Category: North American Authors
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Hudnut, Selma
About the author Selma Hudnut wrote three horse books, only one of which, A Horse of Her Own, was published in the UK. A Horse of Her Own is possibly the most popular title ever for a pony book; I found four other American books with the same title, as well as the USA version…
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Hughes, Janet Herron
About the author Janet Herron Hughes was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and moved to Washington DC when she was eleven. While she was at the fashionable Miss Madeira’s School for Girls, she persuaded her parents to let her spend weekends and holidays in the country with a friend, where they looked after the horses, and…
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Jackson, D V S
About the author Dorothy Virginia Steinhauer Jackson wrote three books, of which two are horse stories. The third, Walk With Peril, is historical fiction. The horse Bluebird, in her book Bold Venture, was based on a real horse: “the most beautiful horse I ever saw.” This horse alas was shot when he was six “as…
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Johnson, Pat and Barbara van Tuyl
About the author I don’t think I can do better with this series than quote Susan Bourgeau, who provided the information and pictures for this section: The Bonnie series is one of the series best loved by serious horse book readers in the US. The first book, The Sweet Running Filly, I’d classify as the…
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Kirkland, Gelsey and Greg Lawrence
About the author Gelsey Kirkland (b.1952) is an American ballet dancer and author. She was a principal dancer with the New York Ballet, and was well known for her work with Mikhail Baryshnikov. Her career faltered when she suffered from anorexia and drug addiction, though she overcame this and danced with the Royal Ballet in…
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Lambert, Janet
About the author Janet Lambert worked as an actress and playwright with a repertory company touring the US before her marriage. After her marriage during World War I to Captain Kent Lambert, her acting career was curtailed. She began her writing career by writing stories for her daughters. She wrote widely, with most of her…
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Lawson, Patrick (Lois Eby)
About the author Patrick Lawson (the pseudonym of Lois Eby) wrote five horse books. The two Star Crossed Stallion books feature Arabians, but although the book’s initial plot (boy gets a wild Arabian stallion in a completely implausible way) is similar to Walter Farley’s The Black Stallion, the pay off is different. The Arabian here…
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Mclary, Jane McIlvaine
About the author Jane McIlvaine McClary was born in Pittsburgh, and moved when she was seven to Middleburg, Virginia. There she went to a one-room school. To get there, she rode her pony, but as the pony usually galloped off home during the day, she had to walk home. Jane worked as an exercise jockey…
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Mellin, Jeanne
About the author Jeanne Mellin was childhood friends with Nancy Caffrey, and illustrated her Somebody’s Pony after the two girls made a childhood pact to write and illustrate a horse book. Both girls were members of Margaret Cabell Self’s New Canaan Mounted Troupe. Jeanne had her formal art training at the Rhode Island School of…
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Caffrey, Nancy
About the author Nancy Caffrey wrote several pony books, including a series about a brother and sister and their ponies. She started riding at the age of five, and by 15 was teaching riding at the Hunt Club. She rode professionally, and specialised in riding difficult horses. As a reporter, she covered shows for the…