Magic Pony: A Dream Come True -
Scholastic, 2004, £3.00
Rating: «««
This didn’t fare well at all with my daughter, aged 12, who reviewed this book with me The plot, she announced firmly, does not link up. I don’t think that’s completely true. There is a lot to like about this book. Ned, the magic pony, is a cheerful beastie with the convenient gift of being able to change size. There is a realistic heroine, a splendid quarrel between her and her brother and parents with entirely believable reactions to the large and steaming pile of muck Ned leaves on the landing.
It's when the fantasy scrapes against the believable that the book loses me. If only Elizabeth Lindsay had resisted the temptation to have Natty’ s first riding experience leaping on a miniature Ned down 14 stairs, cantering across the sitting room, with a little light jumping over Dad’ s foot. I’ d been hoping that the meshing of the real world of Natty and the fantasy one of Ned would have led to her learning to steer round her slippers, say. I think this is what Miranda meant: the fantastical parts are just too fantastical to mesh well with the rest of the book, and it is a shame, because otherwise it’ s good.
I have, as yet, only read the first of the series, and they may well improve. I will add reviews of later titles here.
Elizabeth Lindsay
Elizabeth Lindsay was born in 1947 in Leicester. Her early riding experiences included the Corporation carthorses (bareback, in their field) and bullocks. The bullocks did not approve. They bucked her off. Despite these setbacks, she still loved riding, and was an outdoor girl, loving tree climbing and swimming, as well as reading.
She has written many books: the Midnight Dancer series, for slightly older children, is also about ponies. The Magic Pony series, the first of which is reviewed here is an amusing read, written with verve. I don’t feel the fantastic elements are blended as well as they might be with the rest of the story, but I’m willing to change my mind if later books are better.
The Magic Pony Series
A Dream Come True, 1997
The Lost Rabbit, 1997
Night-
Natty Saves the Day, 1998
Ghost in the House, 1998
The Champion Jumper, 1998
Worst Week at School, 1999
Seaside Detectives, 1999
Snow Bandits, 1999
Thieves on Wheels, 1999
Pet Rescue, 2004
Summer Dreams 2006
