Book Master

Straight off the bat, it is obvious, if you are looking for a competent horse fiction author that would appeal to your daughter or niece, Stacy Gregg would certainly fit that bill. Her writing style is uncomplicated but crucially she still manages to instil plenty of action, drama and intrigue into the pages of her books. So much so, that she has gained a true and loyal fan base very quickly.

Looking through Waterstone’s bookshelves for writers of horse fiction for the 9-12’s, her name, Stacy Gregg, is one of the most prolific in this genre. She has few immediate rivals in this age group aside from Michael Morpurgo but the two authors are like chalk and cheese. There is no competition, in my mind. Ms Gregg outranks Morpurgo in many aspects of writing and marketability as well as appeal.

I’ve come into this Pony Club series quite late (Book 3), but I didn't feel like I’d missed out on anything. If I had, it certainly didn't become a serious problem. I managed to keep up with the action and the individual personalities of the characters. I think I had one small difficulty with the storyline in that everything seemed to come to these girls way too easily. It could be that as I’ve missed out on the other books in this series, that I had not come up against the crucial ‘learning’ processes that this Pony Club would have needed to have gone through. If there is a good enough of a reason as to why someone should start at the beginning then that is it!

To be fair, I am an adult reviewing a book aimed at the 9-12 age group, so it could be difficult to see just what attracts children of this age to this particular series. But, I feel personally, that I can place myself in the shoes of children around the age of 8, simply because of my own personal experiences and difficulties.

I believe it takes a very special writer to be able to publish books aimed at children; not every writer/author can do so, no matter what their status and reputation. There is a fine line between failing to appeal and the act of patronisation. But, there is none of these difficulties with this author. Her skill is very easy to see. This is one author that many other writers should take inspiration and lessons from, including me, if they wish to succeed in their writing.