Review: CHRISTINE - The Pony Test

The Pony Test is the third book in the Sophy series. It was first published in 1997, making it one of the last books she wrote.

Because of the short nature of the series (there are only about 46 pages) and the fact it is aimed at young children than most of Christine's books, there is a great difficulty in reviewing this book without giving away the story.

The blurb reads:-

Sophy is about to take her D Test, the first test after joining the Pony Club. She wants to be better than anyone else, so she chooses some big thick books from the library and learns all about diseases and different saddles. However, when the day for the test arrives, nothing goes quite to plan.


The book is illustrated. It is illustrated by Gilly Markew, and an example of an illustration is below. In the book there is a mixture of black and white illustrations.

It is a moral tale that proves a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Sophy gets a bit too carried away by the test which has disastrous results. It shows a more depth than previous books and what one wouldn't expect from a short story. Sophy gets nerves and fails the test. But there is more to the story than that and you will have to read it for yourself. 

It's a good moralistic tale for a pony mad youngster and not terribly expensive when found. It's a little simple for the average adult but overall a decent yarn.

Review: CHRISTINE - The Pony Picnic

The Pony Picnic is the fourth and final book in the Sophy series. It was first published in 1998, making it one of the last books she wrote.

Because of the short nature of the series (there are only about 46 pages) and the fact it is aimed at young children than most of Christine's books, there is a great difficulty in reviewing this book without giving away the story.

The blurb reads:-

Sophy is really looking forward to the pony picnic. She collects lot of important things she may need for the trip. But when she gets to the riding school the other riders, especially her rival Claire, makes fun of her overflowing rucksack.

However, by the end of the day everyone is very grateful indeed for Sophy was so well prepared...

The book is illustrated. It is illustrated by Gilly Markew. In the book there is a mixture of black and white illustrations. 

The book starts with Sophy getting very excited over a pony picnic and as the blurb suggests she packs a rucksack. It is interesting from these health and safety pov days as everything would be essential and unlike in the story Sophy wouldn't be laughed at. In the UK today there is a health and safety side of things with all matters equine - and not so equine - risk assessed.  But this book was published in the 1990s where it was not so health and safety.

But forget about the health and safety. Sophy has to deal with sadness - albeit brief - in this book. It's a more rounded book than the previous one.

I think that the average youngster would enjoy this book. It's not deep enough - or long enough- for the average older/adult reader though the signs are there. Personally speaking the Sophy series aren't my favourite but I am not the target audience.