Naughty Norton & Losing Norton, by

The most important thing is not to leave before your pony has learnt the day’s lesson. Today’s lesson was that I was in charge.

Norton is a pony with attitude. He likes eating and playing games, but he doesn’t like listening to his owner, Molly. Nonetheless, Molly loves Norton, and she thinks he’s the most perfect pony in the world.

Pony Patch is a new series from black dog books, and features the adventures of Norton and Molly. In Naughty Norton, Molly tries to catch Norton for her afternoon ride. Unfortunately, Norton has other ideas. In Losing Norton, Molly thinks Norton has been pony-napped.

Both stories are told in the first person voice of Molly, with illustrations which often tell us the true story, which is a little different from Molly’s version. For example, when Molly tells us how much Norton loves being with her, the illustrations show him running away.

This is a cute series, which horse-mad youngsters will love. A back of book glossary and hints for pony care are a useful addition.

Naughty Norton and Losing Norton, both by Bernadette Kelly, illustrated by Liz Alger
black dog books, 2007