de Jong, Meindert

About the author

Meindert DeJong (1906–91) was born in Holland, but emigrated to America with his family in 1914 when he was 8. He wrote 27 books for children, many of which were inspired by his childhood memories of Holland. He started to write after a local librarian steered him in that direction: he had already, in post-Depression America, done an amazing variety of jobs, having been a grave-digger, college professor, mason, tin smith, bricklayer and church sexton. His books won numerous prices, including the Newbery Medal in 1955 for The Wheel on the School.  

He wrote one book which could be defined as a horse book: A Horse Came Running. It draws you into its drama straightaway as a tornado hits and a father and daughter survive by sheltering in a stable as their house is torn off its moorings and whipped, splintering, away in the tornado. I found this book completely absorbing: the change in moments from a predictable world to one that is anything but is conveyed very powerfully.

Finding the books
Easy to find.

Sources
Wikipedia on Meindert DeJong
Bookrags on Meindert DeJong
The New Netherland Institute


Bibliography (pony books only)


The Singing Hill

Harper & Row, New York, 1962, illus Maurice Sendak, 180 pp.
Lutterworth Press, London, 1963, illus Maurice Sendak

Ray is lonely. His parents are busy with their new country house, and his brother and sister are at school. Ray’s loneliness ends when he finds an abandoned horse in a field.

A Horse Came Running

The Macmillan Company, New York,, 1970, illus Paul Sagsoorian, 147 pp.
Lutterworth Press, London, 1970, 147 pp.
Murray, London, 1989, 128 pp.

A tornado hits Mark’s home. He wakes up in the cellar having no idea if his parents are still alive, but knowing just that he must find his old horse Colonel. However, Colonel is not the only one in trouble: his neighbours and a young horse with a cut leg also need help.