Walter Farley Books in Order
Walter Farley has written 28 books, published between 1941 and 1989. The first book is The Black Stallion (1941) and the newest is The Young Black Stallion (1989). Publication order is the reading order below. 20 of the 28 books listed here are in the Black Stallion series, which has its own page: Black Stallion books in order.
- Books
- 28
- Published
- 1941–1989
- Pages on record
- 4,600 in 22 of 28 books
- Reading time
- 77–115 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,600 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 22 of 28 titles with a page count on record.
Horses carry Walter Farley's work. The American author's first book, The Black Stallion (1941), introduced the stallion called the Black and the character Alec Ramsay, and sequels followed for decades. The catalogue records 28 books to 1989, the year of Farley's death, among them The Island Stallion (1948), The Black Stallion Revolts (1953) and the Little Black Pony series. Farley's son Steven has continued the series since. Horse racing, harness racing and training recur as subjects.
How many Walter Farley books are there?
Walter Farley has 28 books, released between 1941 and 1989. They include 2 series and 5 titles listed outside any series.
Walter Farley Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 28 Walter Farley books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 119411872/4
- 219452032/4
- 319472682/4
- 419482122/4
- 519491782/4
- 619502782/4
- 719512242/4
- 819522422/4
- 919532882/4
- 1019542482/4
- 1119552212/4
- 1219562212/4
- 1319571992/4
- 1419581362/4
- 1519601652/4
- 161961–2/4
- 17Man O'War1962 · 339 pages · confirmed 2/419623392/4
- 18Big Black Horse1963 · confirmed 2/41963–2/4
- 191963–2/4
- 2019642272/4
- 21The Horse That Swam Away1965 · confirmed 2/41965–2/4
- 22The Great Dane Thor1966 · confirmed 2/41966–2/4
- 231968–2/4
- 2419691662/4
- 2519711962/4
- 26Walter Farley's How To Stay Out Of Trouble With Your Horse1981 · 65 pages · confirmed 2/41981652/4
- 2719831772/4
- 2819891602/4
Walter Farley series in order
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Black Stallion books in order 20 books
Walter Farley books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Little Black Pony in order
3 booksStandalone books
5 books5 Walter Farley titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Walter Farley books in order?
You only need to read Walter Farley books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Walter Farley
Start with The Black Stallion (1941), the first Black Stallion book. It is also the earliest catalogued title.
What is the newest Walter Farley book?
The Young Black Stallion (1989) is the newest Walter Farley book released so far.
Is there a new Walter Farley book coming?
No next Walter Farley book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Walter Farley at a glance
- Died
- Walter Farley died in 1989, according to Wikidata.
- Last book
- The newest book credited to Walter Farley on record dates from 1989.
- Release pace
- Walter Farley books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 4,600 pages across the 22 of 28 books with a recorded length, a median of 208 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Walter Farley books, 10 of 28, were published in the 1960s.
What the Walter Farley books are about
27 of the 28 Walter Farley books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: horses is tagged on 24 of 27. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Horses 24 of 27 books
- Children's fiction 19 of 27 books
- Black stallion (fictitious character) 13 of 27 books
- Horse racing 7 of 27 books
- Alec Ramsay (Fictitious character) 2 of 27 books
- Black (Fictitious character : Farley) 2 of 27 books
- Children 2 of 27 books
- Harness racing 2 of 27 books
- Juvenile literature 2 of 27 books
- Mystery & detective 2 of 27 books