The first week in February is Children's Author and Illustrator Week.
There are many equine authors and illustrators, but I thought I'd highlight Walter Farley and
The Black Stallion because 2016 is the
Black Stallion's 75th anniversary. In honor of the anniversary, the publisher is releasing new covers for the books (and they're pretty)! In some of my editions of
The Black Stallion series, the Black is described as being "The most famous fictional horse of the century" and for good reason. Random House published the first novel in 1941 when Farley was 26. It's been in print since, which is a spectacular feat. The series has captivated generations since its release.
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1991 edition |
This was the first copy I got.
Keith Ward illustrated it. His art spanned across numerous subjects, and he was born in 1906 and passed in 2000. The dust jacket has been through hell, but the actual book is still in excellent condition. I found most of the older hardbacks of the series at a yard sale. All of them but this one had pretty much intact dust jackets.
All of the hardbacks of the books have illustrations, but none of the paperbacks I've come across contain any.

Farley was born in New York on June 26, 1915. He wanted a pony when he was small, but lived through his horse filled stories instead until his uncle moved close. From there he entered the world of real horses. He began writing the Black Stallion in High school and finished it before graduating from Columbia University. It was quickly picked up by Random House. The series took off, catching the interest of both boys and girls. Celebration was cut short by WWII because Farley signed up. While active in the army, he also received an award for
The Black Stallion.
He and his wife had four children and they lived on a farm in Pennsylvania. He participated and owned horses.
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1977 Cover |
Breyer has made different versions of The Black. Chris Hess sculpted The Black in the early 80s. Since then, he's been redesigned on the Sham mold, classics, and even a plushie. The one below is the 80s Chris Hess one.
The Black Stallion movie first came out in 1979 and 2014 marked the 35th anniversary of it. In honor of that milestone
Horse Illustrated had a couple of articles written about
The Black Stallion. One was from
Walter Farley's son who got to be on set during the shooting of the movie,
screenwriter Jeanne Rosenberg and the other was Kelly Reno (Alec).
A spin off TV series,
Adventures of The Black Stallion, appeared in the early 90s (from 1990-1993), with Mickey Rooney retaining his role as Henry and Richard Ian Cox as Alec. It's loosely based on the books, but not such a change that you lose the story. I enjoyed it!
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Picture from Amazon |
Farley wrote a shorter verison of
The Black Stallion called
Big Black Horse. It was illustrated by
James Schucker. James Schucker was a versatile artist who was born in 1903 and passed in 1988.
Big Black Horse was originally published in 1953.
It was written with younger readers in mind.
I enjoyed the illustation style.
Falrey died in 1989. In total he wrote 28 books. The last book he wrote was
The Young Black Stallion and he co-wrote it with his son, Steve Farley. Steve Farley has continued The Black's story with
The Black Stallion and the Lost City. I haven't read it, so I have no idea about how it compares to his father's series.
While Walter Farley is no longer with us, his books have left a large print on the hearts of horse loving kids.