Marjorie Reynolds

The Cabin on Ghostly Pond

Harper & Row, New York, 1962, illus Lorence Bjorklund

A Horse Called Mystery

Harper & Row, New York, 1964, illus Wesley Dennis

“Owlie limps and wears glasses, but when he rescues a horse and nurses it back to health with the help of
his friend the doctor, he learns that looks are not the most important part of a person.!

Keep a Silver Dollar

Harper & Row, New York, 1966, illus by Michael Lyne

Hamish Hamilton, London, 1967

Children’s Book Club, London, 1967

“Mark has outgrown his pony, but his father refuses to let him have a bigger horse until his
grades improve, and he becomes more responsible.  However, when Mark sees an abused
open jumper and is given the chance to reform him, he does so without his father’s
permission.”

Marjorie Reynolds was born in Rochester, New York, and before settling there, lived in France, England and Quebec.  She married Major- General R C Reynolds, a retired British Army officer.  The family were always interested in horses;  they lived in the fox-hunting country of Genesee Valley, and spent their summers on Nantucket Island.  Marjorie Reynolds has written six horse books:  all have a boy hero.  Unlike most American horse book boys, none of her heroes come from the ranching or western worlds, but all feature English-style riding.  

Only one of her books (Keep a Silver Dollar) was published in the UK.  It appeared also as a Children’s Book Club edition, and is reasonably easy to find.  In her books’ original American printings, they are unusual in having pictorial boards with matching dustjackets.  Books were often produced this way as special library editions, but not generally for the public.  This has meant that few survive with the dustjackets; presumably discarded when they became tatty.  The books are however no more expensive with a dustjacket than without; just harder to find.   

Many thanks to Susan Bourgeau for providing the information and pictures for this section.

Sources:
Cabin on Ghostly Pond, Sire Unknown

Terri Wear:  Annotated Bibliography

Dark Horse Barnaby

Macmillan, New York,  967, illus  Peter Biegel

“Mr Peterson wants only palominos in his stable so when his son Jeff brings home a bay hunter, it means
trouble.”

Sire Unknown

Macmillan, New York, 1968, illus Lorence Bjorklund

“A skewbald gelding is not the kind of horse that Jim wanted, but it is all his father could afford to buy, and the
horse proves that colour is not the most important feature of a horse.”

Ride the Wild Storm

Macmillan, New York, 1969, illus Lorence Bjorklund

“Asthmatic David is sent to Nantucket for the summer while his parents get a divorce, and he is allowed to
ride the mare Salty until a buyer is found for her.”

Bibliography:  horse books only