Wildwing

by Phoebe Erickson

From inside the cover flap:
"Bronze Feather, a young Arapahoe Indian, was shocked and angry when he first saw the white man's method of rounding up horses. The low-flying airplane, and its sirens screaming, terrified the horses. It sent them on a mad chase ahead of the sound, and many of the crazed horses died from exhaustion before they could be corralled.
So it seemed more than justifiable to Bronze Feather to keep the tiny orphaned colt, abandoned by the fleeing horses, instead of turning him over to the party of wranglers. The boy hoped to train the colt with kindness, as his grandfather had once trained wild horses in the days before white men and airplanes appeared on the Wyoming desert. But the colt sickened in captivity, and because he loved it, Bronze Feather returned Wildwing to the herd.
This story of how Bronze Feather eventually gains the trust and love of Wildwing, and comes to realize there is good in both the old and the new ways, is rich and rewarding reading. Phoebe Erickson's many pictures add life and flavor to the words."

Genres: Animals, Childrens

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Phoebe Erickson began illustrating books for children in 1937 when she came to New York from Chicago. In 1945 she started writing books as well as illustrating them.

The twelfth of thirteen children, Miss Erickson was born in Door County Peninsula, Wisconsin. She attended the Chicago Art Institute where she studied design and painting.

Phoebe Erickson was born November 23, 1907 in North Bay, Wisconsin. She grew up on a farm where the love of animals and nature would serve as inspirations for many of her illustrations and stories. Phoebe Erickson attended the Chicago Art Institute from 1931-1933 and studied at Columbia University in New York.

She began writing and illustrating children's books in the 1940s, publishing Black Penny, a story of a young girl and a horse, in 1946. Phoebe Erickson also illustrated a number of other authors' work, including several of Thornton Burgess' animal stories for young children, Anna Sewell's classic Black Beauty and Felix Salten's Bambi's Children. Phoebe Erickson worked in a variety of media and her illustrations are noted for the accurate detail and loving depictions of animals and nature.

While she wrote and illustrated primarily to entertain and interest young readers, Phoebe Erickson believed that her books conveyed a message that could be felt by children, such as the cruelty of steel traps evident in Daniel 'Coon, and that they could understand this best when the message isn't forced or blatant. Phoebe Erickson also believed that young readers want characters in books, especially the children, to be realistic not "goody-goodies" so they can identify with them and their problems. Her stories try to convey these beliefs along with her respect for nature and all life, and that caring for any creature demands responsibility and respect.

Reviews

[Rena Sherwood]

Decades ago, I found this hardback in a used-book sale. I wasn't too impressed with it, although I think Wildwing is a really cool name for a horse and it showed Native Americans in a positive light. Other than that, I have no memory of it. Didn't make that much of an impression, I guess.

Cover image: very yellow buckskin foal on a white background and a boy standing in the background.

[M Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has that "Old-Timey" writing style which was just simpler, easier to read, and didn't elaborate and describe to death. Don't understand why the family wouldn;t have been more upset over the low-down car deal, though.

[Iris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really sad and happy. i really, really liked it.