Arthur Scott Bailey was an American children's author who penned more than forty books during the early twentieth century. Born in St. Albans, Vermont, in 1877, Bailey grew up in a merchant family. He attended the University of Vermont before transferring to Harvard University, where he completed his bachelor's degree in 1902. After a brief period working as a wholesale grocery merchant in Chicago, he relocated to New York City in 1904 to pursue a career in publishing, serving as an editor for several firms, including the Macaulay Company.
Bailey's literary career began after his 1913 marriage to Estella W. Goodspeed. Inspired by his stepchildren, he began crafting stories that would eventually become his popular Sleepy-Time Tales series. His narratives were characterized by their focus on the animal, bird, and insect worlds. Rather than simplifying his language, Bailey made a conscious effort never to "write down" to his young audience. He frequently incorporated sophisticated vocabulary and natural history facts into his plots, believing that children would naturally rise to the challenge of unfamiliar words.
Beyond his extensive bibliography of children's books, Bailey also created the syndicated comic strip Animal Whys in 1937. He was an active intellectual and a member of New York's prestigious Salmagundi Club. Bailey spent his life contributing to the landscape of American children's literature until his death in 1949.
