Jill's Gymkhana (The Jill Books by Ruby Ferguson Book 1)

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Pages clean and bright with light staining on pages 84-85, spotting on closed edges, boards and binding firm, chipping and tape repairs to dust jacket. The book is actually quite clever about this when it comes to pony handling, as it follows all of Jill's 'and as of course you know' statements with very precise descriptions of how to brush or mount your pony, so that, well, of course the young know-it-all reading this book will know this information when it becomes vital to their future relationships with ponies.

Out of print for years, this is a reprint of the 1949 original using the original first edition text. Then we went to have a look at the ponies and make a fuss of them for doing so well, and we found them resting quietly in the shade of the trees and making soft little nickering noises of pleasure when they heard us speaking to them, and saw the handfuls of oats we held out to them. I really love Jill, she's such a well written, real character and I admire her competance and general self confidence. She's got good spirit and it's hard to keep her down for long and she works hard in everything that she does.

stars for personal nostalgia and for taking me to another place and time, not because I want to be there or think it was a better time, it's just not now.

The morals of all the short vignettes in the book were all about how being polite and nice is better behaviour than being sensible. The Hampton and Armada versions have an extra phrase: ‘getting me down and making me pretty unbearable to live with. I find myself not wanting to watch or read anything American and/or overly relevant right now, is all I can say.These books are extremely well written, amusing and sometimes slightly tongue in cheek, especially when a terribly grown up 12 year old Jill refers to someone as "being in her 40's but not too old to enjoy herself"! Missing five-line paragraph how when Ann arrives she has one of her little sisters with her, riding a new tricycle. Missing four lines from first paragraph describing the frilled chintz dressing table and how her case sent by carrier was there.

This is packed with wonderful things - all sorts of friendships, Jill learning about horses, doing odd jobs, organising a yard sale, all sorts of pony-mad children well-off and otherwise, discussion of pony books, school, even camp!citation needed] In contrast, Ferguson's Jill is an active, independent and witty character who defies post-war expectations for English girls by scorning ladylike pursuits, treating boys her own age as equals, and working hard to achieve her goals. After its original publication, The Queen Mother is reported to have enjoyed the book so much that she invited Ruby Ferguson to dinner at Buckingham Palace. Oh, the book isn't disgustingly racist, definitely not by the standards of the time - it's that casual kind of racism you come across in books written pre-civil rights where they casually refer to working hard as "working like a Black". Missing entire last six-line paragraph describing Jill having a good ‘howl’ about not being able to afford Blackie. Written in 1949, read by me around 1972 and rediscovered thanks to Lucy Mangan’s wonderful Bookworm.