Keith Robertson (1914-1991)

Popular and fairly prolific American author of children's books and murder mysteries. Born in Iowa in 1914. He served in the Navy during the second world war. Afterwards he began to write, with his first book being a horse story about the pony express, TickTock and Jim. He went on to write a number of children's novels, a handful being horse stories, but in the main adevntures/mysteries. His most well-known were the Henry Reed series about an enterprising young entrepreneur and solver of mysteries. Two books in the series won awards. The author also wrote adult murder mysteries under the name of Carlton Keith

Horse & Pony Books:

TICKTOCK AND JIM
aka TICKTOCK AND JIM: DEPUTY SHERRIFS (Junior Literary Guild edition)
(WINSTON [USA] 1948)
ILLUSTRATED BY WESLEY DENNIS
Reprinted by Junior Literary Guild in 1949 with expanded title and new illustrations by Everett Stahl
Reprinted in hardback by Grosset & Dunlap as part of their Famous Horse Stories series, with the original title and original illustrations
Now also available as a print on demand edition
EDITIONS PICTURED: Winston reprint, Famous Horse Stories edition
SUMMARY: Historical pony story. Pony Express rider Jim and his horse Ticktock are drawn into a mystery...

LONESOME SORREL
(WINSTON [USA] 1952)
ILLUSTRATED BY TAYLOR OUGHTON
Reprinted by the Junior Literary Guild
EDITION PICTURED: Junior Literary Guild edition
SUMMARY: Cliff and the horse Cinnamon form a surprising bond.

PHANTOM RIDER
(VIKING [USA] 1955)
ILLUSTRATED BY JACK WEAVER
Reprinted in hardback by original publishers
There was also a German edition
EDITION PICTURED: 1st edition
SUMMARY: Is the phantom rider who races at night the ghost of a girl from the American Revolution?

IF WISHES WERE HORSES
(HARPER [USA] 1958)
ILLUSTRATED BY PAUL KENNEDY
Reprinted in paperback by Harper Trophy in 1967
EDITION PICTURED: 1st edition, Harper trophy paperback edition
SUMMARY: Stephen McGowan, recently orphaned, did not know what to expect when he arrived in Iowa to live with his aunt and uncle. Then he discovered the joyous world of horses at his uncle's livery stable, and he felt a sense of freedom and excitement he had never experienced before. But there were problems between Steve and his aunt; she resented him and made trouble for him whenever she could. Steve did his best to cope with the situation, but suddenly the trouble between them took a serious turn...

Collector's Info:
All fairly easy to find in the USA. No British editions and on the whole they are quite hard to find here, and indeed anywhere else other than America. There was however a German edition of Phantom Rider published.