author
Alpha Banta Benson
1870–1922
Known for adapting fairy tales and classic stories for young readers, this early-20th-century writer helped bring familiar tales into classrooms and family reading. Her surviving books suggest a warm, accessible style shaped for children.
1 Audiobook
Daffydowndilly and the Golden Touch
by Alpha Banta Benson
About the author
Alpha Banta Benson was an American children's writer born in 1870 and died in 1922. Records for her life are sparse, but library and book-catalog sources consistently connect her with story collections and adaptations for young readers, including Really Truly Fairy Tales and Daffydowndilly and the Golden Touch.
She also appears as a co-author with N. Moore Banta on children's books such as Ten Little Brownie Men and other school-oriented titles published by A. Flanagan Company in Chicago. The books associated with her name point to a career centered on retelling classic tales in a simple, inviting way for children.
Because detailed biographical information is limited in the sources available online, much of her personal story remains unclear. Even so, her work survives through library collections and public-domain editions, giving modern readers a glimpse of the kind of children's literature that once filled schoolrooms and home bookshelves.