About the author
Kathleen Frances Barker was a British artist and illustrator known for her work on dogs and horses. She was also a keen sportswoman, and wrote on beagling and hunting. Her books on dogs far outnumber her works on horses, but she had the knack of drawing both horses and ponies, and of making their human companions lively and interesting. She wrote numerous animal stories, ranging far beyond dogs to encompass tigers and moles, although as with her illustrations, most of her stories were about dogs.
K F Barker wrote one fictional horse story, Traveller’s Joy, and a collection of essays on horses, Nothing but Horses. She illustrated several pony books in the 1930s for Country Life: Phari and Zong for M E Buckingham, and Col Enriquez’ Khyberie and Khyberie in Burma.
Finding the books
Traveller’s Joy, Nothing but Horses and The Young Entry are all reasonably easy to find. Very good copies with dustjackets can be expensive. The Khyberie books are also easy to find.
Sources
The British Library
Bibliography
TRAVELLER’S JOY
Traveller’s Joy: Gentleman and Puller
Country Life, London, 1934, 164pp
Non-fiction
Nothing but Horses – a Series of Essays on Horses and Their Ways – a Horse Lover’s Sketch Book
Adam & Charles Black, London, 1938, illus the author, 150 pp.
Short stories
Tradesmen’s Horses, in Twenty More Animals Stories
A & C Black Ltd, London, 1941
(Also several extracts from the Bellman the Beagle books)
Also by K F Barker
Just Dogs
Country Life, 1933
Bellman the story of a Beagle
Country Life, 1933
Bellman Carries On
A & C Black, 1933
Himself
Country Life, 1935
Champion, the Story of a Bull Terrier
Country Life, 1936
Just Pups – Sketches in Pen and Pencil Country Life, 1937
Dog Days
William Heinemann, 1938
Nothing but Dogs
A & C Black, 1938
Rogues’ Gallery
William Heinemann, 1939
The Young Entry: Fox-Hunting, Beagling and Otter-Hunting for Beginners
Adam & Charles Black, 1939
The January Tortoise
George G Harrap & Sons, 1954
The Mole Who Was Different
George G Harrap & Sons, 1955
The Wood by the Water
George G Harrap & Sons, 1957
There are Tigers About
George G Harrap, 1958
Me and My Dog: The Pedigree Boxer and the Alley Kitten
Country Life, 1961
illustrated by
M E Buckingham: Phari
Country Life, 1933
M E Buckingham: Zong, a Hill Pony
Country Life, 1934
Gordon Grand: The Silver Horn – Sporting Tales
Country Life, 1934
Col Enriquez: Khyberie
Country Life, 1934
Frediswid Sturges: Dowsha, the Story of a Donkey
A & C Black, 1935
Anna Sewell: Black Beauty
A & C Black, 1936
Angela Jeans: Harry the Peke
A & C Black, 1936
Alfred Ollivant: Owd Bob
William Heinemann, 1937
G B Stern: The Ugly Dachshund
Cassell & Co, 1938
G West: Us Dogs
Country Life, 1938
Col Enriquez: Khyberie in Burma
Country Life, 1939
Reginald Harrison Smythe: The Mind of the Dog
Country Life, 1958
Reginald Harrison Smythe: How Animals Talk
Country Life, 1959
Rosemary Weir: A Dog of Your Own
George G Harrap, 1960
