Willard Price facts for kids

Willard DeMille Price (born July 28, 1887 – died October 14, 1983) was an amazing adventurer, writer, and journalist. He was born in Canada but became an American citizen. He's best known for his exciting Adventure series books, which took young readers all over the world! These books follow two brothers, Hal and Roger Hunt, as they travel to wild places and learn about animals.

Willard Price's Early Life

Willard Price was born in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. His family were very religious Methodists. When he was just four years old, his dad took him canoeing and fishing on Stony Lake. Willard later called this his "first great adventure."

He lived on his grandfather's farm for a while before his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Willard went to East High School and then Western Reserve University. He paid for his college by writing advertisements for local businesses and newspapers. Even as a young man, he loved adventure and took long trips during his school breaks.

Starting His Career

After finishing college in 1909, Willard Price decided not to become a minister, even though many expected him to. Instead, he spent a year working as a pastor without being officially ordained. He then wanted to experience the "workaday world." This led him to New York and then to London.

In London, he volunteered at a settlement house in Southwark. This made him very aware of social problems. He decided he wanted to help people by writing, becoming "a social worker with a pen."

When he returned to New York in 1911, Willard won a scholarship to the School of Philanthropy at Columbia University. There, he earned two advanced degrees. During this time, he wrote many articles for newspapers and magazines. He wrote about terrible conditions on a ship, poor living areas in Newark, and even child labor in a steel factory. He also worked for the Methodist Board of Foreign Missions and edited some important journals.

Traveling and Writing Adventures

Later in his life, Willard Price became a "foreign correspondent" and "roving researcher." This meant he traveled the world to gather information for newspapers, magazines, museums, and groups like the National Geographic Society. He visited an incredible 148 countries and traveled around the world three times!

He wrote about his amazing journeys in many non-fiction books for adults. His first was Rip Tide in the Southern Seas (1936). He spent a lot of time in Japan from 1933 to 1938. He saw firsthand how the country was preparing for war.

Willard Price even admitted in one of his autobiographies that he sometimes helped the United States government by gathering information during his travels.

The Adventure Series Books

Willard Price's travels gave him great ideas for his popular Adventure books for young readers. In these books, two teenage zoologists named Hal and Roger Hunt travel the world capturing wild animals.

Willard Price wrote these books for young people. He hoped that when they grew up and might want to hunt, they would choose to leave their guns at home.

Shortly before he passed away, Willard Price shared his goal for the Adventure series:

My aim in writing the Adventure series for young people was to lead them to read by making reading exciting and full of adventure. At the same time I want to inspire an interest in wild animals and their behavior. Judging from the letters I have received from boys and girls around the world, I believe I have helped open to them the worlds of books and natural history.

In 2006, Willard Price's family sold the rights to his fourteen Adventure series books. This means new generations can continue to enjoy these exciting stories.

Adventure Series Books

• Amazon Adventure (1949)
• South Sea Adventure (1952)
• Underwater Adventure (1954)
• Volcano Adventure (1956)
• Whale Adventure (1960)
• African Adventure (1963)
• Elephant Adventure (1964)
• Safari Adventure (1966)
• Lion Adventure (1967)
• Gorilla Adventure (1969)
• Diving Adventure (1970)
• Cannibal Adventure (1972)
• Tiger Adventure (1979)
• Arctic Adventure (1980)

Other Books by Willard Price

Willard Price also wrote many non-fiction books for adults about his travels and the places he visited. Some of these include:

• Rip Tide in the South Seas (1936)
• Japan's Islands of Mystery (1944)
• I Cannot Rest from Travel: An Autobiography of Adventure in Seventy Lands (1952)
• The Amazing Amazon (1954)
• Incredible Africa (1962)
• My Own Life of Adventure: Travels in 148 Lands (1982)