Wesley Dennis

About Wesley Dennis

Wesley Dennis (1903-1966) was an American illustrator best known for his horse pictures in Marguerite Henry's children's books, including Misty of Chincoteague and the Newbery Medal winner King of the Wind. He was born on 16 May 1903 in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and died there in September 1966; sources differ on whether the date was the 3rd or the 5th.

Dennis grew up on a Cape Cod farm and left school at 17, working in Boston for department stores and the Boston American newspaper. He later studied horse anatomy in France under Lowes Dalbiac Luard. From 1941 his main home was a farm at Warrenton, Virginia. Over his career he illustrated more than 150 books.

His partnership with Henry began in 1945, when she sent him the manuscript of Justin Morgan Had a Horse, published in 1945. Their work together lasted about twenty years and produced close to twenty books, among them Misty of Chincoteague (1947), King of the Wind (1948), Sea Star, Orphan of Chincoteague (1949), Brighty of the Grand Canyon (1953), Stormy, Misty's Foal (1963) and White Stallion of Lipizza (1964). Justin Morgan Had a Horse and Misty of Chincoteague were Newbery runners-up, and King of the Wind won the 1949 Newbery Medal. Henry reportedly split her royalties with him. He also illustrated John Steinbeck's The Red Pony (1945) and a 1946 Black Beauty, and wrote picture books of his own, starting with Flip (1941).

For collectors: Rand McNally issued the American firsts of Misty of Chincoteague (1947) and King of the Wind (1948); Justin Morgan Had a Horse also exists in a revised 1954 edition with his art, and Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin (1947) came from Bobbs-Merrill. Simon & Schuster began deluxe hardback reissues with his cleaned-up art in 2014. Some of his drawings were dropped from later paperback printings, so the early hardbacks carry the fullest sets of his art. Dennis sold most of his original artwork during his lifetime.