Henry Beston was born and raised in Quincy, Massachusetts. He attended Adams Academy before earning his BA in 1909 and MA in 1911 from Harvard College. In 1912, Beston taught at the University of Lyon. He joined the French army in 1915 and served as an ambulance driver during World War I. His service in Bois-le-Prêtre and at the Battle of Verdun was described in his first book, A Volunteer Poilu. In 1918, Beston became a press representative for the US Navy. He was the only American correspondent to travel with the British Grand Fleet aboard an American destroyer during combat engagement and sinking. His second book of journalistic work, Full Speed Ahead, describes these experiences. After WWI, Beston began writing fairy tales. In 1919, The Firelight Fairy Book was published, followed by The Starlight Wonder Book in 1923. During this time, he worked as an editor of Living Age, an offshoot of the Atlantic Monthly. He also met his wife, Elizabeth Coatsworth, a fellow author of children’s literature with whom he had two daughters, Margaret and Catherine. They lived at Hingham, Massachusetts, and Chimney Farm in Nobleboro, Maine.
