seems to survive about her life, which makes her one of those authors known more through her books than through a documented personal history. What does stand out is the tone of her work: domestic settings, young protagonists, and simple stories shaped to teach kindness, responsibility, and good behavior.
Because reliable modern biographical sources are scarce, it is safest to remember her as an early children’s author whose work has lasted through preservation in public-domain archives and library collections rather than through a well-recorded public profile.