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Post by Claire on Apr 28, 2011 10:17:32 GMT 1
Just been looking through the list of top 10s to see what is left to do. This one was suggested by susan. In the original post the mentioned Vian Smith and Claire Birch. Who else would folk nominate for the poll?
In a similar vein I think I will also do a poll for top 10 one-hit-wonders for those authors who only wrote one solitary but excellent pony story.
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Post by haffyfan on Apr 28, 2011 19:57:00 GMT 1
Dorian williams Shirley faulkner Horne
I also personally like Mona Sandler and sally fielding
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Post by Claire on Apr 28, 2011 23:23:58 GMT 1
Peggie Cannam - OK she wasn't in the top string, but IMO she is just as good as the likes of Hilda Boden and Elinore Havers and they are much better known.
It might be interesting to speculate why particular authors weren't so well known as others. I think it may have something to do with the pony libraries in this country as most of the authors who were published in the Crown Ponies or Collins Pony library were fairly well known. Those who didnt feature haven't as high a profile.
I agree with Dorian Williams, especially for his more adult horse stories, and Sally Fielding.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2011 7:01:14 GMT 1
I agree about Peggy Cannam Claire, I much prefer her to Elinore Havers.
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Post by Claire on Apr 29, 2011 16:42:58 GMT 1
Carol Vaughan is another one I think should be better known. Her books are pretty good and she has written loads of good short stories for annuals.
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Post by garej on Apr 29, 2011 19:55:54 GMT 1
Susan Millard wrote one proper book, the other was a cartoon really.
June Groves is probably one of the best (she wrote the Milkman's cob) though.
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Post by Claire on May 2, 2011 11:21:35 GMT 1
Two more I think are undervalued are Catherine Harris, who I think is quite similar in style to JPT and Veronica Westlake, who is only really known for The Ten-Pound Pony which is good but not as good as a couple of her others. The Unwilling Adventurers and The Intruders are both really funny. I think one reason she is not so well known is that her books are very hard to find. Aha! Another one to add to the rare books thread!
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Post by haffyfan on May 2, 2011 11:24:53 GMT 1
Can I add Shelley peterson, a modern Author whom i really like and also Mary garland Bullivant - on teh strength of Fortunes Foal. I have just started raeding Little Lass which is what reminded me how much i enjoyed Fortunes Foal.
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Post by susanb on May 13, 2011 15:53:42 GMT 1
I think the problem with trying to come up with a long list of relatively unknown authors is that most generally ARE well known somewhere.
Vian Smith for instance, who I suggested, is known in the US, even if not in his native UK.
Here's a shocker for you....Ruby Ferguson, whose Jill books have been through so many different editions and are known to generations of pony book readers in the UK, isn't really known in the US. Now that's tragic!! Of course, it has some advantages...I bought my first Jill book from an ebay seller located in the US....the British first edition, hard cover in dj in lovely condition, for all of six dollars....there were no other bidders!
Alice O'Connell's two books, Pamela and the Blue Mare and The Blue Mare at the Olympic Trials are almost cult classics of the genre, but they're virtually unknown outside the US.....even here they're tough to source and very expensive.
Patsey Gray, Dorothy Lyons and Jean Slaughter Doty each had popularity in the US on par with the Pullein-Thompson sisters in the UK, but are vastly less known (or totally unknown) outside of the US. And the reverse is also true: the Pullein-Thompson books aren't well known here. For that matter, Joanna Cannan is known in the US as a writer of mysteries and fiction for adults, not as a pony book writer!
I could go on and on, but you get the picture! Maybe this section should be expanded a bit to authors not known for their pony book work outside of one geographic area?
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Post by shadowhawke on May 13, 2011 17:38:21 GMT 1
For the US... the Pullein-Thompson sisters. Very hard to find anything by them. I've stumbled across them... mainly CPT. Ruby Ferguson is unknown. Never heard of her till a friend had a Jill book for sale... it's the same with the Jinney books. Which is sad, cause I want more of them.
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Post by garej on May 13, 2011 19:31:39 GMT 1
For the US... the Pullein-Thompson sisters. Very hard to find anything by them. I've stumbled across them... mainly CPT. Some of the PTs works (The Boy & The Donkey, I Rode A Winner) did have USA publishing.
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Post by Claire on May 13, 2011 19:37:58 GMT 1
it's the same with the Jinney books. Which is sad, cause I want more of them. Well you should have one more arriving soon! Yes there is a problem with this top 10. Not sure if it can be made into a poll, there would probably have to be at least 2, one UK and one USA and possibly an Australian one. Still it's interesting to discuss even if we dont get a poll out of it. Interesting to know that Jill is not known well in the States.
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