"Because I had few child playmates, I created imaginary ones, and entertained myself making stories."

Edna was born March 7, 1875, in Providence R.I. Her early health was poor and she was homeschooled until she was ten. She graduated from Girls High School at Brown University and went on the New York State Library School. She reflected in her later years that her choice of a library career was due to her love of books and mused that as a child she had not been allowed in public libraries because her parents feared germs.

When she graduated from library school she toured Europe for a few years and, upon her return, took a job at the Providence Public Library, then later joined the staff of Rosenberg Library in Galveston, Texas. She found working in a large library very trying and unsatisfactory. She was happy to return to New England in 1906 where she was chief librarian of Andover Hall Memorial Library, Andover, Mass., a position she held for thirty years. She wrote more than twenty children's books and plays and most of her stories were about animals. The American Library Association recommended all of her books.

She retired in 1939 to devote her time entirely to writing and working in her garden. Her last book, "How Many Miles to Babylon?", was published in 1941. She died three years later.