Post by tintin on Dec 3, 2012 16:57:38 GMT 1
A big thanks to all - "Pony Book Mastermind made me read this book"
And I'm very glad I did
A Pony to School is a skilfully written book on several levels.
It is the third in the series and Augusta and Christina are now friends. They are a good team whose qualities complement each other.
They are loaned a skewbald, Clown, to school to try to cure him of the vice of rearing.
The book is very good in three ways.
1) It is written as a first person narrative, but by two separate characters, which cannot have been easy, yet it still flows.
2) The writing is understated. You suddenly find yourself very fond of Clown and concerned about him. DPT has skilfully got him under your skin without you knowing while you were reading about Augusta and Christina.
3) Clown is cured by patient schooling, but no one is entirely sure when or how. There is no miracle moment, it is patience and hard work
I loved this book and was moved by it. There is a very sad episode – the death of Seaspray. It intrudes suddenly, shockingly and unexpectedly – as disaster tends to in real life. You feel for both the pony and her rider, Tilly. It is lovely that Clown finds a home with Tilly and you sort of know they will get on really well and that she will grow to love him, but you also feel there will always be a Seaspray shaped space in her heart.
The episode has made me change part of my own story and spell out what checking a horse entails. I thought this was a bit “teaching my grandmother to suck eggs”, but if it reminds one person…
I loved this book. It was the first in the quartet I read and impelled me to read the others. To me, one of the sisters best, not quite as good as "The Horse Sale" or "A Day to Go Hunting" , but nudging close.
And I'm very glad I did
A Pony to School is a skilfully written book on several levels.
It is the third in the series and Augusta and Christina are now friends. They are a good team whose qualities complement each other.
They are loaned a skewbald, Clown, to school to try to cure him of the vice of rearing.
The book is very good in three ways.
1) It is written as a first person narrative, but by two separate characters, which cannot have been easy, yet it still flows.
2) The writing is understated. You suddenly find yourself very fond of Clown and concerned about him. DPT has skilfully got him under your skin without you knowing while you were reading about Augusta and Christina.
3) Clown is cured by patient schooling, but no one is entirely sure when or how. There is no miracle moment, it is patience and hard work
I loved this book and was moved by it. There is a very sad episode – the death of Seaspray. It intrudes suddenly, shockingly and unexpectedly – as disaster tends to in real life. You feel for both the pony and her rider, Tilly. It is lovely that Clown finds a home with Tilly and you sort of know they will get on really well and that she will grow to love him, but you also feel there will always be a Seaspray shaped space in her heart.
The episode has made me change part of my own story and spell out what checking a horse entails. I thought this was a bit “teaching my grandmother to suck eggs”, but if it reminds one person…
I loved this book. It was the first in the quartet I read and impelled me to read the others. To me, one of the sisters best, not quite as good as "The Horse Sale" or "A Day to Go Hunting" , but nudging close.