Mary Treadgold


	Mary Treadgold Born in London on April 16th, 1910. Worked in publishing, first with the firm of Raphael Tuck and afterwards as Heinemann's first Children's Editor. Her most famous and award winning novel We Couldn't Leave Dinah was written in an air-raid shelter during the London blitz. As an editor, Mary received a huge amount of manuscripts for pony books, most of which she thought were pretty bad. She began writing her book just to see if she could do better herself: the answer of course was a resounding 'yes!' Mary was highly intelligent, widely travelled and multi-lingual and her books reflect these traits, being set in different parts of the world with characters of different nationalities. Despite her literary success, Mary did not take herself too seriously as a writer, describing herself as a "hobby author." This possibly explained why she did not write many books. Apart from the pony books listed here she wrote just a handful of other children's books. Her books are all extremely well-written and some have a depth far beyond most pony/adventure novels. The Heron series in particular is an excellent exploration of the emotions of loneliness and longing, without being overly depressing or too downbeat. The author was also lucky in having some excellent artists illustrating her works. They include Stuart Tresilian (probably best known for his Enid Blyton illustrations), Ruth Gervis and Victor Ambrus.


	Heron Series: 1) THE HERON RIDE (JONATHAN CAPE 1962) ILLUSTRATED BY VICTOR AMBRUS Also a Childrens Book Club edition. Reprinted a few times in paperback by Knight. EDITIONS PICTURED: Childrens Book Club edition, 1960s Knight paperback, early & late 1970s Knight paperbacks. SUMMARY: Orphans Sandra and Adam are pleased to be spending their holidays away from their unpleasant Uncle and Aunt who are their guardians. They love Miss Vaughan who is looking after them, and horse-mad Sandra is even allowed to ride a pony. But Toby is not exactly a dream horse, being both hairy and stubborn, and when Sandra sees the local riding holiday centre children out for a ride she wishes she could join them. She dreams of a time when her parents were alive and she remembers beautiful horses...will she ever recapture that joy? Then an unexpected visitor turns up at Miss Vaughan's cottage and everything changes for Sandra, Adam and even the riders at the holiday centre. PONYMAD BOOKLOVERS RATING: 5 HORSESHOES Read Review 2) RETURN TO THE HERON (JONATHAN CAPE 1963) ILLUSTRATED BY VICTOR AMBRUS Reprinted a few times in paperback by Knight. EDITIONS PICTURED: Knight paperback editions, early & late 1970s. SUMMARY: Set a year after the first book. Sandra is worried about Adam who, since suffering a broken hip in an accident, has become morose and difficult. He dreams of living in The Heron, the beautiful old house they visited on their holiday last year, and Sandra still dreams of having her own horse. Things improve when the children return to Miss Vaughan's cottage, scene of last summer's magical holiday and also learn that they are to have a new guardian. Adam revisits The Heron and Sandra falls in love with a horse she is allowed to exercise...but it seems that both their dreams - of the house and the horse - are still far from becoming reality… PONYMAD BOOKLOVERS RATING: 4 HORSESHOES 3) JOURNEY FROM THE HERON (JONATHAN CAPE 1981) EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition. SUMMARY: Prequel to the other two books, so could be read before them. The story is set in the past days of The Heron during the First World War. It obviously does not contain the same characters as the first two books, being set many years before, but is more of a background to their story. Also, as I have not read this one, I am not sure if there is any pony content in it at all. Collectors info: The first two in series were reprinted as paperbacks and are fairly easy to find in paperback form, especially The Heron Ride. The last in series is by far the hardest to come across. Don't think it was ever re-printed as paperback. It is usually more expensive than the other two. As far as I know the books were not published in America. Whilst not common in the USA or Australia they can be found in both these places.


	Other Pony Books: WE COULDN'T LEAVE DINAH (JONATHAN CAPE 1941) ILLUSTRATED BY STUART TRESILIAN Reprinted in hardback by original publisher a number of times. Reprinted in paperback by Puffin. EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, 1970s hardback reprint, 1960s Puffin paperback. SUMMARY: Set in the Channel Islands during World War Two on the fictional island of Clerinel. Caroline is distraught when the island she lives on is evacuated due to the Nazi invasion and she realises her pony, Dinah, will have to be left behind. But she finds herself with worse to contend with when she and her brother Mick end up stranded on the Nazi-occupied island. The book won the Carnegie Medal in 1941 PONYMAD BOOKLOVERS RATING: 4 HORSESHOES NO PONIES (JONATHAN CAPE 1946) ILLUSTRATED BY RUTH GERVIS Reprinted in hardback by original publisher a number of times. EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition. SUMMARY: A family of children go to stay at their Aunt's house in the south of France. They are not particularly looking forward to mixing with their overly hearty and excessively horsy cousins. But when they arrive they find that the ponies are gone… PONYMAD BOOKLOVERS RATING: 3 HORSESHOES THE RUM DAY OF THE VANISHING PONY (BROCKHAMPTON 1970) Reprinted in paperback by Knight. EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Knight paperback. SUMMARY: A girl wakes up one morning feeling out of sorts with the world. She quarrels with her family, decides she doesn't want to sell her pony to the boy who was going to buy him and sets off on a camping trip she had no intention of going on. But things get even odder when she finds herself mixed up with two disturbing strangers. When the real reason for the day's strangeness is revealed it also saves her from disaster. PONYMAD BOOKLOVERS RATING: 3 HORSESHOES Collectors Info: We Couldn't Leave Dinah was reprinted a lot of times in both hardback and paperback, and is easy to find in paperback . Hardbacks are harder to find and the first edition is rare and valuable. No Ponies was not reprinted in paperback and thus is a little harder to find, although not extremely so. Also the first edition is not as valuable. The Rum Day had the least printings of the three. It was reprinted by Knight paperbacks which is the most commonly seen edition. Apart from the early editions of 'Dinah' the books are all usually reasonably priced. Outside of the UK the books are all harder to find and may be more expensive.