Bonnie Bryant facts for kids
Barbara "Bonnie" Bryant Hiller (born in New York, New York, in 1946) is an American author. She is famous for writing many children's and young adult books. She is best known for creating The Saddle Club horse book series. These books were published from 1988 to 2001. She also wrote books using the name B. B. Hiller.
Contents
The Saddle Club Books
The Saddle Club books are about the exciting adventures of three friends: Lisa Atwood (13 years old), Stephanie "Stevie" Lake (12 years old), and Carole Hanson (12 years old). They all live and ride horses in a made-up town called Willow Creek, Virginia. In these books, the girls never get older, even though there are 101 main books, 7 special editions, and 3 "Inside Stories."
Bonnie Bryant shared in a newsletter that she started writing The Saddle Club in 1986. An editor at Bantam Books, named Judy, suggested the idea. Judy knew that many kids loved horses and wanted new horse stories. She also knew Bonnie loved horses, so she brought them together. That's how The Saddle Club began! At first, only four books were planned. But so many readers loved them that Bonnie kept writing more.
To see all the titles in this series, you can check out this list.
Pony Tails: A Younger Series
Pony Tails is a spin-off series that Bonnie Bryant also wrote. It's made for younger readers who are just starting to read chapter books. This series follows three eight-year-old friends: May Grover, Corinne "Corey" Takamura, and Jasmine James. They also ride horses at Pine Hollow, just like the Saddle Club girls. The first Pony Tails book came out in 1995, and the last one was published in 1998.
The pictures on the covers of the Pony Tails books were made by Robert Brown and Fredericka Ribes. Marcy Ramsey drew the pictures inside the books.
For a full list of Pony Tails titles, see this list.
Pine Hollow: For Older Teens
Pine Hollow is another spin-off series by Bonnie Bryant. These books are for older teen readers. They feature Carole, Lisa, and Stevie from The Saddle Club, along with some new friends. This series takes place four years after the events of The Saddle Club. Unlike The Saddle Club, the Pine Hollow series follows a more realistic timeline. The whole series happens over less than a year. It focuses on the Saddle Club girls as teenagers.
The first book in the Pine Hollow series was published in 1998. The last book, Full Gallop, came out in 2001. Even though a few Saddle Club books were published after Full Gallop, Full Gallop is the last book in the Willow Creek world in terms of story order.
To find a complete list of Pine Hollow titles, you can visit this list.
The Saddle Club Television Show
In 2001, a TV show based on The Saddle Club books was made in Australia. The show was also called The Saddle Club. As of November 2010, three seasons of the show had been aired.
Who Wrote the Books?
Like many popular book series that have a lot of books, The Saddle Club eventually had other writers help out. This is called ghostwriting. Bonnie Bryant wrote at least 101 The Saddle Club books, six Pony Tails books, and two Pine Hollow books herself. Other writers who helped with The Saddle Club and Pine Hollow books include Caitlin Macy, Catherine Hapka, Sallie Bissell, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Helen Geraghty, Tina deVaron, Cat Johnston, Minna Jung, and Sheila Prescott-Vessey.
Other Books by Bonnie Bryant
Bonnie Bryant also wrote many books that are based on movies. These are called novelizations. Some of the movies she wrote books for include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Karate Kid (and its follow-up movies), Bingo, and Honey, I Blew Up the Kid. She wrote these under her married name, B. B. Hiller. She also wrote the book for Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.
Bonnie Bryant also helped write a book in The Baby-sitters Club series. It was called Super Special #14: BSC in the USA. This book was published under the name of the series creator, Ann M. Martin.
Bonnie Bryant's Life
Bonnie Bryant was born in New York City. Her parents were Emmons and Metzer S. "Mary" Bryant. She grew up in New York City and then moved to Wisconsin to go to Lawrence University. There, she met her husband, Neil W. Hiller. Bonnie worked on the campus newspaper, where Neil was the editor.
After college, Bonnie worked for a publishing company. In 1986, she left that job to become a full-time writer. She and Neil had two sons, Emmons and Andrew "Andy" Hiller. Neil Hiller passed away in 1989. Many of Bonnie's books are dedicated to him. She later dated Irving Gottesman for about seven years, until he passed away in 2007. Irving had two children from a previous marriage, Max and Alice Gottesman.
Bonnie Bryant has two sisters, Penelope "Penny" Bryant Carey, and Molly Bryant, who has also passed away. Bonnie Bryant now lives in Greenwich Village, New York.
