Misty of Chincoteague (Misty, #1) (2024)

This was one of those cases when bedtime arrived, and it was time to start a fresh chapter book, but I hadn't visited the library that day, and so pulled a book from my own collection off the shelves. It wasn't one I'd planned on reading aloud because I thought maybe it was too old-fashioned, and the details of the wild pony round-up tradition on Chincoteague Island might be a little esoteric for present-day youth, but it worked out well; another beloved book from my childhood is now beloved of my seven-year-old boy. I'm glad it turns out you don't have to be a girl to love a book about ponies. We're heading South to visit my mom next week, and there in the basem*nt of her house is the old collection of Breyer model horses from when my sisters and I were kids, Misty included. I think the time has come to pass her down to the next generation, chipped ear and broken hoof and all.

My son was gripped by the story, and at one point during the reading, he said, "I hope that the Phantom and Misty are still alive, so I can go to Chincoteague Island and round them up!", and I had to gently explain to him that the book was published in 1947 and ponies generally don't live much more than twenty years. But I told him he was right in thinking that the Phantom and Misty were real. "This is a true story" I told him, "and this is a special copy of this book. Look I have something to show you." I turned to the title page and showed him four penciled signatures. Paul Beebe. Maureen Beebe. Clarence Beebe (Grandpa). Ida V. Beebe (Grandma). "Look, the real characters from the book signed their names here." If there's one thing my son does well, it's that utterly gratifying shiny-eyed "wow" look that makes everything worthwhile. So then I tucked him and his brother in and then went and looked up Misty on Wikipedia -- and promptly wished I hadn't. According to what I read, the real-life story was actually quite different from what's told in the book. But well now, we all know about how unreliable Wikipedia is, right? Obviously someone was messing around with that entry. I'm pretty sure the true story is still between the pages of my special copy. And now I'm off to mapquest to see how feasible a detour to Chincoteague VA is on a trip from NYC to DC.

Marguerite Henry's Misty of Chincoteague novels truly present one of my all time favourite horse-based children's literature series (or rather, the first three books rank amongst my personal favourites, as I really do not at all like the fourth instalment). And as such, I have never been able (or even all that willing for that matter) to write an actual review of the first three books of the series. I did recently pen a very critical review of the fourth book, of Misty's Twilight (which was published decades after the first three novels and does not feature either Misty or the Beebes), but as I rather majorly despise said novel, it has actually not been all that difficult to post not at all laudatory musings and analyses, whilst with the first three instalments of the series, with Misty of Chincoteague, Sea Star: Orphan of Chincoteaque and Stormy, Misty's Foal even writing a review, even starting a review has been and continues to be much more personally daunting. Not only am I well aware of the fact that with the first three Misty books, I am most definitely rather massively and personally positively biased, but also, like with oh so many if not most of my childhood favourite reads, I also tend to have the personal feeling and even the nagging suspicion that any and all interpretations and analyses I might decide to provide will be, at best merely a pale and even perhaps somewhat cracked reflection of the actual work(s), of Marguerite Henry's narrative skills.

However, I do think it is now time to attempt to consider a review of at least the first Misty book, of

Now while Marguerite Henry has created nuanced and realistically developed characters throughout (as even many of the minor characters who make an appearance in

But granted, it is indeed true (and uncomfortably so) that in

Furthermore, as a person whose parents both bred raised riding horses (Trakehners, a German warm-blood breed, to be exact), what has probably always impressed me most with regard to

And when Paul finally does decide to give the Phantom her freedom (when the Pied Piper comes back for her), Grandpa Beebe both praises Paul and tells his grandchildren that giving the Phantom her freedom, allowing her to return to Assaateague is the humane and thus the right thing to do (and both Paul and Maureen do really know this as well, as both have much horse sense and had been for quite some time wondering whether the Phantom, was really as content and as satisfied with her life on the Beebe's ranch as little Misty obviously is). The ending, with the Phantom being given her freedom (and then little Misty basically making her rounds almost as if to comfort Paul, Maureen and the grandfather) is both sad and sweet, both heartbreaking and uplifting and probably one of the main reasons why

Now as to the accompanying illustrations by Wesley Dennis, although they are perhaps not really necessary to understand the story itself, the actual happenings of

Finally (I promise), with

This was one of the earliest books I read on my own, in part because Mom read it to me until I knew it by heart. She's a horse nut & gave me my first pony when I was 5. We then lived on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, not too far from Chincoteague. We went there for the round up one year & I got to put a real place to the book. The 'Paul' in the book was in his early 30's then, as I recall & I supposedly got to meet him. I was pretty young, about 7 or 8 I guess. I was told he was Paul, anyway. I don't think we got to see Misty, but one of her foals or something. Who knows, but the plaque on the stall said so. It was a tourist trap in a lot of ways, even in the 1960s.

Anyway, it was a memorable book, all my kids read them & my wife too. I haven't read it in ages, maybe parts to the kids when they were little, but that's been a couple/few decades, too. I stumbled across this audio version at the library & thought I'd see how it fared both in that format & so many years later. Just fine, thank you very much. It's a true classic.

It bothered me that they kept calling foals "colts". Don't recall that at all & I would have thought it would have really bugged me years ago, too. I guess it's sort of like people calling horses ponies, a general term. Irritating.

I didn't remember Grandpa Bebe's ear hair either. My own hair is now migrating south & my barber spends an inordinate amount of time trimming my ears & eyebrows, so I sympathize with his plight. It was kind of funny in this setting, though. Not at all where I would have expected it.

Highly recommended for young & old. If you haven't read it, you should. If you have a young child, this is a great book to raise them on, so long as you don't mind buying them a pony of their own. There are worse addictions, I suppose. If they truly get the horse bug, they probably won't have the money to indulge in any others.
;)

More than "just" a horse book.

Children have a chance to learn some history and about life in a small, semi-isolated community, and to see what children can accomplish with hard work and patience. I love the theme of freedom & independence. I love the dialect and descriptions that bring the setting alive. I love that it's based on reality.

And I love the tidbits that are sprinkled throughout, for example Grandpa's notion that "Facts are fine, fer as they go, but they're like water bugs skittering atop the water. Legends, now--they go deep down and bring up the heart of a story."

I don't love the sexism, especially Paul's. All in all, this reads younger and simpler than other Henry books, and therefore is, to me, not quite as juicy and re-readable. But I do believe it's *at least* as worthy of the honor as the other selections of 1948.

And I'm glad this story was recognized and popular, helping to ensure the protection of the ponies and other wildlife on Assateague to this day.

And yet... I've no interest in the sequels. Have any of you read, or planned to read, those?

Oh, and let's not forget the expressive, vibrant illustrations. Because of his partnership with Henry, Wesley Dennis was one of the first illustrators I knew by name and reputation, when I was a child.

Oh, btw, I was neither a big fan of horses or historical fiction. So why did I like Henry's stories so much? It must have been because they had both those elements, plus nature & other animals, plus adventure, plus interesting people, plus beautiful writing, all in a graceful balance.

It's a classic children's book for a reason, and yet it didn't wow me as much as it did when I was a kid.

Mostly because the book was less about Misty and more about the Phantom, her mother, which made the title seem so weird to me (even as a kid, I wondered why this book wasn't really all about Misty when it was named after her).

But it's cute and the illustrations are fantastic. The downside is not good depictions of indigenous peoples and a casual embrace of manifest destiny (not to mention some interesting interpretations of history—in that the ponies arrived on Assateague Island before the indigenous peoples did). You're probably going to say, "Laurel, you're reading too much into this," but there is this not-so-dated idea within environmentalism that the wild places need to remain wild and have always been wild, and that it is the white folks' job to ensure that these wild places remain unspoiled (and if they belong to indigenous peoples the land is being wasted/misused in some way)—and as much as I love Marguerite Henry's books, they do tend to promote this idea.

Anywho, if you're reading it for the story, it's cute and showcases small-town Virginia coastal life.