The Red Pony is a compilation of four related short stories which were originally published in magazines from 1933 to 1936. The first three stories were published in 1937 in a limited edition, and then all four appeared in 1938 in a volume entitled The Long Valley. The volume was republished as an illustrated edition in 1945 under the title The Red Pony, which is the title under which the collection is known today.

The focus of the stories is the Tiflins, a farming family who live on a ranch in Steinbeck's beloved native Salinas Valley, California, with particular attention paid to their ten-year-old son Jody, as he negotiates the road to manhood and its accompanying revelations and responsibilities. All …