About Us
Willow Bend Publishing was established in 2001 to promote a new ‘tween’ (ages 9-13) book, Blackjack: Dreaming of a Morgan Horse. With the tremendous success of that first book (to date over 50,000 copies sold, a Breyer Animal Creations model of Blackjack made/sold with a copy of the book, as well as a prestigious ‘Children’s Choices’ award co-sponsored by the International Reading Association and the Children’s Book Council, it became clear to us that there was a strong market for good quality, educational horse books that are loaded with action. Blackjack became the first book in the ‘Morgan Horse’ series, a series that has won multiple national awards and accolades. We continue to publish quality horse books that educate while they entertain and are always on the lookout for the next great horse book.
Ellen Feld
Award-winning author Ellen F. Feld has written over twenty books about horses, ponies, and donkeys. Her books have won numerous national awards, including twice winning the prestigious “Children’s Choices” award, co-sponsored by the International Reading Association and the Children’s Book Council. Her Morgan Horse series has sold more than 100,000 copies, while her Donkey-Donk stories have quickly become a best-selling series. She has also authored several standalone novels as well and continues to write. She is currently working on the third book in her Miniature Morgan Horse series and plans to then turn her attention to a new series about a jumping horse. Ms. Feld lives in Massachusetts with her husband, children, several dogs, birds, and yes, lots and lots of horses.
Jeanne Mellin
Noted author and illustrator Jeanne Mellin was a well-known Morgan owner, judge, and breeder. She authored numerous books including Pidgy's Surprise, The Complete Morgan Horse, The Morgan Horse Handbook, Ride a Horse, Horses Across the Ages, Horses Across America and Illustrated Horseback Riding for Beginners. With her extensive background in horses, Ms. Mellin also illustrated every one of her books with her beautiful drawings, each one showing her deep knowledge of the equine. Everybody at Willow Bend Publishing deeply misses Ms. Mellin.
Jeanne Newton Schoborg
Jeanne Newton Schoborg is an award-winning equine artist. Her horse portraits hang in several countries throughout the world including Australia, the Netherlands, and Canada. Her unique style and ability to render all breeds of horse in their natural environment or the show ring is highly recognizable and has made her one of the nation's most sought after equine artists. Jeanne is constantly busy in her studio working on commissions as well as her unique, "free-style" and 3-D equine portraits. Her works also include landscapes, seascapes, and surrealism. She and her family live outside Eldora, Iowa along with their horses, cats, and two dogs. To learn more, please visit Jeanne's website at: fineartamerica.com/artists/jeanne+newton+schoborg/
John Cebula
John Cebula, photographer for What Can I Do? A Donkey-Donk Story, Horse Show! A Donkey-Donk Story, Take A Hike! A Donkey-Donk Story, What Does A Police Horse Do? as well as the forthcoming What Does A Police Dog Do? has been a life-long resident of upstate New York. He has been involved in photography since the age of 12. His primary photographic interests have been nature and animal photography. In addition, John has spent the last few decades breeding, raising and photographing Clydesdale horses. For the last three years, John has been monitoring and photographing a bald eagle nest for the New York Capital Region Audubon Society. He has also made two trips to Chincoteague Island in the past year to photograph the Chincoteague ponies and birds, with plans to return again in the near future to get some great shots for another book project with author Ellen Feld.
“Mrs. Feld has a true gift in capturing the imagination and engaging the reader. It isn't always easy to find a set of books that will be read willingly by pre-teens! Kudos to Mrs. Feld on her delightful Morgan Horse Series.”
- Jenefer Igarashi
Senior Editor
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
“I don't like to read but I liked your books so much that I read the whole series very quickly. Thank you for writing these amazing books.”
- Jordin Benson
10 years old
“I can totally see why this author has won so many awards. A very gifted writer who knows not just children well, but horses too, and the passion that makes us all so in love with everything horse. Highly recommended.”
- TheHorseStudio.com
“I'm 11 and LOVE the Morgan Horse series! I read Blackjack 5 times and Frosty 7 times. You are my favorite author in the whole entire world and I hope I can be like you someday.”
- 11 year old fan