Nancy Saxon

Panky and William
Atheneum, New York, 1983

Apple Paperback, Scholastic Inc, 1983, New York, 94pp, pb,
illus Charles Saxon

This is about Frances, who is only ever called Panky. Her family move to
the country, but Panky is determined not to dance and wear girdles, as her
mother wants. She wants to ride. She meets William, a horse who is vile
to everyone apart from Panky, and who is destined for the glue factory
Panky thinks she and William are alike: losers on the outside, but inside,
stars, and she decides to save him.

Panky in the Saddle

Atheneum, New York,
Apple Paperback, Scholastic Inc, New York, 1984, 145pp, pb,
illus Charles Saxon

Panky is desperate to be a great horsewoman, riding William. At first her
trainer says she is not good enough, but after many hours of practice, she
finally gets the chance to show how good he is, and to add to her joy, her
father agrees to pay for William’s livery. However, there is then a crisis at
home, and helping her family might mean Panky loses her horse and never
rides again.

Nancy Saxon (Nancy Lee Rogers) wrote the Panky series, about Frances, who was only ever called Panky. Overweight and unhappy, her life changes when she moves to the country and meets William, a disagreeable and vicious horse. There are three Panky stories.

The author, Nancy Saxon, grew up in the South, and went to Salem College, North Carolina, and Barnard College in New York City. Her husband, Charles Saxon, who illustrated the first two Panky books, she met when he was training to be a pilot in her home town. They have three children.

Charles Saxon (1920-1988) was a staff cartoonist for The New Yorker. He grew up in Brooklyn, and discovered at Columbia University that he preferred art to medicine.

Panky and William and Panky in the Saddle are very easy and cheap to find as paperbacks: the hardback first editions are more expensive, but not too hard to find. Panky in Love was, as far as I can tell, only published in hardback, but it’s reasonably easy to find. None of the books were published in the UK

Sources:

Wikipedia article on Charles Saxon

In memorium page on Charles Saxon

Many thanks to Danyele Foster for most of the information in this section, and to Susan Bourgeau for the pictures,