

Pony Camp Diaries: Kelly McKain
Stripes Publishing, 2007. £3.99
A series: so far there are 5 books
Rating: «««
Written in diary form, each book is about the adventures of one of the girls who
are on holiday at Sunnyside Stables, where they have a pony allotted to them for
the week. It's aimed, we thought, at children of 8 upwards -
My 12 year old and I read the first in the series, Sophie and Shine. Sophie doesn't
have a pony of her own, and is given Shine to look after for the week. The other
campers are all girls, and they have the usual parade of lessons, outings and an
end-
What happens with the ponies is good and accurate (which is more than can be said
for the illustrations). We disagreed about the way the technical bits are described.
Miranda said "if you weren't horsey, you wouldn't have a clue about what was going
on. If you're not horsey, how are you supposed to know what transitions and dressage
are?" I thought Kelly McKain had wisely resisted the temptation to explain what would
be incomprehensible to a non-
The one thing that did prickle at me was the letter from the stable owner that starts the whole thing off. "Your pony can't wait to meet you!" it says. Most of the riding school ponies I've known, when I led them out to greet their bumpety beginner, were plainly thinking "Oh gawd, here we go again," but I think this painting of ponies with the glib brush of cheeriness is all part of the point of view which seems to think children will only respond to something if it’s cool.
Miranda liked the style in which it was written, and the diary format. For her the
style is not unusual, though she appreciates other styles just as much if not more.
For her fussy mama, it was plain irritating, and at one point I was so infuriated
by the relentless use of the exclamation mark I was reduced to counting them to see
if there were any pages on which they'd been missed out. I think my daughter was
rather more taken by the book than her comment here would suggest. “It’s not something
I’d pick up again -
So, our verdict. Well, I'd agree with Miranda. It's a good enough read: it is absolutely of the moment, but is there something about the characters that grabs you, that gives you that sense that yes, you know how this feels, and you want more? No.
Kelly McKain
Kelly McKain has worked as a pre-
Her Pony Camp Diaries series, reviewed below, is written in the breathless (and to an adult ear, relentless) style that many children’s television programmes are delivered in. The books, and her website are so determinedly upbeat I actually feel mean griping about this, as I feel she’d cry. It feels like walloping a labrador puppy.
Pony Camp Diaries Series
Megan and Mischief , 2006
Poppy and Prince, 2006
Chloe and Cracker, 2007
Sophie and
Shine, 2007
Charlie and Charm, 2008
Emily and Emerald, 2008
Jessica and Jewel, 2009
Lauren and Lucky, 2009
Hannah and Hhope, 2010
