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. 

Review: CHRISTINE - The Best Pony For Me!

The Best Pony For Me! is the second book in the Sophy series. It was first published in 1995, 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:-


When Sophie hears about the Horse Show, she begs to be allowed to ride Honey Bee, the best pony in the riding school. But instead of Honey Bee she is given a dull old plodder called Mousie. Sophie desperately wants to win first prize - but how can Mousie ever help her to achieve her dream?

Again, like The Doping Affair (to be covered at a later date), there is a spelling mistake, the blurb spells it Sophie, however for the rest of the series and internally, this book is spelt Sophy. This is the hardback edition, I do not know if it was correct for the paperback edition.

But anyway back to the story. To be honest, I much preffered this to I Want That Pony! It begins to show a little bit more of a human side, and less cardboard cut out  person. Though there are still limitations due to the short nature of the book, so we still don't see a great deal of depth to the characters. We are introduced to Claire, Sophy's enemy, and we get to see Mrs Mills, an riding school owner, both of which appear in subsequent books. Tabby, a kitten who we were introduced to in the previous book has now grown up to become a cat, proving that is there some sort of time line in the books, which the Candy series was lacking.

To be honest, there is a moralistic side to this tale. Sophy wins through because she puts in the practice and has determination. Which is I feel is what Christine is trying to portray. I feel as though she is making a good effort, but to be honest the "always be good" attitude is side tracking from this book. I dont feel it is strictly necessary, and to be honest is not included in her earlier books. In some ways it could be considered preaching, and preaching is not something which is great in a pony book. It doesnt stick in the back of your throat like The Boy Who Came To Stay (DPT) does, but it is not a great quality in a pony book. But DPT was after all, writing for a religious publisher.

I don't think this is Christine's greatest series. I think this was sold on the fact "because it's CPT and her books always sell" rather than it's merit. But after all, it is a brave effort because in the St James Guide To Children's  Writers (1999; fifth edition) she did admit that she felt out of touch with teenagers and that is why she wrote for younger children in her latter years. Rather than admit defeat and stop writing she simply changed her format. Which proved that CPT knew her market well, and hence we have these books today.

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

Review: CHRISTINE - I Want That Pony!

I Want That Pony! is the first in the book in the Sophy series. It was first published in 1993, making it one of the last books she wrote. It is also quite a hard to find book, and is the hardest to find in the series.

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 desperate to own Flash, the pony that lives down the lane. But Flash already has an owner: he belongs to Alison, who loves her pony very much, and would never dream of selling him. Who will win the battle over Flash?


Sophy is the ultimate 8 year old dream, although pony less, she is inevitably pony mad. She thinks she has it all, a pony who loves her, although she has it all spoilt by Alison, Flash's true owner.  Because of this I think it is more aimed at the average 8 year old who wants to read it alone rather than the pony book buying adult or the pony book collector.

Like the Candy series, there is not much depth to the characters due to the short nature of the story. We do see a bit more character in the main person than in the Candy series, but not enough to go into deep depths. A lot of it is due to the short nature of the books, and consequently of the series in general.

To be honest, I find this book hard to review. Why? Because of the ending. It feels like Sophy is being rewarded for doing bad things i.e. lying to her parents and also feeding another pony, which is an ultimate no-no.  She gets rewarded by having riding lessons, rather than being left to stew and reflect of her own actions.

Unlike the Candy series, there is a moralistic point of view across this book, and the whole of the series in general. However unlike the Candy series there is an enemy in the form of Alison, Flash's true owner, and without giving the book away (or indeed the series), there is an enemy throughout subsequent books.

I apologise somewhat for making comparisons with the Candy series, but I found this hard to review.  I find that comparison with the Candy series an direct, fair and accurate one, because they are both more firmly aimed at the same market ie children and not adults. They are both aimed at the 8 year old.


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. I find Gilly Markew's illustrations nicely drawn, well thought out and relevant to the bits of the story she is trying to portray.