Misty of Chincoteague is a children's novel written by Marguerite Henry, illustrated by Wesley Dennis, and published by Rand McNally in 1947. Set in the island town of Chincoteague, Virginia, the book tells the story of the Beebe family and their efforts to raise a filly born to a wild horse. It was one of the runners-up for the annual Newbery Medal, now called Newbery Honor Books. The 1961 film Misty was based on the book.
Misty was inspired by a real-life Chincoteague Pony by the same name. The real-life Misty was foaled in domesticity in 1946, on Chincoteague at the Beebe Ranch, not in the wild on Assateague Island as told in the book. As in the book, however, she was in fact sired by a chestnut pinto stallion named Pied Piper, from a smokey-black pinto dam called Phantom. Although these horses also were domesticated in real life, they too provided inspiration to Henry for the wild ponies portrayed in the novel.
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