About the author
Bessie Holland Heck has written several ranch-themed books for children. Two of them, as far as I’m aware, are horse books. I’ve not been able to track any biographical information down about the author, so if anyone can help, I would be deeply grateful.
Finding the books
Neither book is expensive, though Cactus Kevin is the easier of the two to find. Neither were published in the UK.
Links and sources
Terri A. Wear: Horse Stories, an Annotated Bibliography, Scarecrow Press, 1987
The De Grummond collection hold some of Bessie Holland Heck’s papers
Many thanks to Lisa Catz for the photographs and the summaries.
Bibliography (horse books only)
Cactus Kevin
World, 1965, 157 pp, illus Lorence Bjorklund
“Kevin has several mishaps after his family moves to their new ranch, and he fears that he will never earn the right to own a horse, especially a horse like the palomino Jim.”
Golden Arrow
Scribner, New York, 1981, 136 pp, illus Charles Robinson
“Randy offers to work on his grandfather’s farm, so that he can earn enough money to buy a motorcycle, but after spending some time with the pregnant palomino mare Goldie, he decides that he’d rather run a palomino horse ranch than be a professional motorcycle racer.”
