Posted by: @narnian78

Did you ever read Black Beauty by Anna Sewell as a child?  I remember that I once had a simplified version of that story with some very colorful illustrations when I was about eight or nine.  I always liked stories about horses. I read it again in a children’s literature course in college. Recently I bought the Barnes & Noble edition for older children, and it is nicely bound and illustrated.  It is a modern edition, although the story was first published in 1877.  The book is great for older children and adults who wish to read the wonderful story again. 

Oh yes! I first read it at the age of nine and absolutely loved it, although I didn't have a simplified version and at times I struggled with words and concepts I didn't understand, not knowing very much about Victorian-era England at that time. But overall, it was such a good and powerful story that it stuck with me, and I've re-read it multiple times since then and come to love it more and more. I now have a beautiful annotated edition that has lots of explanatory notes and illustrations alongside the text of the story, and that makes it even more fascinating.

I had heard of My Friend Flicka and its sequels as a child, but never read them — I think I figured I knew even less about the American West than I did about Victorian England! I loved horse stories too (although I'm not a rider and nobody in my immediate family owns horses), but the ones I ended up really taking to — when I was 12 or so — were The Silver Brumby and its sequels, by Elyne Mitchell. Those are set in the Australian high country, so at least I didn't have any trouble understanding the terminology or picturing the scenery! (A brumby is the Aussie equivalent of a mustang, for anyone here who didn't know.)

I would definitely say anyone who loves horse stories should give those books a try, but I can only recommend the first four in the series — The Silver Brumby, Silver Brumby's Daughter, Silver Brumbies of the South, and Silver Brumby Kingdom. Those were the original four books and they're all brilliant. But some years after they were published, Mitchell started writing more books in the series that drifted further and further away from her original style and became a lot more mystical and dreamy in their tone, and a lot more vague and nebulous in their plots. I suspect she may have run out of really good ideas and possibly forgotten outright that her earlier books were a lot more punchy and exciting. So I now only consider the first four books "canonical" and ignore all the rest.  

@courtenay 

I would certainly recommend The Horse and His Boy to anyone who likes horse stories and talking animals. That Brumby series sounds quite interesting, although I am not sure if it is available here in the U. S.  I wonder if anyone here remembers Fury, a television series from the 1950’s, which had Peter Graves playing an older brother of a boy who befriended a horse.  I remember that show from when I was a child so long ago.  Television used to offer more child friendly shows that were safe to watch.

Posted by: @narnian78

That Brumby series sounds quite interesting, although I am not sure if it is available here in the U. S.

Well, it's remarkable what you can pick up these days with an online search and good international booksellers — I've found copies of the series here in the UK. I don't know if it was ever published specifically for the American market, but you could always try looking. (There was at least one live-action film and a cartoon series based on the books as well, but I don't think they followed the books very closely.) 

@courtenay 

Do you like Anne of Green Gables too?  After years of watching the television series I finally got around to reading the books.  I liked them much more than what I expected. Now I am reading the Emily trilogy, also by L. M. Montgomery. The books are kind of old fashioned being set in the 1920’s. I like something that is a little dated.  I wonder if they are popular in your country too. They’re popular here even though they are a century old.

Posted by: @narnian78

I wonder if they are popular in your country too. They’re popular here even though they are a century old.

Which one of my countries? I've got two (one by birth, the other by naturalisation).

I have heard of the "Anne" books and others by L. M. Montgomery, but I'm not sure how popular they are, either here or where I grew up. I do remember, when I was about 6 or 7 years old and I and some friends at school were making a cubby under the huge hawthorn tree by the edge of the school oval, one of the other girls wanted to call it "Green Gables", and I wondered where she got the name from, as I'd never heard it before. So obviously some Aussie kids in the late 1980s had read those books, or maybe seen a TV adaptation, but I certainly hadn't. And I've only ever been vaguely aware of them since then — I don't know anyone who's a fan of them, and I haven't tried reading them myself. I'm sure they're reasonably well known in Britain as well as in Australia, but I don't get the impression they're at "iconic" level. 

In fact, I only found out recently (I forget how) that Lucy Maud Montgomery, to give her full name, was in fact Canadian... I had always assumed she was American. My apologies to any Canadians on here.  

@Courtenay

Do  people like them in both countries?

I would recommend trying reading them assuming that they are easily available in bookstores or libraries.  I was late in my appreciation of them.  In Canada and the U. S. people love them as well as the television series starring Megan Follows as Anne. I would recommend both of them. 

@narnian78  Do people like them in both countries?

Probably, when I read them myself, and also made them available to my children. My middle daughter still has her copies packed away somewhere, she says. My favourite L.M. Montgomery book was Jane of Lantern Hill, (borrowed from the library) which I read obsessively, because of my own parents' marital breakdown, when I was only four years old. But then, I've read other similar series, such as Pollyanna, (USA), Cherry Ames (British, I think, more to do with nursing as a career), Johanna Spyri's Heidi, including Charles Tritton's sequels, like Heidi Grows Up and Heidi's Children, not to mention What Katy Did, What Katy Did at School & What Katy Did Next, written at about the same time as Little Women & all its sequels, which I also read.

What Katy Did was my own book, and interesting though it was, with strange words like sassafras, katydids, daguerrotypes and meerschaum pipes, not to mention sarsaparilla , it rather annoyed me when in all the wide world of the 1870's, I thought there surely had to be some mention about Australia, until the penny finally dropped that the sometimes used term, "The Antipodes", was the generic term for us, "Down Under".  And yes, we Aussies, did have Mary Grant Bruce's Billabong series, set some place in Victoria, I think, covering the WW1 period but finishing by the end of the 1920's. One thing that bugged me about all of these books was the absence of so many literary natural mothers, who seemed to die off rather quickly, leaving masses of children to fend for themselves.  Talk about being surplus to requirements, especially when UK had so many boarding-school books.   

@waggawerewolf27 

I remember the Viewmaster reels of Heidi, and in fact I still own them. I guess they were somewhat based on the book by Johanna Spyri.  In case if anyone here doesn’t know what a Viewmaster is: it is a viewer designed to look at slides on a reel, and the pictures are three dimensional.  The viewers were popular during the 1960’s. Some of the reels were based on books such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and A Christmas Carol.  As a child I loved to look at them. The mountains in Heidi seemed real to me.

Although I had seen the television series Anne of Green Gables many times it is only recently that I read the books. Megan Follows was the best actress to play Anne, and she seemed so natural for the part. I think the TV series is the reason why people have returned to reading the books, which are a century old. People like the old fashioned lifestyle or at least reading about it, which is also the reason why Amish books such as those by Beverly Lewis remain popular. 

Posted by: @courtenay

In fact, I only found out recently (I forget how) that Lucy Maud Montgomery, to give her full name, was in fact Canadian... I had always assumed she was American. My apologies to any Canadians on here.  

You are forgiven! Yes, we as Canadians are very proud that L.M. Montgomery (1974 - 1942) is a Canadian, having been born and bred on our beautiful Prince Edward Island in eastern Canada. Maud (without an 'e' ) was raised by her maternal grandparents from the age of seven . She absolutely did not like to be called 'Lucy'. Her mother died was she was 21 months old, and left her father, devastated by grief, unable to care for his young child. He moved out to western Canada and re-married, leaving his young daughter in Cavendish, P.E.I. with her grandparents.

In 2018, we took a long trip to P.E.I., visited Green Gables, wandered through the Haunted Woods and Lovers' Lane, spent time in the cemetery where LMM is buried in the Cavendish Cemetery. 

I read her voluminous journals a few years ago. Honestly, what a hard and sad life she had. No wonder she poured herself into her beloved books. 

And speaking of books, I am nearly finished the many Thornton W. Burgess nature books. A real treat to go through these again. I also (re)read a biography on Helen Keller. Fascinating! And am about to begin one on Madame Curie, the great physicist and chemist. Also, on my to-read pile beside the bed is another re-read of The Boy In The Striped Pajamas. Always a heart-wrenching time in that hard tale.

Heaven by Randy Alcorn (2004) has been in our home for ages, and I have read bits and pieces over the years, but, to my chagrin, never the entirety. So, that is my goal this year is to go from cover-to-cover to take in this marvelous piece of writing.

I have begun a re-read by Dr. Nabeel Qureshi, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: a devout Muslim encounters Christianity (2014), an excellent and very informative read. We heard Nabeel give a powerful presentation in Toronto about 15 years ago. He has also written other books: No God But One: Allah or Jesus? A former Muslim investigates the evidence for Islam and Christianity (2016), and Answering Jihad: a better way forward (2016). Very sadly, Nabeel died from advanced stomach cancer at the young age of 34. 

I am also reading through Joni Eareckson-Tada's Pearls of Great Price (2006). Her insights, wisdom, reliance upon Christ, example through decades of suffering never cease to amaze me. 

EDIT: As for audio books (which I often listen to as I am working around the house), I go through quite a few each month. The latest have been:

The Secret Garden; Amazing Grace (Olaudah Equiano; John Newton; William Wilberforce) -Focus on the Family Radio Theatre

Deadline -by Randy Alcorn

The Lord God Made Them All -by James Herriot

Some of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Chronicles of Avonlea, my favourite being The Quarantine at Alexander Abraham's (part 8)

And I have just begun the newly-released (November, 2025) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: this is the full-cast audio edition. Well done, so far ... Harry is still on the wild rock island with the Dursleys and Hagrid.

@jo . He moved out to western Canada and re-married, leaving his young daughter in Cavendish, P.E.I. with her grandparents.

Ah! The inspiration for L.M. Montgomery's Jane of Lantern Hill, I should imagine. Fellow sufferer, though my dad did make a real effort to keep in touch with me, for which I am deeply grateful, even giving me away for my wedding, as is traditional. As a teenager, I never learned what names the initials L.M. stood for. It is only in more recent years that this Canadian author's name was spelled out in full. 

@narnian78 I remember the Viewmaster reels of Heidi,and in fact I still own them. I guess they were somewhat based on the book by Johanna Spyri... The viewers were popular during the 1960’s

Which is why I never saw or ever owned anything like viewers in the 1960's. Mainstream television in Australia was finally launched on 16 September 1956, and I started High School (Secondary School) in 1960, leaving to go to work in 1965. I won my copy of Heidi in 2nd class, for coming 1st in my class in 1955. (I never made that mistake again. ). There was that famous film of Heidi which I have seen since, the one which starred Shirley Temple as Heidi. I saw another, more accurate film, made later on, but I can't remember when, exactly, offhand. 

I used to love books (again library books) written by Kate Sérédy, such as "The Good Master" and The Singing Tree, but they were written about Hungary, on the Puszta, in an era in the early 1900's, prior to and during World War 1. Sadly, I don't suppose those books are around anymore. The possibly first edition library books looked absolutely beautiful to me at the time, with two lovely portraits of Katy and Jancsi as frontispieces.

This morning I went to see a movie based on Enid Blyton's trilogy (The Enchanted Wood; Up the Faraway Tree and the Folk of the Faraway Tree). The movie, produced by some company I'd never heard of, probably British, and without much of the publicity one would normally expect, was unexpectedly good viewing, even though there have been updated modifications to the story line to bring it into the 21st century. The children are called Beth, Jo and Franny (short for Franchesca), whilst the old Dame Slap has become Dame Snap when she asserts a school inspector & police arrived to stop her from slapping students.  

Now, literary critics have had quite the field day at Enid Blyton's expense. Saying the characters are stock characters: They complain that the likes of the Famous Five always stay pre-adolescent, an accusation they also level at C.S. Lewis' Narnian children. (Forgetting that it wasn't until after 1948, when faced with a hideously large baby boomer population explosion, that there were suddenly too many teenagers to ignore as "the powers that be" had been doing previously, when the School leaving age was as low as 14, and when it wasn't until 1975 that the voting age was lowered to 18).  

The Famous Five & others go camping without needing to visit the bathroom, ever, and go everywhere they like, without their mostly absentee mothers turning a hair. School stories, especially, have the protagonist always becoming a prefect, head girl or even sports captain. Without any appropriately heavy loads of homework, they always seem to muddle through splendidly, with "straight a" results, no problem, and of course, like Anne of Green Gables, they usually marry someone like Gilbert. Doesn't Pollyanna marry Jimmy Pendleton, after all? Nonetheless, well-known Enid Blyton characters like Moonface, The Saucepan Man, The Angry Pixie, Silky the Fairy, Dame Washalot and Mr Whatzisname are still quite unique.

@jo I have begun a re-read by Dr. Nabeel Qureshi, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: a devout Muslim encounters Christianity(2014), an excellent and very informative read. We heard Nabeel give a powerful presentation in Toronto about 15 years ago. He has also written other books: No God But One: Allah or Jesus? A former Muslim investigates the evidence for Islam andChristianity (2016), and Answering Jihad:a better way forward(2016). Very sadly, Nabeel died from advanced stomach cancer at the young age of 34

Thanks for letting us know about these books. I think I may have seen this Dr Nabeel Qureshi on You Tube, when one of my daughters was telling me about him. I'd like to read these books as well. 

@waggawerewolf27 

I think Viewmasters were a good thing.  They would encourage children and adults to read the original books by offering something visual to accompany the classic stories. The reels could be shown on projectors, although it was a two dimensional projection.  I don’t know if the viewers or projectors were available in other countries, but here in the U. S. they were sold in many toy stores and in Sears catalogs.  And they were inexpensive entertainment for that time.  They were something visual that kids of the 1960’s and ‘70’s could appreciate. Today’s technology doesn’t offer much to get people to read the original books.

@narnian78 I think Viewmasters were a good thing.  They would encourage children and adults to read the original books by offering something visual to accompany the classic stories. The reels could be shown on projectors, although it was a two dimensional projection.

Yes, these "viewmasters" do sound a good idea, but they would take some setting up, I fear, once screens and ye-olde projectors with attached carousels get involved. I could see something like what you are describing being used for classroom or business presentations, for instance, or maybe showing holiday or family snaps. But that depends on where people came from & what they are called locally, and also, I suspect, what we are both trying to explain. We only got television in September in 1956, & the Melbourne Olympic Games were from 22/11/56 to 8/12/56. I suppose the two events were tied together, somehow. None of the 4 schools I attended, were all that fancy, though the State schools at least had good maps, unlike the Private boarding school I attended. 

I well remember the View Masters, too, @narnian78. The ones we had as children were for individual use, @waggawerewolf27 ; in fact, we have just passed our two View Masters (one red; one brown-ish - see photos below) on to our grandchild, plus the many reels I and my siblings had as a young 'un: fairy tales, "natural Wonders of the World", Bible stories, classic tales, etc. Fun times! 

Here are pictures. What memories these bring back, particularly the 'ancient' brown one:

A View Master

The original View Master

A Reel

They required no batteries and were simple for even a fairly young child to use. One just moved a small handle manually on the side and this would move the reel on to the next photo. We would get lost in story-telling via those little treasures.  

@jo

I still have the tan viewer like the one shown in the second link. I also have a black one which my Dad owned in the 1950’s, and a blue lighted viewer from the 1970’s which operated on batteries or it could be plugged into a wall outlet.  I have a box full of reels like the one shown in the third link. They are of old television shows like the original Star Trek and Mission: Impossible and other subjects like the 1960’s space program, wildlife, and countries of the world.  They satisfy my need for nostalgia! 🙂

Posted by: @jo

They required no batteries and were simple for even a fairly young child to use. One just moved a small handle manually on the side and this would move the reel on to the next photo. We would get lost in story-telling via those little treasures.  

We had a few of those at my primary school when I was little, in Australia in the late 1980s! I remember playing with them and being fascinated at seeing the brilliant 3D pictures. They were a fairly old technology by then, but still fun, even while we already had computer games (of a fairly rudimentary sort) and TV and so on.