Introduction
William Alvin Bowen (May 15, 1877–September 18, 1937) was an American attorney who wrote several children's books in the 1920s. His most notable work was The Old Tobacco Shop, a fantasy novel that was one runner-up for the inaugural Newbery Medal in 1922.
Bowen was born in Baltimore, Maryland, earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Maryland in 1898, and worked in his father's law office until 1904, when he moved to Los Angeles. There he was a member of the Olympic Committee as attorney for the 1932 Summer Olympics. He was also a member of the California and Southern California Historical Societies.
Bowen's first children's book was The Enchanted Forest, a fantasy novel published by Macmillan late in 1920. His second was The Old Tobacco Shop, one year later.
Works
- The Enchanted Forest, illustrated by Maud and Miska Petersham (The Macmillan Company, 1920)
- The Old Tobacco Shop: A True Account of What Befell a Little Boy in Search of Adventure, illus. Reginald Birch (Macmillan, Nov 1921)
- Solario the Tailor: His Tales of the Magic Doublet, illus. J. Ormsbee (Macmillan, Sep 1922) – sequel to The Enchanted Forest
- Merrimeg, illus. Emma Brock (Macmillan, 1923), LCCN 23-13190
- Philip and the Faun, illus. N. Choate (Little, Brown and Company, Sep 1926)
- Gossip from the Sixteenth Century (Los Angeles: The Zamorano Club, 1938), LCCN 39-5254