Illustrated Bibliography 2

Brighty of the Grand Canyon

Rand McNally & Company, Chicago, 1953, illus Wesley Dennis

Brighty was a wild burro living in the Grand Canyon of Arizona. "Tamed" by an old prospector when he found the burro in bad shape after a run in with a porcupine, Brighty (actually named Bright Angel after the name of the creek in the Grand Canyon) became a free partner of the old timer, sharing his pancakes and biscuits, helping carry his packs and still living free and roaming at will. When the old timer suddenly disappears, the sherrif and Uncle Jimmy Owen, a lion hunter, suspect foul play. Through the following years, Brighty splits his time between living in the Grand Canyon during the cold winters and journeying up to Uncle Jimmy's ranch during the summers.

Brighty has many adventures including going on a lion hunt with Uncle Jimmy, President Theodore Roosevelt and his son Quentin; being injured by a lion and cured by Uncle Jimmy; helping various visitors to the Grand Canyon when in the mood, and eventually coming across the old timer's murderer and helping with his capture.

The book has lovely illustrations: again these were dropped in later versions. A film was also made of the book. [Info by Fran Fignar]

Gaudezia, Pride of the Palio
Rand McNally, Chicago, 1960
This is the true story of Gaudenzia, a gray half-Arabian mare, and Giorgio Terni, a boy from the Maremma marshes in Italy. It is also the story of the famous race, the Palio, which takes place twice a year in the plaza in Sienna. Chosen by lot, horses are entered representing the various "contradas" of the town and it is a "no holds barred" contest with the horses ridden bareback by riders in Medieval costumes. Giorgio was one of these riders and rode Gaudenzia to victory as well as having to race against her in another Palio race as rider for a different contrada.

This is a moving story of the courage of both horse and rider and the customs of this ancient race. Later editions of this book were re-titled The Wildest Horse Race in the World. The cover illustration is a picture of Giorgio on a competing horse trying to whip Gaudenzia's spennacchiera off her headstall. As long as a horse wears this attachment, it can win the race even without its rider, which is what Gaudenzia managed to do.
[Info by Fran Fignar]

Five O’Clock Charlie

Rand McNally & Company, NY., 1962, n.p., illus Wesley Dennis
Charlie is a English work horse belonging to Mister Spinks of Tulip Hill Farm in Shropshire, England. Charlie is described as brown with furry legs (Suffolk Punch X Shire???). He and his master always go to the Boar's Head Inn at five o'clock when work is done and Charlie gets an apple tart treat form Birdie, the cook, while his master goes in for refreshment. When Charlie is retired, he dearly misses his daily treat and solves the problem by knocking down a fence rail and taking himself to the Boar's Head every day at five o'clock, becoming a regular scene in the village.

This is a cute story with lively drawings. The cover is an illustration of Charlie's’ head looking over the window sill of the inn.

Stormy, Misty’s Foal

Rand McNally, Chicago, 1963, illus Wesley Dennis

Usually, life is good on the island of Chincoteague, but when a hurricane struck in the 60's, both Chincoteague and Assateague, the island with the wild pony herds, were devastated. The people of Chincoteague had to leave the island to survive. Of course, the Beebes' ponies could not all be brought to safety so Grandpa Beebe brought them into the barn on top of their hay pile and put Misty, now in foal, inside their house and hoped for the best. The Beebe ponies survived and Misty foaled safely but many of the Assateague herd perished in the storm (because of the way the island was fenced to keep wildlife in certain areas, but that' is not mentioned in the book) unable to get to high enough ground to survive the flooding of the island. When news of the ponies' death reached horse lovers across the country, the Misty Disaster Fund was created and Misty and her new foal went on tour, especially where the completed MISTY movie was being shown, performing to raise money to re-establish the depleted Assateague herds. A "Name the Foal" contest was held which resulted in Misty's new baby being named Stormy in memory of the hurricane. The cover illustration is a head study of Misty and her foal, Stormy, and the rear cover shows Misty and a rearing Stormy at home in the meadow on the Beebe farm.

(Info from Fran Fignar)

White Stallion of Lipizza

Rand McNally, Chicago, 1964, illus Wesley Dennis

This is the story of the Spanish Riding School's famous courbetteur, Maestoso Borina, who teaches a young rider, Hans, from a beginning rider to performing beireter. Borina is a real horse but Hans was developed from numerous young riders who have been under the tutelage of Alois Podhajsky. The book is in a slightly oversized format with an illustration of Borina doing a courbette on the cover and various airs-above-the-ground on the rear cover.

Info from Fran Fignar

San Domingo, Medicine Hat Stallion
Rand McNally, Chicago, 1972, illus Robert Lougheed

This is a story combining early life on the American prairie, the history of the Pony Express and the Brislawn mustangs. Peter Lundy is the son of Jethro Lundy, a trader of horses, oxen and mules for those travelling to the new West. Jethro is a hard father but when he trades a horse for an Indian pony with the rare medicine hat markings, the mare foals a similarly marked foal which Peter names San Domingo. He discovers the mare was stolen from Indians, and that their chief, Red Cloud, values her highly. Peter trades with the chief to keep the foal. Peter raises San Domingo to be an outstanding mount who lives up to the legend of the Medicine Hat markings of being an invincible mount. Meanwhile, Peter makes the acquaintance of Mr. Brislawn, an Irishman, who loves horses and is trying to find horses of pure Spanish Barb blood in the mustang herds and determines the San Domingo is one of them. These are horses that show the blood of the original andalusian mounts brought from Spain by the early conquistadores and have bred true in the wild rather than cross with tame horses lost by the pioneers.

However, Peter and San Domingo are parted when Jethro trades his son's horse to the newly formed Pony Express leaving Peter with no option except to join the Pony Express as a rider in order to be with his beloved mount. They have adventures carrying the mail until an Indian raid proves deadly to San Domingo though Peter survives the attack since Domingo's "big medicine" as a medicine hat horse saves his rider's life. Peter leaves the Pony Express and works with Mr. Brislawn helping him tame his Spanish mustangs until a letter from his estranged father, Jethro, brings him back to make peace with his family.

[Info by Fran Fignar]

Dear Readers and Riders
Rand McNally, Chicago, 1969, illus Wesley Dennis, Robert Lougheed and black and white photographs
While this isn't a story, if there's any way you can get a copy of this book, do so. It's a collection of letters to Marguerite Henry and her answers to readers asking questions about all of her books which had been published up to this time. It's a fascinating collection of background facts!

For example, Wesley Dennis was the one who gave Marguerite Henry the idea of writing King of the Wind. At the time, a friend of Mr. Dennis' was planning to write the story but he said he knew the lady would never do so. Marguerite Henry contacted her and eventually got permission to do the story - and history was made. There are pictures of the real Misty, the real Brighty, Marguerite Henry's Brighty which was used in the movie, her morgan horse, Friday, Gibson White and Rosalind, the real Gaudenzia, the actors from the MISTY movie, Wild Horse Annie and much more!

[Info by Fran Fignar]

Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West

Rand McNally, Chicago, 1966, illus Robert Hougheed

This is the story of Annie Bronn who became known as "Wild Horse Annie". Overcoming polio in her youth, Annie grew up in the west loving the wild horses which roamed free. However, many ranchers resented the wild horses which grazed feed they felt was needed for cattle and it was considered sport to round up the wild herds and ship them off to slaughter. One day, Annie found herself following a truck load of wild horses and saw blood dripping from the truck. She followed the load and saw the terrible state the horses were in. This began a campaign to stop the slaughter of the wild mustangs which led her all the way to Washington D.C. and Congress. The publicity she created eventually brought about a Bill to protect the free roaming wild horses from slaughter and provide a public refuge for them. (However, as a note, the battle still goes on as ranchers still feel the horses destroy too much forage and water needed for cattle and other animals. Many mustangs have been adopted across the country but there are many older horses that are unadoptable that are kept in government holding facilities at considerable cost. There doesn't seem to be any easy solution.)

Info from Fran Fignar