Willard Price was a Canadian born American natural historian and author of children's fiction. He was born in Peterborough, Ontario and his family subsequently moved to the United States when he was four. He acquired his MA and Litt. D. from Columbia University, before going on to edit the journals Survey and World Outlook. He travelled on many expeditions for the National Geographic Society and the American Museum of Natural History, in particular to Japan. He documented his travels in a series of non-fiction books and also used them as inspiration for his Adventure series of novels for young readers, which depict the exploits of teenage zoologists Hal and Roger Hunt. Price wrote for a number of papers and magazines from East Asia including Harper's Magazine, Christian Science Monitor, London Daily Herald and the National Geographic during the 1930s and 1940s..
(Source: Justin H. Libby, 'Pre-World War II Contract Reporters in Japan', Asian Profile 31.2 (2003): 107-121)
Only Price's books with an Australian setting have been included in AustLit.