Ponies in the Valley

by Diana Pullein-Thompson

Sandy and Fergus are moving to the country, but the whole family face difficulties they hadn't imagined. Their father is recovering from a heart attack, and Sandy and Fergus manage to offend the local children. But they do have a pony, something they've longed for all their lives. Mimosa is a palomino Welsh cross, but she has a mind of her own, and neither Sandy nor Fergus know enough to stop her. Published in the 1970s this series is a much more realistic one than Diana's earlier series of the 1940s and 1950s. Sandy stops eating beef when she becomes fond of the cattle her father keeps. She has very mixed feelings about hunting. There are people with difficult family backgrounds, and a thoroughly realistic outcome to the children's greatest adventure, when they try and stop rustlers stealing their animals.

128 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1979

About the author

The Pullein-Thompson sisters — Josephine Pullein-Thompson MBE (3 April 1924-[1]), Diana Pullein-Thompson (born 1 October 1925) [2] and Christine Pullein-Thompson (1 October 1925–2 December 2005[2] — are British writers of several horse and pony books (mostly fictional) aimed at children and mostly popular with girls. They started at a very young age (initially writing collectively) and they were at their peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but their popularity has endured. They have written a collective autobiography Fair Girls and Grey Horses.

All 3 sisters have written at least 1 book under a different name; Josephine wrote 1 under the pseudonym of Josephine Mann, Diana 3 books under her married name of Diana Farr and Christine wrote 2 books under the name of Christine Keir.

Their mother, Joanna Cannan (1898–1961), sister of the poet May Cannan, wrote similar equestrian stories, but is better known for detective mysteries.

Reviews

[Dark-Draco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, what a simpler life! How nice it would be if you could still opt for an easier, stress free life by buying a farm, with 25 acres of land, from the sale of one modern suburban house! Putting that aside, this book did feel a bit different from all those other 'pony' books I devoured as a child. This isn't the quintessential happy family and the story starts with a father who has a heart attack after losing his job. Ok, it gets a bit 'happy every after' from then on, but somehow felt a bit more 'real'. Although, even back then, I think there would have been a few more shotguns around to discourage those pesky poachers. An entertaining story and worth the read.

[mrs e garwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely old fashioned pony book

Based in the 70's, it interesting to see how times have changed. If you had a childhood in the country with ponies, its worth reading fora bit of nostalgia.