author
Mary White
1869–1952
Known for lively early-20th-century guides to crafts, games, and children's amusements, this practical writer helped make basketry, pottery, beadwork, and homemade play feel welcoming and doable. Her books have a cheerful, hands-on spirit that still comes across today.
2 Audiobooks
The Child's Rainy Day Book
by Mary White
How to make pottery
by Mary White
About the author
Mary White (1869–1952) was an American author remembered for clear, approachable books about making things and entertaining children. Records gathered through library catalogs confirm a run of popular practical titles, including The Book of Games, with Directions How to Play Them, The Child's Rainy Day Book, How to Do Beadwork, How to Make Pottery, How to Make Baskets, and More Baskets and How to Make Them.
Her work sits at the meeting point of craft instruction and family life. Rather than writing abstract manuals, she focused on activities people could try at home, with books that turned rainy days, parties, handwork, and simple materials into opportunities for play and learning. Some titles were collaborative, including How to Make Baskets with a chapter by Neltje Blanchan and The Book of Children's Parties with Sara White.
Little biographical detail was easy to confirm from reliable public sources beyond her dates and bibliography, so the clearest picture comes from the books themselves: a writer interested in useful skills, creativity, and making everyday life more engaging for children and families.