What do you get the pony book fan in your life, when you want to focus on independent authors and makers? Here are some ideas.
Cressida Burton
First up is the Ravensbay School series by Cressida Burton. The books are set at a boarding school with riding on the curriculum, and it’s a brilliant choice if you have a pony-mad child to buy for. Or a school story fan, or indeed, yourself. Plus, it’s a series so you’re good for presents for a while if it goes down well, and it should do.
Both First Term at Ravensbay and White Horses at Ravensbay are set in autumn term and end with a Christmassy vibe too.
The books are available as paperbacks for £8.99, and you can find all the options for buying on Cressida’s website.
Helen Haraldsen
I’ve followed Helen Haraldsen and her writing for a while, and speaking of shopping local, she’s worked with local Cumbria makers to come up with these really lovely presents. You can buy gift boxes with lots of pony (or dog!) related goodies. I particularly liked the creative writing one.
You get an Amber’s Pony Tales notebook, matching pencil tin and crocheted pencil topper. There are also creative writing prompts – ideal if you have a child whose dearest wish is to write their own pony story. The box is £20.00. There’s also a gift box with a Hollyhill Farm adventure, and dog-related boxes too. They’re all available directly from Helen at her website. Helen’s kindly doing a really excellent giveaway on my Facebook page, so keep an eye out for that.
Amanda Wills
Do you like a boxed set? I love a boxed set. Amanda Wills has some lovely ones. I love her Riverdale series, and you can buy various boxed sets. The first three books are available as a paperback set for £ 12.99. They’re available via Amazon, and you can find out all about Amanda and her books here (and I should add that if thrillers are your thing, she does brilliant ones under the name A J McDine. No horse, but they’ll keep you up until you’ve finished them).
Sian Shipley
Another independent author who’s just launched with a cracking book is Sian Shipley. Touchpaper and Kindling is the first in a series set in a pit village in Wales. If you like determined heroines and solid historical detail (and excellent ponies) you will love this. The book is available in paperback via Amazon. It’s been one of my stand out reads of the year so far.
horses can do ballet
There are not many pony books out there that celebrate diversity, but Jade Leahy, who wrote the award-winning Horses Can Roll but They Can’t Roller Skate has written a sequel. Horses Can Do Ballet “celebrates the magic of friendship, diversity, and the joy of learning. The story follows the adventures of Rosie the piebald pony with a heart as big as her ‘cow print’ patches.”
Jade’s first book made £1200 for Riding for the Disabled, and for every copy sold of Horses Can Do Ballet, a donation is made to the charity too. It’s available in paperback directly from Jade on her website for £8.99, and you can order it from bookshops too. It’s also sold in aid of Riding for the Disabled.
And lastly … are you the sort of person who uses anything handy as a bookmark? An envelope? Receipt? Your phone? I freely admit that is who I am, but I love an actual proper bookmark too.
Everyone needs a bookmark
Emily Cole, of Emily Cole Illustrations, does wonderful calendars, mugs and many many other things, but did you know she also did bookmarks? These are gorgeous wooden cut outs, and you can get them in dressage or showjumping models for £3.00 each. I love them. You can buy them directly from the website, or watch out for Emily at the big shows.
Emily has also published a book of her illustrations: A Book of Things I Drew. It’s £35.00. The first printing sold out, but another one has just arrived, so trot on over quickly if you want it.
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