Jill has just discovered she must spend the summer holidays away from her pony Black Boy while her mother does a book tour in the United States. I bought this book on a whim after a conversation with a friend on the books we used to read as teenagers.

Jill's problems aren't over, as she still needs to earn enough money to keep Black Boy in the winter. So far as I know, there is no comprehensive explanation of why this particular hobby so dominates the hearts and minds of the fairer sex, but then again when I was a kid I was completely obsessed with dinosaur trivia, and at least you can actually ride a pony. P114-5/92 Final four paragraphs (19 lines) describing the jodhpurs/jacket being repaired and Jill trying them on have been deleted. Soon she is soaring, literally, and gets to take part in her first gymkhana, with the chance to win a coveted rosette.My whole world as a pony mad child revolved around ponies, stables, riding and getting mucky, and of course I read everything there was to read on the subject, this brought back fond memories of the Jill series of pony books so I decided as an equally pony/horse mad adult to see if they still had the same charm I remembered as a child. The Hampton printing has an addition to the original text on page 38 (both versions): to ‘You see, for ages I haven’t been any use at all, since I couldn’t walk, and it was getting me down. stars for personal nostalgia and for taking me to another place and time, not because I want to be there or think it was a better time, it's just not now.

Out of print for years, this is a reprint of the 1949 original using the original first edition text. F.H' and 'hard woman from hounds' which ordinary pedestrians like me wouldn't have the foggiest about. There is so much of this book I remember which goes to show how much I loved it when I first read it. Two paragraphs (19 lines) missing, describing a ride with Miss Harvey in which she tells Jill she should be ready for gymkhanas, and reference to the need for a new saddle. I was thrilled to find that this book is published with the original text (some of the newer versions updated the language to reflect modern times) as this was the text of my original books.Does starting the year with a 72 year old English book for older children and young teens seem weird? Missing entire last six-line paragraph describing Jill having a good ‘howl’ about not being able to afford Blackie. I was given the whole set of books by my mum when I was quite small, as I was pony mad, just like her at that age, and I loved them all.

Missing four lines from first paragraph describing the frilled chintz dressing table and how her case sent by carrier was there. This may be an old book, but it is funny and enjoyable, even if I am a little bit older than its target audience! And they keep it in their back garden which it later turns out includes not only an orchard, but a hay field (! I personally am looking forward to reading the remaining 5 books in the series, I may even go so far as to read under the quilt with a torch to really go back to my childhood!The morals of all the short vignettes in the book were all about how being polite and nice is better behaviour than being sensible. Discover the joy of reading with us, your trusted source for affordable books that do not compromise on quality. Written in the 1950s, and set in post-war England during the 1940s, but not nearly as dated as you might think. For our most recent podcast episode, I made Dave read Jill's Gymkhana by Ruby Ferguson, a book from 1949 about a young girl named Jill who comes by a pony, learns to ride and dreams of entering a gymkhana.