About the author
Emma Lillian Brock (1886–1974) was born on June 11, 1886, in Fort Shaw, Montana. She studied at the University of Minnesota, and at the Minneapolis School of Art. She wrote 36 books, many of which she also illustrated. Her Kristie series is about a mare with a mind of her own. She will not be ridden, will only pull a cart, and won’t pull that unless she has a hat on. The first title, Here Comes Kristie, was made into both a sound book and a television programme.
Finding the books
All of Emma L Brock’s horse titles are reasonably easy to find. Very good copies of the Kristie titles which are not ex-library can be expensive. None of the horse titles were published in the UK.
Links and sources
Terri A. Wear: Horse Stories, an Annotated Bibliography, Scarecrow Press, 1987
The De Grummond collection holds some of Emma L Brock’s papers
Many thanks to Lisa Catz and Susan Bourgeau for all their help with this section.
Series
Kristie
Here Comes Kristie
Kristie and the Colt, and Others
Kristie’s Buttercup
Kristie Goes to the Fair
(Good Old Kristie)
Bibliography (horse books only)
Here Comes Kristie
A A Knopf, New York, 1942, 80 pp, illus the author
Mercury Sound Book, 1957
Erik and Einer have saved up their money so they can buy a horse. They finally make it, and they buy a horse. Kristie, however, is not what they expect. Kristie will not be ridden. She can only be driven, and only with a hat on her head, and she only turns one way. Left.
Kristie and the Colt, and the Others
Knopf, New York, 1949, 88 pp, illus the author
This book is a collection of three short stories: in one Kristie takes a dislike to the new colt
Erik and Einer get for their birthday.
Kristie’s Buttercup
Knopf, New York, 1952, 86 pp, illus the author
Elmer and Einer sell their little black filly Little K so they can buy a cow, a black and white
Holstein, for their mother. Kristie immediately takes a liking to the heifer.
Kristie Goes to the Fair
Knopf, New York, 1953, 84 pp, illus the author
Reprinted as Good Old Kristie
Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York, 1964, 42 pp, illus Frank Aloise
Elmer and Einer decide to take their pig to the fair in Kristie’s cart. Kristie has chewed her
hat up, and she won’t move a step without it on….
Plug-Horse Derby
Knopf, New York, 1955, 121 pp, illus the author
Nancy’s one complaint about living on the farm is that nothing different ever happened. Sooner than she dreamed something wonderful did happen. There was to be a Plug-Horse Derby at the State Fair, and Nancy’s own Plow Boy, unglamorous work horse that he was, qualified on all counts.
Patty on Horseback
Knopf, New York, 1959, 79 pp, illus the author
Reprinted 1961 and 1963
Patty works very hard to earn money for a horse, but when she wins a competition for a horse, the one she wins is a colt who is far too young to be ridden.