Jessie Haas

Jane Badger Books

Jessie Haas

A few years ago a friend and fellow collector, Fran, sent me a list of American pony books she had for sale. At that point, I’d read only the American books that were in print in the UK: Walter Farley, Mary O’Hara, Rutherford Montgomery and Wiliam Corbin. I had no idea at all what books to go for in the long list of authors I’d never heard of, so I asked Fran to pick out ones she thought were the best, and a bag of books made its way by M-bag over the Atlantic. I spent a marvellous few weeks reading my way through them all.

If ever Fran tells me a book is good, I believe her. There wasn’t a duff one in that bag, and in it were several titles by Jessie Haas. There was Runaway Radish, which is an absolute charmer of a book, with wonderful illustrations by Margot Apple. Jessie’s first book, Keeping Barney, was also in there, and its sequel, A Horse Called Barney. I loved them all, and enthused about them so much I sold them all in my next catalogue.

Several of her books are obtainable through Amazon, and I can thoroughly recommend them. She writes for all ages from picture books for the youngest children to books for teenagers. I only wish that the picture books had been around when my own children were small, as my (unsuccessful) campaign to indoctrinate them into the wonders of The Horse might have stood more chance of success.

Of her books currently in print, Sugaring and Appaloosa Zebra are both pitched at the youngest children. Appaloosa in particular is a dream of bliss for a small child who loves ponies. Birthday Pony and Jigsaw Pony are proper books, aimed at the 8-10s. They have dustjackets and cover illustrations that do not assume the reader is a brainless lover of cutesome fluff. My daughter, who is not a pony child, picked these up of her own accord and read them, even though they are technically a bit young for her.

Through the wonders of Amazon, many of Jessie Haas’ books are available (though I would avoid sellers with low ratings who use generic descriptions), and I can thoroughly recommend them.

Jessie Haas has plenty of books in the pipeline. (Princess Pony is due out later this year, and a book on American Pony Books is on the horizon too.) She lives in Vermont, in a tiny house in the woods she and her husband built themselves. It still has outdoor plumbing “you can get used to almost anything, including an outhouse at twenty below, and it's amazing how much self-control it teaches!”

Jessie has always loved horses, and her father read Walter Farley’s Little Black Pony so often to her they both knew it by heart. She read every pony book she could find until her mother told her to read something else, when she tried dog books, then westerns, before going back to pony books. After a school English lesson when the pupils were asked to write poetry on anything they wanted, Jessie wrote poems about horses, and found that writing was as much fun as reading.

I love the act of writing, I've learned to love rewriting, and I adore getting that first copy of a new book in the mail. But what I love best is knowing that out there in the world, kids are finding my books and curling up in private with them, having their own experience of them, and making of it whatever they will. The evidence of that is when I go to a library and see a beat-up, much-read copy of one of my books. I'll probably never meet the kids who read it, but I know it changed them somehow, as the books I've read changed me. That's why I do my best, every single time--because books matter. (Jessie Haas - from her website)

Links

There is much more biographical information about Jessie on her own site. She also has a section on Harper Collin’ site.

Bibliography - horse books only

Keeping Barney
Greenwillow Books, New York, 1982

Scholastic Paperbacks, pb, 1981

Sarah dreams of getting a horse, and then she gets Barney. However, he is a lot more than she bargained for, and
she finds she has her work cut out.

Working Trot

Greenwillow Books, New York, 1983

James’ parents want him to do a degree and work in business. He wants to work with horses.

Beware the Mare

Greenwillow Books, New York, 1992, illus Martha Haas

Harper Trophy, pb, 1996

Lily and her mother live with her grandparents. One day her grandfather brings home Beware, the mare.
Grandfather is worried about how the mare got her name, and keeps a close eye when she and Lily are
together.

A Horse Like Barney
Greenwillow Books, New York, 1993

Sarah has to think out what she really wants as she searches for a horse of her own at last.

Uncle Daney’s Way

Greenwillow Books, New York, 1994

HarperTrophy 1997, pb

Cole’s uncle used to be a logger, and he isn’t looking forward to when his uncle comes to live with them.
When Uncle Daney turns up, he isn’t alone. He has a horse, Nip.

Mowing

Greenwillow Books, New York, 1994, illus Jos. A Smith

Nora and Gramp go off to mow the meadow.

A Blue for Beware

Greenwillow Books, New York, 1995, illus Jos A Smith

Harper Trophy, pb, 1997

Lily shows her mare, Beware, for the first time.

No Foal Yet

Greenwillow Books, New York, 1995, illus Jos A Smith

Many thanks to Lisa Catz for the picture.

Nora can hardly wait for Bonnie’s foal to be born.

Be Well, Beware

Greenwillow Books, 1996, illus Ros Smith

Mulberry Paperbacks, 1997

Many thanks to Lisa Catz for the picture.

Sugaring

Greenwillow Books, New York, 1996, illus Jos A Smith

Click here for a review of this book

Norah and her grandparents use the horses to do the sugaring on the farm.

Beware and Stogie

Greenwillow Books, New York, 1998, illus by author

Many thanks to Lisa Catz for the picture.

During a storm, several horses break out of the farm, including the vicious Stogie. Lily and Beware set out
to find them.

Unbroken

Greenwillow Books, New York, 1999

Scholastic pb, 2001

Harriet has to go and live with her stern aunt and uncle after her mother’s death. To get back to school,
she needs to break a colt so she can ride there.

Hurry!

Greenwillow Books, New York, 2000, illus Jos A Smith

Gramp tells Nora about harvesting the hay.

Will You, Won’t You?

Greenwillow Books, New York, 2001

Mad Parker is sent off to her grandmother’s house in Vermont for the summer: can Mad find her voice?