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Post by Claire on Oct 31, 2011 11:31:25 GMT 1
Hi all, this top 10 is about the most well-known pony books, especially those who have somehow crossed the 'great divide' into mainstream culture and are actually even known by 'normal' people I think Black Beauty will always be number 1 but its being challenged somewhat by War Horse what with all the publicity about the play and the upcoming film. Nominations for more famous pony books please. Also do folks think that pony stories are less high profile in the mainstream world than other children's books and if so why?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2011 13:29:21 GMT 1
I think the Jill books are remembered by lots of people, even possibly normal non horsey people. And National Velvet.
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Post by susanb on Oct 31, 2011 14:30:45 GMT 1
The Jill books aren't all that well known outside of the UK, even though the first did have a US printing. I found out about them via Jane's site. (Their lack of exposure here probably accounts for my being able to pick up a first UK edition, in dj, of Jill's Gymkhana from a US ebayer for all of $6....and yes, that's dollars, not pounds.....talk about a deal!)
I think the most known, world wide, would have to be
Black Beauty National Velvet War Horse The Black Stallion
and possibly Misty of Chincoteague
Having a movie with world-wide distribution is a big help in popularizing a book....Black Beauty has had several adaptations, National Velvet just the one, but starring Elziabeth Taylor, and of course the upcoming War Horse.
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Jane
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Post by Jane on Oct 31, 2011 18:03:08 GMT 1
I don't know anything about War Horse.
Misty, certainly.
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Post by Claire on Oct 31, 2011 18:12:28 GMT 1
(Their lack of exposure here probably accounts for my being able to pick up a first UK edition, in dj, of Jill's Gymkhana from a US ebayer for all of $6....and yes, that's dollars, not pounds.....talk about a deal!) Can you get some for me? ;D I think the Jill books were read by a lot of British children who weren't dyed in the wool pony book readers. There's quite a wide range of people on the Jill facebook group including a few men and there are not that many men who read pony books in general. Yes I think books that were made into films crossed over the divide. Sad really how films affect our modern culture far more than books. Misty is a good one. I know that the real Misty was something of a celebrity of the time in the USA, although I dont think as many non-pony people would know the story in the UK. Actually I think it might be quite a fun plan to ask all our non-horsy friends and family if they can name 5 books about horses and see what they come up with!
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Post by susanb on Oct 31, 2011 19:33:28 GMT 1
Grin...I never got such a good deal again, though I did manage one other (Trek, I think) for about $20, so I was pretty happy with that.
Many ebay sellers don't seem to want to ship outside of their own country/region, which means that a book not commonly known in that area won't sell, or will sell for a very low price. I can TOTALLY understand not wanting to take the risk, but it mightn't serve them well in all cases.
Of course, for myself, I'm delighted when I find a bargain that way! I got four of W.E. Johns Worrals books from a Florida seller for around $20, all in lovely djs, a few years back.
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Post by darkhorse on Oct 31, 2011 20:42:49 GMT 1
Actually I think it might be quite a fun plan to ask all our non-horsy friends and family if they can name 5 books about horses and see what they come up with! Fun idea....but bet you most people wouldn't be able to come up with 5! What about My Friend Flicka? There have been a few film and TV versions of it. I reckon quite a few "normal" people have heard of it.
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vera
Pony Clubber
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Post by vera on Nov 1, 2011 6:26:17 GMT 1
I wonder if this is a "country" thing. All Aussie children have heard of The Silver Brumby, whether they like horses or not. Another one that is popular in school libraries is "Tschiffley's Ride". I hope I have the spelling right! Then My Friend Flicka, Misty of Chincoteague, National Velvet and of course Black Beauty. I think "pony books" are not often considered literature; they are looked at a little as comics used to be. Now comics are considered "classic." Disney films also used to be seen as second class; now they are recognised as very worthwhile. It may have something to do with a similarity of theme, but there are some that are great stories in their own right, with lots of social comment and character development. Ones like Vian Smith's Come Down the Mountain, Mavis Thorpe Clarke's Pony from Tarella. I wonder too if ponies and horse riding were considered the realm of the rich; one of the appeals of the Jill books is that she was in fact poor but still managed to get a pony.
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Post by fizz on Nov 1, 2011 8:58:40 GMT 1
I would add Monica Dickens Follyfoot etc. Lots of none horsey people read those in the 1970s when the utterly rubbish TV spin off was on.
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Post by trixiepony on Nov 1, 2011 10:30:40 GMT 1
I think that's the thing if its been made in to a TV show or move so how about sum modern ones the Saddle Club and Harland books , but yes I'm with Misty, Black Beauty, Black Stallion, Silver Brumby and Nasal Velvet .
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Post by tintin on Nov 1, 2011 18:10:38 GMT 1
I think the sheer number of pony books, like westerns and detective stories, militates against individual books standing out. People will know authors more than books eg many more people would know the PT sisters, Zane Grey or Ed McBain than could name one of their books.
Stand outs must be "Black Beauty", "My Friend Flicka", "Black Stallion" and "Silver Brumby". The middle two being helped out a lot by films.
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Jane
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Post by Jane on Nov 1, 2011 18:41:43 GMT 1
What about C.W. Anderson's Billy and Blaze books?
Flicka is another good one.
I don't know many people who read who don't read pony books so my sample for testing the 'general public' is skewed. ;D
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Post by haffyfan on Nov 1, 2011 19:42:34 GMT 1
I would have suggested these which others have already beat me to
Jill Flicka, thunderhead etc Misty and the rest of her series Silver Brumby Black Beauty International Velvet Black Stallion
I wouldn't have thought of war Horse but of course it's huge and probably will eclipse Black baeuty one day.
It probably depends what age group you ask as i bet saddle club and heartland would feature with youngsters....as someone else said the books that have made film/tv generally speaking as it targets them to a much wider audience.
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Post by Claire on Nov 2, 2011 12:24:32 GMT 1
Asked a non-horsy friend last nite and they only knew Black Beauty! Follyfoot and Silver Brumby are good choices, but I wonder how many non-horsy people actually know some of these were books and not just films!
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Post by trixiepony on Nov 5, 2011 11:58:05 GMT 1
That's a point may be need to ask how meany horsey movies or TV shows thay can name. Maybe get more answers after all there's a lot off books made in to movie or TV shows.
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Post by darenc1 on Jan 20, 2012 23:11:31 GMT 1
Sorry for dragging this old topic back up, but I was having a nosey at the subforum and thought this was interesting... Although I am shocked that NOBODY has mentioned...... THE HORSE WHISPERER! Come on, this book was HUGE back in the mid-1990s when it came out, and then of course was followed by the film. Heck, even yours truly bought a copy of the book BEFORE I was even remotely interested in horses!!
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Post by Claire on Jan 20, 2012 23:28:31 GMT 1
Ooh how did we miss that one out daren! Just noticed I didnt add a poll for this one. BTW feel free to comment on old threads, we are always dredging the old stuff up
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Post by darenc1 on Jan 20, 2012 23:50:25 GMT 1
Yes, I was quite shocked that it had been missed out! It's one of the biggest-selling books of all time, with something like 15million copies sold. Black Beauty is up with over 50million copies....!
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Post by Claire on Jan 21, 2012 12:02:28 GMT 1
Mind you most of us on here don't like the book so it could be somewhat Freudian that it was omitted!
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Post by darenc1 on Jan 21, 2012 15:17:19 GMT 1
Really? I thought it was generally well-liked. The FILM, however, is something of a bone of contention with most that I know!
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Post by kunuma on Jan 21, 2012 16:14:30 GMT 1
Hmmm, just how rude am I allowed to be about that book - bearing in mind I wanted to shoot, or at least sue, the film makers after watching the film!! My pet hate (pardon the pun) is people who write animal stories when they know nothing about animals! And breathe................................
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Post by Claire on Jan 22, 2012 21:39:27 GMT 1
Book was popular with the general public but quite a few of us on the forum dislike it. I agree with kunuma re. animals books written by people who no little or even worse don't even like animals very much!
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Post by darenc1 on Jan 23, 2012 0:02:01 GMT 1
Ah, I see!!
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Post by trixiepony on Jan 23, 2012 6:53:13 GMT 1
True and I think meny off us have a soft spot for the older story's I know for my self I can sumtimes be byest against sum off the new books.
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