Poppy is desperate to ride the beautiful grey pony she visits every day after school, and she’s certain she’ll get the chance at Pony Camp during the school holidays, even though she doesn’t have much riding experience. Gorgeous Misty is assigned to the snooty, dressed-to-the-nines Izzy, and Poppy gets lumpen, hairy Henry. As often happens in reality as well as in pony books, though, the prettiest pony also turns out to be the most highly strung, and the friendly, steady, Henry is a far better riding teacher – and friend. With a dramatic rescue and a happy ending for Poppy and Henry, this is a sweet little novel which will please plenty of readers, not just the ones happiest in the stable!

The reading age sits around Year 3-4 (ages 7-9) and could be enjoyed as a parent-read chapter book for a younger child too. Poppy and the Perfect Pony is a great story and I’ll be looking to add a few more of this series to our collection as we have some thoroughly horse-mad children! I am assured (by my own horse-loving reader) that the technical details stand up well, which is very important when you’re writing about someone’s passion – you don’t want your readers to pop out of the story in outrage at a misplaced bit of equipment!