Post by Claire on Oct 20, 2014 18:31:45 GMT 1
Another short but hopefully sweet review...
Peter's Pinto by Mary and Conrad Buff
SUMMARY:
This is an American horse story of the ranching/capturing wild horse persuasion written in 1949. Interestingly it is set in the Mormon community of Utah. Also of interest is the fact it was written by a husband and wife team, with hubby mainly doing the illustrating while Mary wrote most of the story content.
Our hero Peter goes to stay on his uncle’s ranch in Utah. There he soon learns to ride and has lots of fun riding around the ranch with his cousin Doug. But he longs for a horse of his own and keeps having dreams about a beautiful pinto stallion called Checkers. Then the children hear rumours about a mysterious wild pinto roaming the hills. When one of the ranch horses goes missing and a hunt for it is organised, Peter and Doug seize the chance to look for the pinto.
REVIEW:
Although this is well-written it is in some ways not the most pleasant of reads. The cruel way Checkers is caught and broken in may reflect the norm on a ranch at the time but does not appeal to a horse-lover reading the book now, especially a fan of Monty Roberts and his ethos, such as myself! It is particularly galling as it is portrayed in the book as being the ’right’ way to do it. Another quibble is that the female characters are very much in the background, only fit for making and serving food, which is probably not surprising in a Mormon community, but which I don't think would sit well with most modern female readers! What makes this rather odd is that it was written by a woman, and a well-educated emancipated woman at that. I don't really know where the Mormon angle comes into things as I don't think either Mary or Conrad had any ties with the Mormon community, in fact Conrad was orginally from Switzerland, which is a ways from Utah! In summary this is more of a book for boys who long to be cowboys than for pony lovers, and the now totally hackneyed plot does not make it appeal much either. Very nice illustrations by Mr. Buff however. (Although the cover art is pretty awful).
PONYMAD RATING: 2 HORSESHOES
Peter's Pinto by Mary and Conrad Buff
SUMMARY:
This is an American horse story of the ranching/capturing wild horse persuasion written in 1949. Interestingly it is set in the Mormon community of Utah. Also of interest is the fact it was written by a husband and wife team, with hubby mainly doing the illustrating while Mary wrote most of the story content.
Our hero Peter goes to stay on his uncle’s ranch in Utah. There he soon learns to ride and has lots of fun riding around the ranch with his cousin Doug. But he longs for a horse of his own and keeps having dreams about a beautiful pinto stallion called Checkers. Then the children hear rumours about a mysterious wild pinto roaming the hills. When one of the ranch horses goes missing and a hunt for it is organised, Peter and Doug seize the chance to look for the pinto.
REVIEW:
Although this is well-written it is in some ways not the most pleasant of reads. The cruel way Checkers is caught and broken in may reflect the norm on a ranch at the time but does not appeal to a horse-lover reading the book now, especially a fan of Monty Roberts and his ethos, such as myself! It is particularly galling as it is portrayed in the book as being the ’right’ way to do it. Another quibble is that the female characters are very much in the background, only fit for making and serving food, which is probably not surprising in a Mormon community, but which I don't think would sit well with most modern female readers! What makes this rather odd is that it was written by a woman, and a well-educated emancipated woman at that. I don't really know where the Mormon angle comes into things as I don't think either Mary or Conrad had any ties with the Mormon community, in fact Conrad was orginally from Switzerland, which is a ways from Utah! In summary this is more of a book for boys who long to be cowboys than for pony lovers, and the now totally hackneyed plot does not make it appeal much either. Very nice illustrations by Mr. Buff however. (Although the cover art is pretty awful).
PONYMAD RATING: 2 HORSESHOES
