New authors added to the website

A few more authors added to the website this month. They include:

GABI ADAM
MAJOR ENRIQUEZ
PIPPA FUNNELL
D. GLYN-FOREST
EMMA RAVEN
ANNA SELLBERG

Check them out on the author and book info page

I am almost finished a page on Sharon Siamon but need to scan a couple of pics to add before uploading it. Still working on the Monica Edwards page as it's huge!

Not as good as I remembered...but still a classic!

This is a copy of the review I recently did for A PONY FOR JEAN by JOANNA CANNAN on the ponymadbooklovers website Please feel free to add comments here or on the website.

SUMMARY

When Jean’s rich father falls on hard times the family must move to a cottage in the country. But Jean soon finds life actually becomes more enjoyable. When visiting her cousins Jean falls off one of their ponies and then confesses she cannot ride. They give her a scrawny mistreated pony whom they had rescued but now don’t know what to do with. They call him The Toastrack as he is so skinny, but Jean re-names him Cavalier. After a lot of loving care and attention, Cavalier improves a lot. So does Jean’s riding. Although the cousins tell her he can’t jump, one night when their house is burgled and Jean rides him for help, he jumps a stile. Eventually Jean persuades him to jump in cold blood and he becomes quite a nice little jumper.
Jean does not really get on with her cousins, especially Camilla who is a superb rider but is a little obnoxious. The only one who is quite nice is Guy. After a humiliating pony club rally when she is classed with the ‘tinies’ Jean is determined to do well at the Pony Club gymkhana. Her mother tells her she must not enter for the jumping as they will be too high for her, but she is disappointed as that is Cavalier’s forte. She secretly borrows money from Guy to enter on the day.
She does well at the gymkhana and when celebrating with an animal’s fancy dress party the cousins turn up and she realises they are not as bad as she thought after all. There is a slight crisis when it turns out her father has regained his fortune and got a new job - but when she finds out she won’t have to leave the country and move back to London Jean is happy.


REVIEW

It has been many years since I read this book, but I lately decided to re-read the full ‘Jean’ series. I have to say I was slightly disappointed, as the series does not compare favourably to her other works such as I Wrote a Pony Book and They Bought Her a Pony. The main gripe with the story is that the plot is unoriginal. However, this is ironically the one point we cannot really criticise it upon. Why? Because of the era when it was written. To the modern reader who has read hundreds, if not thousands of pony stories, the plot of a girl improving a seemingly hopeless pony and her own riding in order to win at a gymkhana, is hopelessly jaded. However in the 1930s when the book was first written, most pony books were Black Beauty-esque tales, told either from the pony’s point of view, or mainly concerned with the life of the pony rather than the people in the story. Joanna Cannan, and one or two other authors of the time, began to explore a different sort of pony story: that seen from the viewpoint of the rider rather than that of the pony. So in reality, the plot was actually fairly revolutionary for it’s time!

However, even if we cannot criticise the unoriginality of the plot there are a few holes in the story which I must point out. One of the main criticisms is that Jean, having only ridden on seaside donkeys or ponies, and with no instruction, manages not only to learn to ride well enough to win the jumping in a gymkahana, but also to train a green pony to jump, (a pony it must be remembered that her cousins – all experienced riders – could not). This is fairly unbelievable. If we compare the book to a similar novel written about the same time – Jill’s Gymkhana – Jill actually has the help of an instructor in the form of Martin, and even then she does modestly well at her first gymkhana. Jean’s rise is just too meteoric to be believable.

The horse element of the story lacks the realism which Joanna’s daughters, the PTs, brought to their books. There is very little emphasis on the actual training of horses, or the ins and outs of riding. Jean trains Cavalier to jump by leaping over jumps with him following and giving him oats. Not exactly scientific – and Major Holbrooke would be rolling his eyes! The author probably wasn’t hugely experienced when she wrote the book; her daughters had ponies so she obviously knew the basics but she either did not share their in-depth knowledge or just did not consider it worth while putting in a book. To be fair, the instructional element in pony books did not really appear until a generation later (and was in fact pioneered mainly by daughter Josephine) but in my mind the lack of reality in the pony element is a little disappointing.

The book unfortunately ticks the box of that main criticism of the pony book genre: it is solidly middle class. The family has supposedly fallen on hard times but is living in a detached cottage with its own orchard and stables. Like Jill and her mother in Ruby Ferguson’s book, they also still have a ‘daily’ woman who comes in to cook and clean for them! The class boundaries are firmly in place. When Jean calls a gamekeeper ‘my good man’ it offends the modern reader, but was quite normal behaviour in that day and age. The ‘jolly hockey sticks’ type tone of the book also palls slightly at times and the author has an irritating habit of italicising: you can lose count of the number of time Jean shrieked or screamed at her mother or flew somewhere or commented that something was awful. (And this fault if anything is worse in the sequel!)

However, despite the criticisms, this is in no way a bad book. In fact it is very well written, well-observed and highly readable. The book is written in an irrisistably humourous style which carries the reader along effortlessly. You at once warm to Jean, who although not the most exciting character in the world, is extremely human. The fact that it is written in the first person does help with empathy but it is mainly achieved through the skill of the writer. All the little annoying quirks of life appear, like items disappearing and reappearing in unlikely places, things going wrong when you are in a hurry, etc, etc. And they are all described with a resigned humour which is reminiscent almost of a stand-up comedian.

Although this is in no way a deep or soul searching novel, we do get a glimpse into the interior life of Jean. One of the most striking observations she makes is how sometimes we fail to speak up when we should:

“Sometimes, when you are among strangers….you can’t say things, especially when they are very important and matter awfully. In fact the more important they are the more difficult it is to say them.” (Page 65)

There are lots more observations like this and it is due to the skill of the author that these sections do not stand out clumsily from the rest of the narrative, or sound preachy: either of which outcomes could have resulted from a less competent writer.

Along with her hmourous, though insightful, observations on life, one of Joanna Cannan’s talent’s was her skill in creating character sketches. Aunt Daphne, for example, is a brilliant comic creation, but so true to life: that sort of person who is always talking about fluffy little animals but would run a mile from the reality of looking after them. Joanna Cannan is also adept in her lightning quick sketches of minor characters, for example giving the competitors at the gymkhana names which sum them up, such as The Polite Boy, The White Mice, etc. In this way she makes it more interesting to read, without having to go into too much detail and spoil the narrative flow. Gymkhana scenes are perhaps the hardest to write as they can easily become boring or monotonous. I don’t normally find them very entertaining but in this author’s capable hands the gymkhana reads as easily as the rest of the book.

Fortunately in her later books, the author was to concentrate more on her strengths, and that narrative style and humour was to be coupled with much more interesting plots and more in-depth exploration of character: all of which seem to come together in her brilliant I Wrote a Pony Book. However A Pony For Jean is definitely worth a read for it’s charming style and for the fact that it was at the forefront of the rider-centred pony book as we know it today, and as such is a classic of the genre.

It is also interesting to read Joanna Cannan’s books and see much of her style (both good and bad!) appearing in her children. The humour appeared mainly in Josephine, the insight in Diana and the readability in all three. Her daughters were to build upon her beginnings and bring a further depth and realism to the pony genre, but Joanna will always be one of the pioneers!

NB - To see the review on the ponymadbooklovers website, vote for it and/or add comments please click here

Latest authors added to the website

As of today have added a few new authors. These include some European authors as well as some who write for the Stabenfeldt/Pony Club publishing venture. I will be concentrating on these two areas, plus some American authors, for the next few weeks. The full list of authors added since the last update is:

CLYDE BULLA
ANGELA DORSEY
ELEANOR JONES
NICHOLAS KALASHNIKOFF
LESLEY KING
SHEILA LAVELLE
GUNNEL LINDE
JANE McILWAINE
GILL MORRELL
BEVERLEY NICHOLS
MARJORIE PROCTOR
ISOLDE PULLMAN
GERALD RAFTERY
FELIX SALTEN
JUDY VAN DER VEER
ARMINE VON TEMPSKI

Due to the fact I am practically snowed in at the mo, I will hopefully be able to add quite a few more over January.

New authors added to the website

Just a quickie to say that, thanks to the Christmas hols, I have at last managed to add some more new authors to my website
Most notably Lorna Hill, but also Judith Campbell, Catherine Spencer, John Kenney and Betty Horsfield (great name for a pony author!) I will hopefully be adding more over the next few days. I may start work once more on my Monica Edwards page. The file and its back up mysteriously disappeared so I have to start from scratch - most annoying!

No such thing as a free lunch.....or postage!

Well folks, apologies in advance for a bit of a rant, but if I cant rant on my own blog where can I? The subject is eBay. I used to be a big fan. As a bookseller, I was at one time selling a large amount of my stock on eBay and was a ‘highly exalted’ power seller. I also used to love buying bargains there. Now it has all changed. A series of management (or is that mis-management) decisions over the last couple of years has drastically altered the auction site – and not for the better. The consensus of opinion seems to be that the site is moving towards becoming just another homogenous internet mall instead of the interesting and quirky place it used to be. There is a widespread feeling of dissatisfaction with the website, and from the moment eBay announced its latest changes, this dissatisfaction has turned to real anger amongst many eBay users.

Lately there have been a series of fee hikes for the smaller business and private seller, whilst the huge sellers of new goods are being given concessions left, right and centre. Also changes in the way buyers can search for goods has given prominence to such merchant shops, making it well nigh impossible to search for bargains without ploughing through literally hundreds of similar highly priced items from these big companies.

The latest change – coming into implementation on the 19^th October – is to introduce ‘free’ postage in a huge range of categories, including books and videos. But this is a misnomer, it is not free at all and in fact spells disaster for many small businesses and private sellers and is detrimental even for the buyers. How? Well, obviously we sellers cannot post items for free, as unfortunately neither the Royal Mail or any courier service I know of is that obliging! We must therefore add our postage costs to the actual cost of our items when we list them now, and because this increased cost will mean we are paying a final fee percentage of a larger amount to ebay (surprise, surprise) we either have to swallow the loss or add this extra on top of the selling price – thus the majority of goods on ebay will actually probably go up in price.

So much for free postage. Not only is it not free, if you are a buyer you will be more likely to be paying MORE! And it doesn’t stop there because postage discounts for multiple items may also become a thing of the past: how can you give a discount on ‘free’ postage?

But the people who will suffer the most are the private individuals who list a few unwanted things on auction occaisionally, taking advantage of the no auction fee for 99p or less auctions in order to make a few extra quid (much needed in this time of recession). This new change makes a complete mockery of the free listing fees for low cost items - for what things can you post for less than 99p? A light skinny paperback book or DVD costs 76p, a video £1.85, and this does not even take packaging costs into account. These sellers will actually be making a loss on everything they sell at 99p or less if they cannot charge for P &P and so will have no reason to continue listing items.Unless of course they want to risk losing re-listing fees for items which they know may take a few weeks to sell. Say goodbye to those little luxuries the extra money may have afforded, you sellers. And you buyers who would have bought these nice little bargains are also left out in the cold.

Perhaps it wouldn’t stick in the craw so much if eBay wasn’t trumpeting on about free postage as if they are doing everyone a favour and telling us smugly that they have come up with this policy to protect buyers from “excessive P&P costs.” This smacks of the Government’s new crack-downs on sick benefits to the chronically ill, telling such people that they are far better off in work Yeah right, having to drag yourself out of your sick bed and work all day feeling like death, really puts a twinkle in your eye and a spring in your step. In both cases they are trying to pretend they are soliticous of our welfare, when money is the real issue.

I think people would be able to accept the changes, if not with equinamity, but at least with less anger if eBay would just come out and say the real reason they are doing this: that they want to make more money by getting a commission from postage charges and they want to gradually phase out the private sellers and their 99p bargains and the smaller shops who don’t make them much profit. (Just as the Government wants to save money by shipping off all the sick people back to work!) For this is the truth. And another truth is, if this does happen, then buyers will lose those bargains, the huge diversity of items, the interesting and unique things which you could only find on eBay – and it will become just one more boring seller of electrical goods and DVDs.

For myself, I am shutting my ebay shop of 7 years standing, come 19^th October. From selling about 75% of my stock there, this has dwindled to a handful of things a week, and is just not worth the expenditure any more. I may list the odd thing there, but I will mainly be selling on my own websites. I will also be trying ebid which is the main rival to ebay in terms of internet auction sites. OK, perhaps at the mo as much of a rival to eBay as your local computer shop is to Bill Gates, but hopefully when the bargains start disappearing from eBay, perhaps more people will turn there instead. It already has the potential to be the new eBay, and this could be the boost it needs.

I am angry at eBay, but in the end it is a business and it has decided that it can make more money with its new policies. This remains to be seen, but even if its balance sheets do improve, it will be at the expense of something which had become an institution. So my main emotion is sadness that we seem to be coming to the end of an era in internet auctions.

Read or take part in an eBay chat forum discussion about some of these issues

New look website

I am in the process of giving my pony book collecting site ponymadbooklovers.co.uk a face lift. At the moment it is just the main pages of the site, although in time I will be updating it all for a more stream-lined look. I am NOT a web designer and also have to fit it in with all the other 101 tasks of daily life...so please bear with me on this!

At the same time I will be utilising this blog more for website news and updates on new authors added, etc.

Anyway, hope you all like the new look site which you can check out here

Pony jobs for Jill...or not? Are pony books pro or anti-feminist?

As with many of my musings, this topic has been inspired by a discussion on the ponymadbooklovers chat forum. Now, I always thought that compared to other books of that era aimed at girl readers, pony books were fairly empowering. Unlike the many of the adventure books, especially those by Enid Blyton, both girl and boy characters in the majority of pony books were on a fairly equal footing. (Compare for example the escapades of the female characters in the families of the Pullein-Thompson books to the way that Dinah and Lucy-Ann in Enid Blyton's 'Adventure' series were always left to do the boring stuff by the boys, who had all the exciting adventures.) However when these independant pony-girls began to grow up and enter the job market, things seemed to change for them. One of the biggest disappointments of my pony book reading career (and that of many other similar readers) is at the end of Pony Jobs for Jill by Ruby Ferguson, when Jill is persuaded to give up her dreams of pursuing a horsy career. After a series of unappetitising horsy jobs, she almost seems to welcome the suggestion by Captain Cholly-Sawcutt that she keep her riding for a hobby and get trained for a 'proper job.'

Far more satisfying were the characters who defied their parents and convention to stick with a horsy career. We have Janet in Janet Must Ride, Rennie in Rennie Goes Riding, Fiona in Clear Round, Sarah and Ginette in Ten Week Stables, and many more.

A lot of books followed the Pony Jobs for Jill theme of the horsy job as being deadly hard-work, under-paid and disappointing: which as we all know it can be. And of course not pursuing a horsy career is not necessarily giving up the fight for equality and independence. However as another forum member pointed out, how come the non-pony choice of job always seemed so un-intellectual? The older pony books offered a selection of secretarial or domestic jobs, more recently modelling has been offered as an alternative to the horsy career. Where were the degree courses, the careers in science, law or teaching? Were these books actually saying that the pony mad girl was anti-intellectual and that horses and brains could not be combined? I am still wracking my brains for books where the heroine left the world of horses to pursue such a job.

So are pony books pro-feminism or do they conform to the old stereotype of women as intellectual inferior and fit only for motherhood or unchallenging jobs? It is sad that many authors allowed their creations only a short period of equality and freedom before
they were expected to conform, and that many were not allowed to show any intellectual capacity at all. Especially so as most of the authors of the genre were female and many were highly educated. On the whole however I think compared to other books of the 1940s-1960s era, they do come down on the side of empowering female characters. For every Jill who allows herself to be moulded into what society would like her to be, there are ten Janets and Rennies who pursue their independance despite the odds. Certainly no girl in any pony book I have ever read bemoaned the fact she was a mere girl and tried to turn herself into a psuedo-boy, as did George in the Famous Five! They may have had their problems but in general, their gender was not one of them!