henry won the annual newbery medal from the american library association in 1949, recognizing "king of the wind: the story of the godolphin arabian" as the year's "most distinguished contribution to american literature for children". she had been a runner-up for "justin morgan had a horse" in 1946 and "misty of chincoteague" in 1948. "brighty of the grand canyon" was given the william allen white children's book award in 1956. in 1960, "black gold" won the sequoyah book award. "gaudenzia: pride of the palio" was awarded the clara ingram judson award for children's literature in 1961. "misty of chincoteague" was named to the lewis carroll shelf award list in 1961. "mustang, wild spirit of the west" received the 1967 western heritage award for outstanding juvenile book and the 1970 sequoyah book award.