William Munro Leaf was the author of some thirty popular books for children. During his lifetime, "The Story of Ferdinand" (1936), his tale about a Spanish bull who would rather smell flowers than fight in the ring, was translated into over sixty languages, including Twl, Ga, Fanti and Ewe in Africa.

Leaf received his master's degree at Harvard after graduating from the University of Maryland. He taught preparatory school for a numbers of years before becoming editor and director of the New York publishing house F. A. Stokes. Later Leaf would make a number of trips abroad as a cultural representative for the US State Department.

William Munro Leaf died of cancer at his home in Garret Park, Maryland, on 20 December, 1976. He left behind his wife, the former Margaret Pope, and two sons. - IMDb Mini Biography By: John F. Barlow