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Glen Rounds

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 - 1927. 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 - 1945 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.


“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.” (Essential Guide to Children’s Books and their Creators)


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

Glen Rounds’ papers are held at the Elmer L Andersen Library, University of Minnesota

Glen Rounds at Librarypoint

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.


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



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.

Bibliography - horse books only

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

Youing 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 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.

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.


The Strawberry Roan

Golden Gate Junior Books, San Carlos, California, 1970, 48 pp


Verses selected and illustrated by Glen Rounds.


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.