Brighty of the Grand Canyon

Brighty of the Grand Canyon is a children’s novel from 1953, written by Marguerite Henry. Now viewed as a classic of American children’s literature, it tells the adventures of a little donkey (or as the Spanish say, burro) who blazed trails through the Grand Canyon, had many adventures and met many famous people in the process. It is loosely based on a real life donkey, who was first seen around 1890.The novel begins as Brighty, a wild donkey, made friends with a prospector, “Old Timer”, [...]

I first discovered Newberry Medal winning author Marguerite Henry when I was in the third grade. You know, shortly after the Ark made landfall. As a dyed-in-the-stable horse lover, I read just about everything this remarkably talented “horse writer” ever wrote: King of the Wind, Black Gold, Justin Morgan Had a Horse, Misty of Chincoteague. To name a few. Last week I came across a recently re-released paperback version of Henry’s well-loved historical novel, Brighty of the Grand Canyon. I c [...]

This was one of my very favorite books when I was a child. I recently spotted it at a library sale and purchased it for my neighbor's little girl. Before giving it to her, I decided to reread it and it held up very well to these adult eyes!

I read one book by Marguerite Henry when I was a kid, Black Gold, and loved it. When I was at the Grand Canyon and saw this book for sale I just had to get it as a momento. If I were still a kid I would probably have loved it. As an adult I thought it was cute but certainly not very compelling. Thus, the 3 star rating is halfway between my adult rating and what I suspect I would have given it as a kid.

I last read this book as a fourth grader many years ago. When I found it in the Grand Canyon visitor's center last week, I couldn't resist reading it again. Despite its age, this book is such a dear story, and the attention to history, landscape and environment is inspiring. Perhaps I'll rediscover more of Mrs. Henry's books - Misty of Chincoteague, King of the Wind, etc.

Okay, this probably only would have gotten three stars from me if I weren't in the middle of a mad love affair with the Grand Canyon, but it's so perfectly evocative of what it's like to be there, with the stark cliffs and rushing river and the way mountain lions leap into your path. I especially appreciated the level of detail given to my nemesis, the bridge over the Colorado River.

I had an old 1953 copy of this book when I was little, god-knows where it is now but I loved its stunning black-and-white illustrations, vibrant characters, rural scenery and adventurous plot. This is definitely a great animal story and I highly recommend it.

After I started reading this, I realized I read this before when I was younger. Delightful story of Brighty the donkey that lived at the Grand Canyon!

I'm not even going to try to come up with a "first read" date because this is just one of those deep childhood favorites that I don't even remember reading for a "first time." It just always was.Brighty is adorable. I had no idea that he was a real burro, and he really did meet Teddy Roosevelt. Add Brighty to the list my childhood animal heroes who really existed - and who have monuments! One day I'll go on a trek to see Balto's and Brighty's statues. This book is far more intense than I remembe [...]

This may be the book where it all began. To this day, I recall reading along when suddenly, Brighty's own perspective leapt off the page and into my impressionable mind. The burro thought the man who packed his saddle bags a fool — the load woefully unbalanced, all off to one side. Ho ho! The intuitive powers of an intimate understanding trump the know-it-all nature of a grown man! This spoke to me deeply. Instantly in love, I was from that moment forever in search of stories written from an a [...]

I love this book and still have my copy that my dad bought me. He got it for me because I loved horses but I owned a burro. It was one of my all time favorite reads. I must have read this book 5 times or more. I even spent a summer reading it to my burro Daniel. Im not sure he appreicated what I was trying to share but he always stayed and listend

Light reading about a rascal burro living in the Grand Canyon. Good books compel us to actionis book has sparked an interest in hiking the Grand Canyon. I have added this activity to my bucket list!

Aw, shucks. Who wouldn't love a story about a funny, bright lovable little critter like Brighty? Marguerite Henry is surely guilty of anthropomorphism, but just as surely she knows her equines. I find the burro a little more believable than the human characters, actually.

By the end, we all loved Brighty. Full review here: sunlitpages/2018/01/wh

Reread of a childhood favorite after finding a boxed set of them at Costco. Still as delightful as when I was a kid.

A very simple story, yet very engaging. I found myself joining Brighty in the canyons and the mesasfeeling his joy in his freedom & friendships, and experiencing his adventures. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

HIS FREE SPIRIT STILL ROAMS THE GRAND CANYONSet in the Grand Canyon during Teddy Roosevelt's presidency this charming tale introduces readers to an unlikely animal protagonist: a wild burro who lives alone, but has been partially tamed by kind men. Rescued first by the Old Timer, then from a cougar's wounds by the North Rim's resident lion-killer, Brighty experiences the gamut of human behavior toward animals and each other: from the absurd, the selfish, the ambitious, and even the criminal. As [...]

Henry is well known for her children’s book focusing on horses and other animals. This was one of my favorites as a child.Bright Angel was a wild burro named for the creek along which he made his home. In the early 1900s he befriended tourists and naturalists who visited what was to become our 17th National Park – The Grand Canyon. He had a sixth sense about people’s characters and would kick at or run from anyone he deemed unfriendly or a threat. But he was gentle with children and helped [...]

I first learned about Brighty from Cleveland Amory in his Save the Burros of the Grand Canyon campaign. It was this introduction that has intrigued me to someday read the story about Brighty to learn about him and it was just plain luck my sister me this story. For anyone who has read any of the Misty stories Marguerite Henry continues with her own style of writing. The reading is to-the-point, entertaining and a bit on the dry side as the book gets a bit lengthier. But for the dryness of the pl [...]

Marguerite Henry made her career on writing novelizations of the lives of famous equines and other animals (dogs mostly). Of her 59 books I've only read Brighty of the Grand Canyon.Brighty the burro was named for Bright Angel Point on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. There is a statue of him at the Grand Canyon Lodge which you can snarf. He helped build the modern day trails and was known by President Teddy Roosevelt.Although I love the Grand Canyon and its history, both times I've tried readi [...]

Mom read this book to almost 10 year old and almost 8 year old. This is adventures of a burro in the Grand Canyon during the days when President Teddy Roosevelt hunted lion there. Spoiler alert: There is some peril. A human friend of the burro mysteriously disappears and is suspected murdered. The bad guy is not found for many years. Also, the burro is engaged several times in fights (2 mountain lions, one during a hunt. The other is another burro jack showdown fight for the female burros). Thes [...]

Brighty will take you on an exciting journey through this book. It is about a burro (a boy donkey)named Brighty. He was named that because he almost drowned in a river that gos through the Grand Canyon called Bright Angel Creek but a canyon man nick named Old Timer saved him. Once a year they had this reunion in the canyon, where Old Timer would make Pancakes and they both enjoyed there dinner. When night came there was a beaver trapper named, Jake Irons that decided to have dinner with them and [...]

I read this book with Brennan. It had a unique story line for a children's book. A gem miner is murdered in the Grand Canyon, leaving behind his donkey companion. The donkey, Brighty, is based on a real donkey that roamed the Grand Canyon. I will always remember that while we were reading this book, my son and I stayed in my sister-in-law's parents' mountain house. In the bedroom of the mountain house was a picture of my SIL's mother with friends standing outside Bright Angel Lodge at the Grand [...]

Brighty of the Grand Canyon was a book I remembered from my childhood. I did not read it then but I knew the name, so when I found it at a thrift store, I just knew I wanted it. I LOVED it, I loved the smell of the old book and I LOVED the story about a feisty little burro that calls the Grand Canyon his home. On top of Brighty's every day adventures there is also a murder and about how Brighty helps to catch a killer. While this book is geared to young readers it definitely can hold an adult's [...]

4 stars. This childhood favorite of mine holds up well, capturing a palpable sense of excitement and danger, as well as the incredible locale of the Grand Canyon. Marguerite Henry anthropomorphizes Brighty well, making him a believable and lovable animal character. The cameo appearances by Teddy Roosevelt tied the story well to history. Human characters still feel human--strong, weak, good, rotten. One aspect that I found interesting is that reading this book as an adult is that Brighty's world [...]

Marguerite Henry was one of my favorite authors when I was a girl, and I am happy to find I can enjoy her so much now that I am an adult. Brighty was one of her books that I missed reading as a child, so it was with great pleasure I read it with my son. I would add one caution, that if you have a highly sensitive child, Brighty endures some pretty rough treatment, and part of the story revolves around solving the murder of an old man. On the plus side, a child's innate sense of justice will be s [...]

My wife brought this book back it from a trip this summer. I love the Grand Canyon. This was one of my first chapter books(what kids did and do still call them)when I was in grade school. Great descriptive writing. My first mystery. A real page turner as en eight year old and still is. What followed was my adventure in reading. I began reading L.Frank Baum and Oz, all F. Dixon's Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, all the Tom Swift in print, and every book Club I could afford and My first library card.

Wow. after 60 years - the story reads as well as it did when I was a kid. This book was my first introduction to the Grand Canyon, followed a few years later by Grofe's Grand Canyone Suite which my Mother said I played "over and over" til she knew it by heart and then some years after that two great trips within the Canyon, one a raft trip which was one of the best trips ever and a second trip which was a backpacking trip. today I look at the Canyon from the rim and remember. Every kid needs to [...]

Brighty is a little burro who lives in the Grand Canyon. Although a "wild" burro, he forms friendships with some humans. When his favorite human is murdered, Brighty deepens his friendship with "Uncle Jim", a guide in the Grand Canyon, who has even taken Teddy Roosevelt out on hunting trips. Brighty has many adventures. He befriends humans, he wanders freely in the Canyon and he has some interesting adventures with other animals.This was a cute story that is appropriate for most school age child [...]

We picked up this book while in the Grand Canyon, as well as the DVD and 2 little Brighty stuffed animals for the girls. After seeing the donkeys in the Grand Canyon, they were intriqued by the storyline. I was surprised how the girls kept with it. Eliza seemed to understand everything despite the complicated and mature writing and the difficult diaglogue. (It was not super-easy to read aloud!) We learned a lot about the history of this famous little burrow and a little about the history of the [...]