Review: ALL THREE - It Began with Picotee: the new edition

This week's book is the new edition of It Began with Picotee. I say new, as not only does it contain their first full novel, It Began With Picotee,  it also contains bonus content.

It is published by Jane Badger Books and is currently available as an ebook and paperback edition.  I shall not review It Began with Picotee again, as apart from an unacceptable term (see previous review) being removed, it has not been edited. It contains the original illustrations by Rosemary Robertson. For the purposes of my review, I shall focus on the bonus content. 

The blurb reads:- 

The Pullein-Thompson sisters are the amongst the best known of the classic pony story authors. Most of their books have been printed and reprinted, but the stories they wrote when they started off are much harder to find. The sisters wrote their first works together, and they are gathered here in this volume. 

It Began with Picotee was their first full-length novel, written by all three during WWII. It has been out of print for nearly 80 years. 

Their earliest works, Cocktail Capitulates and The Road to Ruin, two short pieces that appeared in Riding Magazine, have been out of print for even longer.

This new edition brings these stories together for the first time, showing the sparky observation and solid equine knowledge that flowed through the Pullein-Thompsons' novels for decades to come. 

Hunting was legal when these stories were written, and they reflect that. 

The first bit of bonus content is Cocktail Capitulates: a bit that I touched briefly on in my previous review of It Began with Picotee.  Basically it is a story of how they school a pony. There is more to that, and is their first published work, and it is certainly interesting. 

The second bit of bonus content is The Road to Ruin. It is a story of a pony turned bad, and you can see where the early days of their writing talent shone. It reads like a fictional story rather than Cocktail Capitulates where it is obviously non fiction. To me, personally speaking, I preferred this one. But both Cocktail Capitulates and The Road to Ruin are equally good in terms of quality. 

The next bit is an history of their early works. Most of it has been taken from Jane Badger's Heroines on Horseback (previously reviewed). It is only really interesting if you haven't read Heroines on Horseback or have forgotten it. Either way it's an fascinating insight into the background of their early works. 

There is an historical articles: one about how life has changed, at least monetary wise since it was first written (if like me you were born after decimalisation in the 1970s it's an alien world of shillings) and the two real life showjumpers that are mentioned. It certainly explains a lot to a modern audience. The second is how showjumping used to be scored in the past which adds interest and the third and final one is about publishing history. Jane makes it clear that an unfortunate word has been removed.

So I recommend this edition if you haven't read It Began with Picotee before and if you have then for the sheer bonus content if you dont own them already. It's clear that the PTs knew their stuff from the off. This edition provides an interesting and informative insight into the early years.

Review: ALL THREE: It Began With Picotee

It Began With Picotee is this week's book. It is their first book, and like their mother, all 3 sisters collabrated to do it. It was first published in 1946, the same year as both Diana and Josephine published their first solo books.

It is illustrated by Rosemary Robertson, who was not only a friend of Josephine's, but also did their mother's They Bought Her A Pony.

The blurb reads:-

It began with Picotee, then came Tony, and Pengo and a whole host of other ponies. Some were amenable to discipline, others were decidedly not. But good, or bad, for the three girls who looked after them, the more ponies they had the more they liked it.

It Began With Picotee is rather an apt title, since this began which is was obviously a rather fruitful career for all 3 sisters.

It is, as the blurb suggests, the story of 3 sisters. How much is based on themselves I do not know, but I suspect rather a lot. The first chapter they acquire a second pony - Tony - and they take him hunting. At the time of writing, unlike today, hunting was a key feature of the countryside horsey scene. Thankfully it is not too graphic in it's description so if you accept that hunting went on, it's not liable to offend.

The second chapter is taken up by the girls acquiring yet another pony - Pengo - and without giving too much away, the fun and games they have with him. 

Then in the third chapter they acquire a pony called Imp who they rename Angus. Again like the previous chapter they have - albeit different - fun and games with him.

The fourth chapter is taken up with 3 more ponies that the sisters acquire. One is called Bronx, which the groom says "Mind you sit tight, Miss, 'e didn't 'alf cut some capers in the yard this morning". This is most likely based on the sisters experience themselves as the exact words were used in a 1941 article by the sisters in Riding Magazine.  Again like the first chapter there is a hunting scene but, nothing liable to offend. 

The next few chapters is taken up with schooling which I suspect Josephine may have a hand in. Certainly they acquire no more ponies although there is a horse show the results I will no divulge as to not spoil the story. 

The final chapter is entitled Plenty of Ponies unfortunately contains the n word but it's not used as an insult but a reference to a shade of brown. Thankfully it's the only occurrence of that unfortunate word. It may be noted that none of the PTs used racial slander in their pony books since. Though it you have to remember that this book was originally published and written in the 1940s where attitudes were completely different to a modern audience. 

I quite enjoyed this book. It's a bit rambling in places but overall a decent plot. It's not their finest work but then again you have to remember it's their first work. First works by authors rarely are. Overall a decent effort. 

Review: ALL THREE - Fair Girls and Grey Horses

Fair Girls and Grey Horses: Memories of a country childhood is really their second collective work, as the first was It Began with Picotee. However, unlike It Began With Picotee, this is an non fictional work. It is actually an autobiography, with all 3 sisters contributing to every chapter. This is actually a different style to It Began With Picotee, which works much better I think. However, it does lead to some duplication.

It was first published in 1996, 50 years after the publication of It Began with Picotee. The scan is of an paperback edition, which has the same cover as the hardback edition. There is also a large type edition and an audio book version (sadly, not read out by the sisters).

This book is not aimed at children, more like adult collectors or people have who have read their books as a child and are now grown up. It is not illustrated.

The blurb reads:-

'Are your twins normal?' Mrs Pullein-Thompson was asked. 'Good God, I hope not,' she retorted.

The twins were Diana and Christine who, with their elder sister Josephine, have written 150 books, which have sold in millions around the world. Now, over 50 years after the publication of their first book, It Began with Picotee, the sisters have jointly written about their extraordinary childhood with lovable but often unreliable animals and unforgettable humans.

It also mentions quite frequently their brother Denis Cannan, and their father, Cappy, of which little is known about, at least in comparison to the sisters (and their mother). It begins with some family history.

Although not meant to be funny, there are some. One particular incident is when Josephine writes "He also had an embarrassing habit of knocking the hats off men who failed to remove them for the National Anthem" when talking about how Cappy was fiercely patriotic. Also they (the sisters) had euphemisms brought by their Victorian Nana, and the confusions/chaos it sometimes caused led to some amusing incidents.

There are a few adult references, but not as much as the non pony work, A Place With Two Faces (Josephine), but the general tone would make it boring for children. There are some incidents about animals (not necessarily about horses) which provide some amusement. Some events which happened in their life did actually appear in their (or their mother's) books, though the names had been changed.

Three are also some sample of poems which have yet to appear in any other book, which gives a fascinating insight into their fruitful literary career, especially as most of them were written before the publication of It Began With Picotee. There are also some photos of their childhood.

In some ways, it shows (despite their lack of formal education) the forward-thinking of their Mamma (Joanna Cannan). Although she did send them to school at some point, she insisted that they only attended half a day, because she "believed children should enjoy their childhood", a fact that is sadly lacking these days.

All in all, a humorous book, and completely utterly enjoyable. However for me, the greatest disappointment was the fact that there was not a complete bibliography of their works included. Admittedly, Christine did write several books after this was first published. You notice to the right there is the link to the Wikipedia article which has all the books listed, but that was done by me, following many hours of research. If that was included, it would have made my life much easier. Completely and utterly fascinating, though sadly there is not much about the riding school that they owned.