author
Ethel Twycross Foster
A little-known early 20th-century writer, she is remembered for a warm, imaginative children's book that brings the Arizona desert to life through a child's eyes. Her surviving work has a gentle sense of wonder and a clear affection for the natural world.
1 Audiobook
Little Tales of The Desert
by Ethel Twycross Foster
About the author
Ethel Twycross Foster was an American author born in 1881 and died in 1963. Public book records and library listings connect her most clearly with Little Tales of the Desert, a children's story collection first published in 1913.
That book follows a young girl spending Christmas in the Arizona desert, and it stands out for its mix of adventure, close observation, and quiet charm. The stories were illustrated by Hernando G. Villa, and the book has remained available through public-domain and library collections, helping modern readers rediscover Foster's work.
Not much widely documented biographical detail about her life appears to survive in major literary sources, but the book itself gives a strong sense of her voice: curious, gentle, and deeply interested in how a landscape can feel magical to a child.