Misty of Chincoteague
First edition
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| Author | Marguerite Henry |
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| Country | United States |
| Genre | Children's novel, pony book |
| Publisher | Rand McNally |
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Publication date
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1947 |
| Pages | 173 pp. (first ed.) |
| OCLC | 176811 |
| LC Class | PZ10.3.H43 Mg |
| Followed by | "Sea Star: Orphan of Chincoteague" (1949) "Stormy, Misty's Foal" (1963) "Misty's Twilight" (1992) |
Misty of Chincoteague is a children's novel written by Marguerite Henry, illustrated by Wesley Dennis, and published by Rand McNally in 1947. Set in the island town of Chincoteague, Virginia, the book tells the story of the Beebe family and their efforts to raise a filly born to a wild horse. It was one of the runners-up for the annual Newbery Medal, now called Newbery Honor Books. The 1961 film Misty was based on the book.
Misty of Chincoteague begins with an account of the wreck of a Spanish galleon on the shores of Assateague Island off the coast of Virginia. The ponies in the hold of the galleon swim to Assateague and become feral as the years and eventually the centuries pass.
The book then tells the story of two orphan children, Paul and Maureen Beebe, who move in with the grandparents after their parents die. Paul and Maureen work to earn money to buy a Chincoteague pony mare named the Phantom, who has escaped the roundup men on Pony Penning Day for the past two years. Paul and Maureen save enough to buy Phantom, and Paul is able to capture her on the roundup because she is slowed down by her new foal, Misty. However, a man from the mainland buys the pair of ponies for his son before Paul and Maureen can give their money to the fire chief. Paul and Maureen are distressed, but they end up being able to buy Phantom and Misty because the original buyer's son won a colt in the yearly raffle and then decided he didn't need three ponies.
Paul and Maureen eventually break the Phantom to ride, and the next year Paul races her on Pony Penning Day. Phantom wins, but the next day becomes distressed when she sees the herd she once belonged to, led by a stallion called Pied Piper, being released to swim back to Assateague. Paul releases Phantom, and she gallops to join Pied Piper and the herd as they return to freedom on their ancestral island. Misty remains behind with Paul and Maureen.
Misty was inspired by a real-life Chincoteague Pony by the same name. The real-life Misty was foaled in domesticity in 1946, on Chincoteague at the Beebe Ranch, not in the wild on Assateague Island as told in the book. As in the book, however, she was in fact sired by a chestnut pinto stallion named Pied Piper, from a smokey-black pinto dam called Phantom. Although these horses also were domesticated in real life, they too provided inspiration to Henry for the wild ponies portrayed in the novel.
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