David Rook

British author. His most popular book is better known as a film. Run Wild Run Free was a popular film about a troubled boy and his relationship with a Dartmoor pony, it starred child actor Mark Lester and John Mills. The film was adapted from Rook's novel The White Colt, and the book itself is perhaps better known now under it's film title.

The author's other books all shared the subject of wild animals and included stories about foxes and birds of prey. Another of his novels The Ballad of Belstone Fox was also made into a film.

As well as writing books, Rook also illustrated them, including animal stories, non-fiction horse books and some of the novels of Joyce Stranger

Pony Books:

THE WHITE COLT
aka RUN WILD RUN FREE
(HODDER & STOUGHTON 1967)
Reprinted in paperback by Corgi in 1969
Reprinted in hardback by Remploy in 1980
American edition was published by Dutton in 1967
IReprinted by Scholastic in paperback in the USA under the title RUN WILD RUN FREE (as movie tie-in)
SUMMARY: Thoughtful slow-paced novel about relationships, both human and animal. Set on Dartmoor. Philip, a troubled young boy (who may be autistic) has problems relating to people and communicating. He develops an attachment to a wild Dartmoor pony, and through the pony becomes close to an old country man and a young girl, as he learns to ride and fly a falcon. But tragedy strikes and threatens to send the boy back into his shell.
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The book was made into a film in 1969 (see link for more info)

Collectors Info:
Published in both the UK and USA, and easy to find in both these places.