Pony Book Advent Calendar: December 11th 2013

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Here's another favourite pony book of mine. Author Diana Pullein-Thompson regards this book as one of her worst; derivative and predictable, but I loved it, as I suspect many other pony loving children did precisely because it was unrealistic. When I called the fire brigade to a fire on a farm, no one gave me a reward, and if I ever had bought a pony, I don't imagine it would have been a swan in disguise. I'd more likely have ended up with something Thelwell would have featured with glee: a pony red in tooth and claw; a pony who did not have my best interests at heart.

But I loved this book. I loved Augusta's relationship with her sniffy, snobbish cousins. I loved the way she bests them, but always remains true to herself, and in particular, I loved the way she sells pretty well everything she has so she can buy Daybreak, and how she perseveres until he comes right.

 The copy pictured below is the version I read.

You can read more about Diana Pullein-Thompson here, and see all the many versions of I Wanted a Pony, as well as all her other books.

Read more about the pony book in Heroines on Horseback, my survey of the world of the pony book from the 1930s onwards. There is an entire (long) chapter on the Pullein-Thompsons. You can buy a signed copy from me (I'll post them worldwide). The book's also available from the usual sources, or your local bookshop.

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