Lavinia R. Davis
Hobby Horse Hill
Doubleday, Doran & Co Inc, New York,1939, illus Paul Brown, 309
E M Hale & Co, Wisconsin, 1939
William Heinemann, London, 1939, 273 pp.
Scholastic paperback edition 1959, illus Charles Beck
The Wade family think more about horses than they do about
their guests, as their
cousin Terry finds when she visits them and
finds them far more excitied about Cassandra,
a hunter arriving
on the same train. There are many adventures throughout the
summer,
but then Cassandra’s stay is cut short. Her subsequent
shipment to Virginia is followed
by a secret moonlight ride with
a mysterious conclusion.
Plow Penny Mystery
Doubleday, Doran & Co Inc, New York,1942, illus Paul Brown, 275 pp.
As Plough Penny Mystery
Collins, London, 1944, 1949, 249 pp.
Connie’s new neighbour, Larry was “beyond doubt a sissy” -
differently. It is Larry who found a curious penny while
digging, leading to their club, Plow Penny Farm. They
move horses and pets into the
shed, and fix up the deserted schoolhouse but then trouble starts.
Buttonwood Island
Doubleday, Doran & Co Inc, New York, 1940, illus Paul Brown, 299 pp.
“The two oldest of the four Hardwickes discovered a real island not far from where
they lived. But it was hard to
keep an island a secret and almost at once the new
neighbor boy, Sig, from the next farm, and their younger
brother and sister, the twins,
knew all about it. It was Sig’s idea to start a riding club with the old barn as
a secret
stable.”
Melody, Mutton Bone, and Sam
Doubleday, New York, 1947, illus Paul Brown, 245 pp.
Sam loves his own sway-
is about to lose his riding stable, Sam had to do something
to help. Sam and his friends hadn’t planned on being
involved though, in a mystery
involving Miss Sedgewick and her mare Red Queen, the most dangerous mare in the
countryside.
Lavinia Riker Davis (1909 -
under the name Wendell Farmer,
but all her horse books were written as Lavinia R Davis. She was born in New York
City, but spent most of her childhood in Red Bank, New Jersey. It was here that
she became interested in horses: as she put it herself, she “lived, dreamed and
worshipped horses.” At the age of seven, she began writing, but there was an extensive
gap until she was actually published: her first book (a mystery story) was published
after she married. The man in question was a lawyer and they had six children. Home
was a farm in Connecticut, where she and the children all competed for the attentions
of the one family horse, Bessie Bump.
“Writing and riding are my favorite hobbies,” she said: her writing career covered many different forms of fiction. She was lucky with her illustrators, with Caldecott Honor Medal winning Hildegard Woodward, and Paul Brown, probably the most sought after equine illustrator in America, working on her books. It is the Paul Brown illustrated titles for which you will pay most. Some of them were printed in the UK, and can be bought reasonably cheaply here, Paul Brown never having quite the following in the UK that he did in America.
Finding the books:
Three titles had UK publications: Hobby Horse Hill, Pony Jungle and Plough Penny
Mystery. These are generally reasonably easy to find, though can be pricey if they
have their dustjackets. In the USA, the Paul Brown factor makes Buttonwood Island,
Hobby Horse Hill, Melody, Mutton Bone and Sam and Plow Penny Mystery expensive,
though reasonably priced ex-
Sources:
Dustjacket of Sandy’s Spurs
A short Wikipedia article on the author
Information on Tomfolio, together with an
example of the author’s signature
Terri A Wear: Horse Stories, Scarecrow Press, Metuchen,1987
Janey's Fortune
Doubleday, New York, 1957, cover art by Albert Orbaan, 240 pp.
Janey had wanted to go to England with her family, but after a letter from her grandfather,
who recently died, hints
at a fortune to be found in his silver mine, Janey falls
in with her grandfather’s plan and decides to go to New Mexico
to find the fortune.
There are many mysteries when she gets there, as well as some romance.
Stand Fast and Reply
Doubleday, Doran 1943
cover art Edwin Georgi
Some examples of other work:
A Bibliography of the Writings of Edith Wharton
Southworth Press, Portland, 1933 (privately printed)
The Keys to the City: Adventures in New York
Charles Sribner, NY, London, 1936
Skyscraper Mystery
Charles Sribner, NY, London, 1937
Adventures in Steel (Short stories)
Modern Age Books, New York, 1938
We All Go Away
Charles Scribner, NY, London, 1940
Barren Heritage
Doubleday & Co, New York, 1946
Threat of Dragons
Withy Grove Press, Manchester, 1950
Island City: Adventures in Old New York
The World’s Work, Kingswood, 1962
Pony Jungle
Doubleday, Doran & Co Inc, New York,1941, illus Paul Brown, 309 pp.
Collins, London, 1944, 285 pp.
“Dibs wishes that she could ride with the new kids Rosemary and Patrick, but she
only has the work horse Major
to ride until Mrs Edgemont catches her riding Gray Mouse
and decides to let her use the pony for the summer.”
Source: Terri A. Wear: Horse Stories
Sandy’s Spurs
Doubleday, New York, 1951, illus Grace Paull, 246 pp.
Sandy doesn’t fit in when he visits Virginia: Ashe and Matty can’t understand someone
who doesn’t like horses,
and Sandy’s only friend is 7 year old carter. Then three
baby woodchucks are mysteriously drowned, and the
boys unite. There are other strange
happenings, and it is hard to solve the mystery when they also have
a horse show and
a 4-
Two donkey stories:
Bibliography -
An example of Lavinia R Davis’ non-
The Secret of Donkey Island
Doubleday, New York, 1952, illus Jean MacDonald Porter, 246 pp.
“When Captain Kirk stays on Lion Island with his donkey Bunty, Jamie visits the author
and the donkey and
tries to find out who used to live on the island and who is shooting
all the birds.”
Source: Terri A. Wear: Horse Stories
Donkey Detectives
Doubleday, New York, 1955, illus Jean MacDonald Porter, 220 pp.
“Duffy wins a donkey
in a raffle when Mme. Zappatti buys him a ticket. Then, with the donkey’s help,
he solves
the mystery of why Mme. Zappati has been sneaking around the house she’s
just sold.”
Source: Terri A. Wear: Horse Stories