Barbara Ninde Byfield facts for kids
Barbara Ninde Byfield (born Barbara Ninde on March 28, 1930, in Abilene, Texas; died November 8, 1988, in Leland, Michigan) was an American writer and artist. She was known for writing and illustrating her own books. She also created drawings for books by other authors.
Contents
Early Career and Unique Books
Barbara Ninde married Hugh W. Byfield in 1956. Her first book came out in 1962. It was called The Eating in Bed Cook Book. She also drew all the pictures for it.
In 1967, she wrote and illustrated another interesting book. It was titled The Glass Harmonica: A Lexicon of the Fantastical. This book was later re-released in 1973. Its new title was The Book of Weird. This change happened because the original book only briefly mentioned the glass harmonica.
Adventures for Young Readers
In 1969, Barbara Byfield started writing books especially for young people. These books were part of a popular series. The first one was called The Haunted Spy.
The Haunted Spy Series
The Haunted Spy introduced a fun character. He was a retired spy named Hannibel Stern. Hannibel moved to a castle on an island. He brought his loyal dog, Zero, with him.
In the castle, Hannibel made a new friend. This friend was a ghost named Sir Roger de Rudisell. Sir Roger was 400 years old! He often gave Hannibel advice.
The series continued with more exciting adventures:
- The Haunted Churchbell (1971)
- The Haunted Ghost (1973)
- The Haunted Tower (1976)
Other Mystery Stories
Barbara Byfield also worked with another writer, Frank Tedeschi. Together, they wrote four mystery adventures. These stories featured a detective named Rev. Dr. Simon Bede. His partner was a photographer named Helen Bullock.
Their investigations were told in these books:
- Solemn High Murder (1975)
- Forever Wilt Thou Die (1976)
- A Harder Thing Than Triumph (1977)
- A Parcel of Their Fortunes (1978)
Illustrations for Other Authors
Besides writing her own books, Barbara Byfield was a talented illustrator. She drew pictures for many books by other authors.
Some of these books include:
- Donald Hutter's Upright Hilda (1968)
- Harvey Swados' The Mystery of the Haunted Mine (1971)
- William H. Armstrong's Hadassah: Esther the Orphan Queen (1972)
- Herb Caen's The Cable Car and the Dragon (1972)
