Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, she was educated at Havergal College, Edgehill School, and the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto).
In 1926 she married author and playwright Merrill Denison.
The first book was the inspiration for the Shirley Temple movie of the same name, though the two stories are very different.
Denison often wrote nonfiction using the pen name "Frances Newton" for articles in This Week, Reader's Digest, McCall's and other magazines.
Denison lived in New York for 20 years before her death, but returned to Toronto to go to hospital and died there.