Walter Farley Books in Order
Browse Walter Farley books in order, with quick summaries, Black Stallion reading guides, Little Black series notes, and easy help on where to start.
Last updated: June 8, 2026
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Publication Order
28 books
The Black Stallion
by Walter Farley
1941
Young Alec Ramsay survives a shipwreck and is stranded on an island with a wild black stallion. Their fight to stay alive becomes the start of one of children's literature's great boy and horse friendships.
The Black Stallion Returns
by Walter Farley
1945
When men come for the Black, Alec learns one wants the horse dead and another claims him by right. To get him back, Alec follows the stallion to Arabia and into danger far beyond the racetrack.
Son of the Black Stallion
by Walter Farley
1947
Alec thinks the Black's first son is a dream come true, until the fierce colt proves nearly impossible to handle. To win Satan's trust, Alec must risk getting closer to a horse bred for speed and violence.
The Island Stallion
by Walter Farley
1948
On a remote Caribbean dig, Steve Duncan discovers a huge wild stallion hidden on Azul Island. Saving the horse from quicksand is only the first step in earning Flame's trust.
The Black Stallion and Satan
by Walter Farley
1949
Alec finally has the Black back, but another legend is waiting, the Black's own son, Satan. A showdown between the two stallions turns deadly when a forest fire sends them racing for their lives.
The Black Stallion's Blood Bay Colt
by Walter Farley
1950
Young Tom Messenger helps raise Bonfire, the Black's blood bay colt, while aging driver Jimmy Creech bets his comeback on the horse. It's a harness racing story about patience, skill, and a colt with real champion promise.
The Island Stallion's Fury
by Walter Farley
1951
Steve and Pitch are the only ones who know the hidden valley where Flame's wild herd lives. When Tom discovers the place and tries to seize it, the boys must protect both the island and the horses.
The Black Stallion's Filly
by Walter Farley
1952
Everyone dismisses Black Minx, the Black's first filly, but Alec sees something special in her. Training her for Churchill Downs means balancing speed, nerves, and a stubborn mind very much like her father's.
The Black Stallion Revolts
by Walter Farley
1953
After the Black attacks another horse, Alec takes him west for room and freedom. Then an accident leaves Alec without his memory and the stallion alone in the canyon, pulled back toward the wild.
The Black Stallion's Sulky Colt
by Walter Farley
1954
Bonfire is headed for the Hambletonian until a violent crash leaves him frightened of the track. Alec steps in to help the harness colt recover and prove he can live up to the Black's name.
The Island Stallion Races
by Walter Farley
1955
Steve Duncan wants the world to see how fast Flame can run, even if the stallion has never truly been broken. The racetrack offers glory, money, and trouble that Steve may not be ready for.
The Black Stallion's Courage
by Walter Farley
1956
When Hopeful Farm burns, Alec needs money to rebuild and a new star named Eclipse is stealing the spotlight. Saving the farm means asking the Black to prove, one more time, that champions do not fade quietly.
The Black Stallion Mystery
by Walter Farley
1957
A deadly trap tells Alec that someone is after him and the Black. A startling clue then sends Alec and Henry to Spain, where the search for the Black's sire becomes a tense mystery.
The Horse-Tamer
by Walter Farley
1958
While waiting out a delayed flight, Henry Dailey tells Alec a story from his own youth. It follows Henry and his gifted brother Bill as they expose a cruel fake horse-tamer in an earlier American world.
The Black Stallion and Flame
by Walter Farley
1960
A plane crash strands Alec and the Black in the Caribbean and brings them back to Flame's island. Two proud stallions must stop fighting long enough to face a new threat to the herd.
Little Black, a Pony
by Walter Farley
1961
A little boy adores his pony, Little Black, until a bigger horse seems more exciting. Then a frightening accident shows him which horse has been truly loyal all along.
Man O'War
by Walter Farley
1962
Farley turns the life of the great Thoroughbred Man o' War into a fast, readable story. From his early promise to racing fame, the book blends real history with the momentum of a novel.
Big Black Horse
by Walter Farley
1963
This shorter retelling of The Black Stallion keeps the shipwreck, the island, and the bond between Alec and the wild horse. It's an easier entry point for younger readers who want the classic story.
Little Black Goes to the Circus
by Walter Farley
1963
Little Black tries his luck with circus ponies and makes a shaky first impression. With his young master's encouragement, the small pony gets another chance to show what he can really do.
The Black Stallion Challenged
by Walter Farley
1964
Alec and Steve Duncan bring the Black and Flame together for the race everyone wants to see. Speed is only part of the problem, because these stallions have met before and they hate each other.
The Horse That Swam Away
by Walter Farley
1965
Tim and his mare Tena love running the Florida beach and playing near the surf. When Tena follows a porpoise out to sea, the chase leads Tim into danger and an unexpected new friendship.
The Great Dane Thor
by Walter Farley
1966
Lars Newton has little use for his father's huge Great Dane, Thor, until trouble in the winter woods changes everything. A quiet outdoors story turns tense as boy, dog, and danger finally collide.
Little Black Pony Races
by Walter Farley
1968
When his brother's horse cannot race, a boy enters Little Black in the county fair instead. The small pony gets a bad start, but heart and loyalty count for plenty once the race begins.
The Black Stallion's Ghost
by Walter Farley
1969
While riding through the Everglades, Alec meets a strange man mounted on a ghostly gray mare. Curiosity turns to fear as Alec and the Black are drawn into a dangerous chase through the swamp.
The Black Stallion and the Girl
by Walter Farley
1971
Hopeful Farm needs help, and Pam Athena seems too slight to matter until Alec sees her work with the horses. Soon she is changing life at the farm, and even the Black lowers his guard around her.
Walter Farley's How To Stay Out Of Trouble With Your Horse
by Walter Farley
1981
Farley steps away from fiction to offer clear, practical horse sense for young riders. It's a straightforward guide to handling, riding, and staying safe around horses before small mistakes become serious trouble.
The Black Stallion Legend
by Walter Farley
1983
Grieving and restless, Alec leaves Hopeful Farm and wanders the Arizona desert with the Black. A Native American prophecy, and a sudden disaster from the sky, give the pair a challenge far bigger than any race.
The Young Black Stallion
by Walter Farley
1989
This prequel tells the Black's story before Alec ever meets him. Born in Sheikh Abu Ishak's mountain stronghold, the young colt escapes robbers and must learn to survive alone in the wild.
Where should I start?
For the classic Alec and Black story: The Black Stallion → The Black Stallion Returns → Son of the Black Stallion
If you want Steve Duncan and Flame: The Island Stallion → The Island Stallion's Fury → The Island Stallion Races → The Black Stallion Challenged
For younger horse lovers: Little Black, a Pony → Little Black Goes to the Circus → Little Black Pony Races
If you want a stand-alone about real racing history: Man O'War
Author bio
Walter Farley was born in Syracuse, New York, on June 26, 1915. His family later moved to New York City, so he grew up far from the kind of open horse country that fills his books. Still, horses were part of his life early. Farley spent time around his uncle's stables in Syracuse, watching different kinds of horses being handled and trained. He never owned a horse as a boy, but he learned how much difference there was between a runner, a jumper, and a trotter, and he carried that detail into his fiction.
That was his real classroom.
Farley began writing The Black Stallion while he was a student at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, and he kept working on it at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania. He finished the novel at Columbia College, where he earned his degree in 1941. The book was published that same year, when he was just 26. Readers responded right away to the shipwreck, the desert island, and the startling connection between Alec Ramsay and the wild black horse.
He had found his subject.
What readers still like about Farley's books is easy to see. The Black Stallion, The Black Stallion Returns, and Son of the Black Stallion move fast, but they never feel rushed. The races matter, yet the horse always matters more. The animals in his books are never decorations. They have tempers, fears, and wills of their own. Later books such as The Island Stallion and The Black Stallion and Flame widen the world with new boys, new horses, and bigger settings. Even Man O'War, his novel about the great real-life racehorse, has the same pull: speed, danger, and a deep respect for the animal at the center of the story.
World War II interrupted that work. Farley served with the U.S. Army's 4th Armored Division and worked as a reporter for Yank, an army publication. After the war he returned to the Black Stallion books and kept building the series for decades. Again and again he came back to the same tensions: wildness and trust, freedom and training, boys who are still figuring themselves out, and horses that cannot be treated like machines. His stories roam from racetracks to deserts to swamps to islands, but the emotional core stays steady.
Farley and his wife, Rosemary, raised four children, Pam, Alice, Steven, and Tim. Family life shaped the later books. He wrote for younger readers too, with titles like Little Black, a Pony, and he even wrote a practical safety book for riders. Near the end of his life he worked with his son Steven on The Young Black Stallion, a prequel that turns back to the Black's earliest days. The books feel lived in because, in many ways, they were written around a real family life with horses always close by in imagination and routine.
Farley's work reached far beyond the page. The Black Stallion was adapted into film, and more screen versions and a television series followed. He died on October 16, 1989, in Venice, Florida, shortly before The Young Black Stallion was published. By then he had spent almost fifty years giving young readers stories that were direct, exciting, and full of motion. If you loved horse books as a kid, or wished you did, there is a good chance Walter Farley was waiting for you there.
Edited by
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