O'Donnell is best known for the Alice and Jerry and Janet and John series.
In 1946 she resigned to become an editor for Row, Peterson and Company[1] whom she had been writing for since the late 1930s (see "Life as an Author") In 1965, the East Aurora School District named an elementary school on Reckinger Road after O'Donnell.
[2] In 1938, O'Donnell began her activities as an author while still a primary grade supervisor and curriculum coordinator by writing a series of books for young readers.
The books continued to be updated through the years, with different character names and slight modifications in the plots.
[4] Happy Days, Here and There, Rides and Slides, Skip Along, Under the Sky, Open the Door, High on a Hill, Day In and Day Out, The Wishing Well, Round About, Anything Can Happen, Down the River Road, Friendly Village, Through The Green Gate, If I Were Going, Five-and-a-Half Club, Singing Wheels, Engine Whistles, Runaway Home, It Happened One Day, It Must Be Magic, After the Sun Sets (Some of these books were later updated, with "The New" added to the front of the book titles.)