Most of the first thirteen tales could be classified as wonder tales, because all of them have in a more or less degree magical elements or plot-wise can be classified on the wonder tales category in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index. Lyra's collection Cuentos de mi tГa Panchita, first published in 1920, consists in twenty three folktales that she heard from a real woman, the titular Aunt Panchita, who she described in the book's prologue. She died in Mexico City in May 4th 1949 at the age of sixty two, after her petition to came back to Costa Rica because of her fragile health was denied. Her politics became more and more radical, untill 1948, when after the Costa Rican Civil War the Communist Party was outlawed and Lyra had to exile to Mexico. That same year she published the book Bananos y Hombers, that anticipated the banana worker's strike of 1934. In 1931 she founded the Communist Party of Costa Rica alongside Manuel Mora Valverde. After studying at the Sorbonne and travelling to Italy and England to know the most advanced teaching methods she returned to Costa Rica in 1921 and in 1926 she founded a kindergarten following Maria Montessori's thesis, that she learnt when she travelled to Italy. Despite the situation she published in 1920 her most well-known and beloved book, the fairy tale collection Cuentos de mi tГa Panchita. Carvajal managed to evade the police because she disguised herself as a news seller. There Carvajal gave such a speech that managed to galvanize the crowd so much they ended up the goverment's news office. In 1919 she took part of a teacher's protest against dictator Federico Tinoco Granados. In 1918 she published her first novel, En una silla de ruedas, that tales the life of a paralyzed boy who grows up to become an artist.

Since 1906 she was already writing articles for several magazines and newspapers, and in 1912 she founded along Lilia GonzГЎlez the first children's magazine in Costa Rica, called San SelerГn. Because of her condition of illegitimate daughter she wasn't allowed to become a nun, so she started to work as a teacher. After attending the Superior School for Girls and graduating in 1904 she started to work in San Juan de Dios Hospital as a novice in 1906. She was born in San JosГ©, the capital of Costa Rica, in January 15th 1887, as the illegitimate daughter of Elena Carvajal Castro. MarГa Isabel Carvajal Quesada (1887-1949), known by her pseudonym Carmen Lyra, was a Costa Rican author.

Carmen lyra en una silla de ruedas