Jill and the Runaway (Jill)

Jill's Ponies #4

by Ruby Ferguson

Jill feels partly responsible when a strange little girl who's been hanging around the riding school disappears with three horses. Can she find them? And will her worries affect her performance at the Blossom Hall gymkhana?

Genres: Horses, Childrens, Fiction, Young Adult, Animals, Juvenile

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Ruby Constance Annie Ashby Ferguson
aka
Ruby Ferguson and R.C. Ashby

Reviews

[Cheyenne Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book that was truly mine. It was given to me on my 8th (or maybe 9th) birthday by my grannie, along with a Chalet School book. I never got into the Chalet School, but I did get into Jill in a big way.

The "Jill" books have stood the test of time. Written in the 1950s, they are as witty, informative, entertaining and feel-good now as they were when I first read them. Jill's klutzy personality, and tell-it-as-it-is narrative makes for fabulous reading at any age.

I recently picked up a copy of "Jill Enjoys Her Ponies" (more recently known as "Jill and the Runaway" because of the very adult double entendre) on Ebay. While I still love it, as an adult I was a little disquieted by the dismissive treatment of the runaway, Dinah Dean, simply because she is poor, scruffy, and slightly weird. Not enough to mark it down from 5 stars.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucky lucky lucky Jill!!!
I adored horses when i was a girl and I just couldn't understand why I couldn't have one. (We lived in a townhouse in Leamington Spa with a small garden). I wasn't allowed to go riding either.... sob! So anyway, these and all my other horsey books kept me entertained.

[Jill Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve now read Ruby Ferguson’s first four books in this series. I got these books for my granddaughters and I hope she’ll enjoy them. They are terribly British and the pounds, shillings and pence might be impossible for her to understand. They have horses and everything equestrian is adored by them. These stories have the main character Jill, becoming an accomplished rider. She’s mad about horses and everything to do with them. My granddaughters are very like her, so I hope they identify with her.

[Emma Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful, I can't believe how fast these books became instant favourites that I know I'm going to be rereading forever. Such a lot happens and it's so entertaining - Jill is so down-to-earth, so focused on horses and nothing else, and makes such a mess of things a lot of the time and the writing is so meta at times this had me laugh out loud so much. They have a gymkhana, horses are rescued, there's a picnic tea, a new girl called Dinah who's marvellous and I just love those books so much!

[Polly Perks · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I really enjoy about the Jill books is how meandering they are - the chapters happen as they happen, and mostly the events in them all tie up in the end but sometimes they’re simply part of Jill’s life for no reason other than that. It’s a style that you don’t see too often any more, and it makes me very nostalgic for having read these when I was a child.

[Renata Shura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jill helps out put on a fete and helps a neglected girl realize her dreams. Great pony fun!

[Lainey Grieve Ramsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jill has two ponies was first published in 1954 by Hodder and Stoughton

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jill is back for more horses and horse related activities!

I have to say I don't love the title or this book so much as all the others but it is still fun and worth the read.
Another summer hols has rolled around and Jill spends it schooling her two ponies and helping to organise a Gymkhana. What could be nicer?

The aforementioned runaway is a 13 year old girl called Dinah Dean whose father is basically neglecting her in favour of his science experiments or whatever it was he was doing.
Dinah desperately wants to ride and just exist around horses which is very understandable but as she is lacking in money and scruffy looking, is rather looked down up by everyone, including Jill.
But soft hearted Jill does end up lending her a hand and as expected everything gets nicely sorted out in the end!

[Gillian]

happy days! Huge part of my childood spent on this and all the Ruby Ferguson 'Jill' books. Loved this one, loved most of them

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jill continues to be the most annoying pony book heroine of all time.