About the author
Glen Rounds (1906–2002) was an American author and illustrator. When he was one, he and his family moved in a covered wagon from South Dakota to Montana. He grew up on a ranch, drawing everything he saw, and went to the Kansas City Art Institute from 1926–27. After arriving in New York in 1930, he went to night school at the Art Students’ League. Following a succession of part time jobs, including sign painting, baking and working as a cowboy, Rounds decided to try his luck with publishers. His modus operandi was to arrive around lunchtime; even if the publishers did not use his work (and most then considered his style too coarse) Rounds would generally get a decent lunch out of the encounter. His first book, published in 1936, was Ol’ Paul, the Mighty Logger, which he maintained for some years was based on his time working with Paul Bunyan; he later admitted the stories were made up.
After serving in the US Army from 1941–45 in the coast artillery and infantry, he devoted himself to writing and illustrating full time. He went on to write (and often illustrate as well) many children’s books, frequently inspired by the natural world, and his ranching childhood. Rounds was best known for his Whitey series, about a young cowboy and his cousin Josie: a “realistic depiction of Western life.” His books won numerous awards: the Parents’ Choice Award, six Lewis Carroll Shelf awards, the New York Times Outstanding Book Award, and the Kerlan Award from the University of Minnesota amongst numerous others.
During later life Rounds suffered from severe arthritis, which in 1989 forced him to give up drawing, at least with his right hand. He trained himself to draw with his left, and continued working.
The Essential Guide to Children’s Books and Their Creators said:
He has provided the world of children’s literature with a vast collection of of written and illustrated works – and an appealing collection of heavily outlined, bowlegged characters.
Finding the books
Almost all are easy to find in the USA, and not generally expensive. Whitey and Jinglebob and Whitey and the Blizzard can be more expensive.
Links and sources
Obituary, New York Times, 28 Sept 2002, 3 Oct 2002
Children’s Literature Network (no longer online)
Glen Rounds’ papers are held at the Elmer L Andersen Library, University of Minnesota
Anita Silvey [Ed]: The Essential Guide to Children’s Books and Their Creators, Houghton Mifflin, 2002
Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults, 2002.
Contemporary Authors Online, 2003.
St. James Guide to Children’s Writers, 1999.
Series
The Whitey Series
Whitey Looks for a Job
Pay Dirt
Whitey’s Sunday Horse
Whitey’s First Round Up
Whitey and Jinglebob
Whitey and the Rustlers
Whitey and the Blizzard
Whitey’s New Saddle
Whitey Takes a Trip
Whitey Ropes and Rides
Whitey and the Wild Horse
Whitey and the Colt Killer
Bibliography (horse books only)
Whitey Looks For a Job
Grosset & Dunlap, 1937 (?), 1944, 28 pp
Whitey goes to get a job as a cat skinner at a lumber camp.
Pay Dirt
(Being the Story of how Uncle Torwal and Whitey were Chawed off their Ranch by Grasshoppers and Went up in the Black Hills to Sluice Gold a Spell)
Holiday House, New York, 1938, 148 pp, illus the author
Tales of mining in South Dakota.
The Blind Colt
Holiday House, New York, 1941, unpaginated
Holiday House, New York, 1960, 1990, unpaginated
Scholastic, New York, pb, 1973, 1987
A colt is born blind, but with the help of his mother, he learns to negotiate the
hazards of the wild world.
Whitey’s Sunday Horse
Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 1941, 28 pp
Reprinted 1943
Uncle Torwal says the colt Whitey has picked out for himself is blind. Whitey doesn’t care, and hopes the colt isn’t eaten by wolves before he can tame it. He does tame it, and it becomes his Sunday horse.
Whitey’s First Round Up
Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 1942, 28 pp
Holiday House, New York, 1960, 94 pp
Avon Books New York, 1982, 94 pp
Whitey is excited about going on his first roundup, but his day doesn’t start well when the horse, Spot, won’t be caught, and Whitey has to ride to the round up on his own.
Whitey and Jinglebob
Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 1946, 28 pp
Whitey and his friend try bareback riding at Uncle Torwal’s ranch.
Stolen Pony
Holiday House, New York, 1948, 154 pp
Holiday House, New York, 1969, 96 pp
Scholastic, New York, pb, 1969
Horse thieves steal an Appaloosa, but when they realise he is blind, they leave him and the dog that followed him, to their own devices.
Whitey and the Rustlers
Holiday House, New York, 1951, 32 pp
Whitey and the Blizzard
Holiday House, New York, 1952, 31 pp.
Whitey’s New Saddle
Holiday House, New York, 1951
Holiday House, New York, 1963, 92 pp
Avon Books, New York, 1982, pb
Whitey hopes to sell his cattle so that he can buy a new saddle for Spot, but before he can sell the cattle, rustlers butcher them.
Hunted Horses
Holiday House, New York, 1951, 154 pp
Young Readers’ Press, 1968, pb
A wild Appaloosa stallion guards his herd from the many threats to the wild horse: mountain lions, wolves, and cruellest of all, man.
Whitey Takes a Trip
Holiday House, New York, 1954, 87 pp
Young Readers’ Press, 1967
Avon Books, New York, 1982, pb, 87 pp
Whitey has to deliver a team and wagon to a neighbour, but the horses escape during the night.
Whitey Ropes and Rides
Holiday House, New York, 1956, 90 pp
Young Readers’ Press, 1966
Whitey and his cousin Josie both want to ride in the rodeo, so they practise riding their horses, roping and calf riding.
Whitey and the Wild Horse
Holiday House, New York, 1958, 90 pp
Dell Yearling, 1977
Whitey and his cousin Josie want to catch a wild horse, but they end up finding one who has had his nose wired shut, and who needs their help.
Whitey and the Colt Killer
Holiday House, New York, 1962, 90 pp
Avon Books, New York, 1982, 90 pp
Whitey and Josie start to train a pinto colt which has been attacked by a wolf. They also plot to try and catch the wolf.
Wild Horses of the Red Desert
Holiday House, New York, 1969, 48 pp
Scholastic Book Services, 1971, pb
As Wild Horses (abridged reissue)
First Glance Books, 1993
A band of wild horses are followed as they raise foals, avoid enemies, and try to
survive the rigours of the wild.
The Strawberry Roan
Golden Gate Junior Books, San Carlos, California, 1970, 48 pp
Verses selected and illustrated by Glen Rounds.
Once We Had A Horse
Holiday House, New York, 1971, 63 pp
Holiday House, New York, 1996, unpaginated
This is the story of a brother and sister who try to learn to ride.
Blind Outlaw
Holiday House, New York, 1980, 94 pp
Scholastic, New York, 1980, pb
A mute boy gentles an outlaw horse which is both wild and blind when the two are thrown together one summer.
Wild Appaloosa
Holiday House, New York, 1983, 79 pp
The wild yearling Appaloosa filly is unusually good looking, and catches the eye of both Bert and the wild horse hunters.
