Marguerite Henry was a renowned American author, best known for her children's books that revolved around animal themes, with a particular focus on horses. She was born in 1902 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was the youngest daughter of Anna and Louis Breithaupt, who owned a publishing business. This early exposure to the publishing world sparked her interest in writing and reading from a young age. Despite growing up in the city, Henry developed a deep fondness for animals, which is evident in her writings.
Henry's health was a significant challenge during her childhood, as she contracted rheumatic fever at the age of six, which kept her bedridden until she was twelve. This isolation led her to discover the joy of reading, and her father, a publisher, further encouraged her writing pursuits by giving her a writing desk for Christmas. By the age of eleven, she had sold her first article to a magazine. Her love for animals, particularly horses, was reflected in her writings, which often featured dogs, cats, birds, foxes, and mules, among other creatures.
In 1947, Henry published her first novel, "Misty of Chincoteague," which was the first in the series of "Misty" novels. Over the course of her career, she authored fifty-nine books, many of which were based on true stories of horses and other animals. Her work has captivated generations of children and young adults and has earned several Newbery Awards and Honors. Her love for horses remained a constant source of inspiration for her, as she once stated in an article published in the Washington Post, "Although a riding horse often weighs half a ton and a big drafter a full ton, either can be led about by a piece of string if he has been wisely trained. This to me is a constant source of wonder and challenge".
Henry's husband, Sidney Crocker Henry, and she were married for sixty-four years and shared their home with many pets that inspired some of her stories. She passed away in 1997, leaving behind a vast collection of touching and exciting stories that continue to be widely read.