marguerite henry ("" breithaupt; april 13, 1902 – november 26, 1997) was an american writer of children's books, writing fifty-nine books based on true stories of horses and other animals. she won the newbery medal for one of her books about horses and she was a runner-up for two others. one of the latter, "misty of chincoteague" (1947), was the basis for several sequels and for the 1961 movie "misty".