Clyde Robert Bulla

A Ranch for Danny

Crowell, New York, 1951, illus Grace Paull, 84 pp.

“Danny and Jerry first saw old Mr. Wicker at the rodeo. Slim told them that Mr. Wicker lived on Starlight Ranch,
back in the mountains, and came out only for the rodeo, when he shot at balls with two pistols he carried in his
belt.  But Danny was soon to visit Starlight Ranch. And after his first visit he went again. Each time something
special happened, and Danny hoped that some day Mr. Wicker might sell the ranch to his father so they could
live there always. Meanwhile, Danny had to go to school, he had to look after the cattle, and had to practice his
riding tricks for another rodeo.  

Star of Wild Horse Canyon

Crowell, New York, 1953, illus Grace Paull, 86 pp.

Scholastic, 1967, 1974,1975, pb

“As Danny stood looking down into Juniper Canyon, he had eyes for only one horse - the big one with the
proud head. It stood out in the herd of wild horses below, and Danny found he could think of nothing else but
the horse he had named Star. For Uncle Mack said that Danny was getting too big for his little pony Ginger.
What Danny needed was a big horse to fit his long legs. Star of Wild Horse Canyon tells how Danny earns a
horse of his own; how he trains it himself; and how, finally, when his horse is fully trained, it mysteriously
disappears.”

Riding the Pony Express

Crowell, New York, 1948, illus Grace Paull, 95 pp.

Scholastic Book Services, 1963, pb

“Dick travels to Nebraska to join his father who is riding for the Pony Express, but Dick has trouble adjusting to
his new life until an emergency forces him to carry the mail himself.”

Clyde Robert Bulla (1914- 2007) was a prolific author, who wrote many titles aimed at the younger child reader.  Bulla was born on a small farm in Missouri, and always wanted to write.  When his teacher asked the class what they would buy with a thousand dollars, Bulla wanted a table:  “a desk or other flat surface on which to write my stories!”  He wrote in the evenings for as long as he could make himself stay awake; he had to leave school early to help on the farm, but continued to write.

He sold stories to magazines, and then succeeded in having a novel published.  The publisher then went out of business, and Bulla had a long, hard slog to get anything else published.  He worked for a local newspaper, writing a weekly column, and joined a writer’s group.  Through this, he met Emma Thibodaux, who suggested he write a book for children.  He wrote The Donkey Cart, and it was published.  Bulla then switched horses from writing for adults to writing for children, and wrote over 100 children’s books, covering fiction, non-fiction and poetry.  He wrote several horse books, including the Danny series.

Many thanks to Fiona Williams and Lisa Catz for all their help with this section.  

Finding the books:  all of Clyde Robert Bulla’s horse titles are reasonably easy to find.  None were published in the UK.

Sources and links:  

Terri A. Wear:  Horse Stories, an Annotated Bibilography, Scarecrow Press, 1987

Biographical information from NWDA

Biographical info: Scholastic

Obituary in the Boston News

Bibliography - horse books only

Dexter

Crowell, New York, 1973, illus Glo Coalson, 68 pp.

Reprinted as Take Care of Dexter
Scholastic Book Services, 1973

“Dave makes friends with Alex Arvin when the two circus families of Arvins move next door, but when Alex’s family
is asked to leave, Alex asks Dave to take care of his pony Dexter for him.”

Three Dollar Mule

Crowell, Nwe York, 1960, illus Paul Lantz, 86 pp.

Scholastic, 1962, pb

Troll, 1994, pb

“A horse trader talks Don into buying the mule Sinbad, but the mule gets into so much trouble with Don’s
father that they try to give the mule away until Don breaks his leg out in the woods.”

The Donkey Cart

Crowell, New York, 1946, illus Lois Lenski, 89 pp.

Two children spend their holiday on their uncle’s farm, travelling round in a donkey cart.

Conquista!  [with Michael Syson]

Crowell, New York, 1978, illus Robert Himler, 33 pp.

“A young Indian is searching for a sign from his sun-god telling him what his man-name is to be, when he comes upon a
creature he has never seen before, a horse, saddled and bridled, that has been lost from Coronado’s troop.”

Danny

Surprise for a Cowboy
A Ranch for Danny
Star of Wild Horse Canyon

Surprise for a Cowboy

Crowell, New York, 1950, illus Grace Paull, 82 pp

“Danny never tired of playing cowboy. In the large apartment house where he lived he rode a chair that he called
a horse and roped a footstool that he called a calf.  But a happy time came when Danny visited a real ranch.
Surprise for a Cowboy is the story of what happened to Danny on the ranch, and how he learned what a
cowboy's life is actually like as it is lived from day to day. Under the guidance of Slim, he rode his own pony,
took care of the cattle, and made friends with the neighbouring ranchers. But like the other cowboys Danny had
to accept responsibility, and he found, through a series of exciting adventures, that a cowboy's life is not always
an easy one.”

Old Charlie

Crowell, New York, 1957, illus Paul Galdone, 80 pp.

Scholastic, 1963, paperback

“When Bruce and his friends find out that Old Charlie, the horse from camp, is to be sent to the
slaughterhouse, they decide to try to buy him even though they have no place to keep him in the
city.”