Fun with the book "Golden Sovereign" 1946

[Trakehner]

I used to love the Scholastic Book Club when I was a kid. I still have "Golden Sovereign" and "Prince Tom, Championship Dog".

[Windsor1]

Some of those Dorothy Lyons books, if you have or can find them in good condition with the dust jacket, are worth a tidy sum:

Java Jive
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Book...6x%3D0%26y%3D0

Silver Birch
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Book...6x%3D0%26y%3D0

Copper Khan
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Book...6x%3D0%26y%3D0

[laskiblue]

I read tons of horse-related books as a kid and I don't know how these slipped by me. They sound like horse-loving with less than no chance to be around horses me would have loved them.

[Kwill]

From Bookthink:

http://www.bookthink.com/0086/86bib.htm

A Dorothy Lyons Bibliography

by Pamela Palmer

#86, 22 January 2007


Dorothy Lyons' reputation as a writer was built around her love of horses and ponies. From her first book in 1939 until her final work of fiction in 1973, her deep affection for the equine was in the forefront. In 1939, The New York Times reviewed Silver Birch. Though the review found fault with her personality development of characters, there was not doubt of her expertise. "It is a sound knowledge of horsemanship displayed against a thoroughly American background which lifts this book above the mediocre run," wrote reviewer E.L. Buell on December 15, 1939.

By the time Golden Sovereign came into print a decade later, Lyons was firmly established. Major books review sources paid attention. Reviews appeared in Book Week, The New York Times, and San Francisco Chronicle among others.

In their November 9, 1946 review, The Saturday Review of Literature called Golden Sovereign "a sure-fire story for all lovers of horses, regardless of age." Atlantic waxed enthusiastic in their November 1946 issue, writing "It is beautifully written, exciting, interesting in its information, and totally unexpected as to plot…. the book as a whole has a rare overtone of humorous enjoyment. As a novel it is superior to 75 per cent of the average lending library books …."

The glowing reviews continued throughout the 1940s but some of her 1950s titles received mixed comments that included the terms too simple, undistinguished, and a bit fantastic. Still, praise dominated. In 1959, The Chicago Sun Tribune called Bright Wampum "a first-rate adventure story." Lyons published two more horse books - Smoke Rings in 1960 and Pedigree Unknown in 1973.

After 1973, her writing focused on the occasional article, brochure, or training information about her beloved Connemara ponies and finally, in 1983, on her autobiography The Devil Made the Small Town.

Dorothy Lyons's passion for horses was actually very specific - the Connemara pony. "I am on the American Connemara Pony Society board of governors [EDITOR'S NOTE: She served as President for two years.] and when I'm not writing about them to someone or some publication, I am more than like out working with my own ponies. At present I own ten but basically it's a brood mare band of four mares and my stallion Paddy, who is a love."

[Alagirl]

I used to love the Scholastic Book Club when I was a kid. I still have "Golden Sovereign" and "Prince Tom, Championship Dog".

You are such a softy!

[War Admiral]

A tiny defense of the author: I don't think the genetics of palomino coloring was even guessed at when the book was written.

True. Also, was the ASB stud book still open in 1943?? It was closed before my time but you could still show unpapered Saddlebreds as late as the 1960s...

That said, it was a very disappointing book from Dorothy Lyons. My two faves of hers are the aforementioned Harlequin Hullaballoo (also published as Bluegrass Champion - they're the same book) and Dark Sunshine, the one about the girl recovering from polio who rescues a mustang from a valley and trains it for endurance riding.

[copper1]

Loved most of these books because as a horse loving kid who knew no better, they were awesome! (looking back with the wisdom of the years, not so but hey.....!)
Somebody's pony was one of my all time favorites! Rose Gray Arabian and Pamela and the Blue Mare also way up the list!
I also remember reading one called "Golden Lady" about a 5 gaited saddlebred that also foxhunted. Talented mare but in those days, did they put those big shoes on?

[SarahandSam]

Ooh, did Dorothy Lyons write the Rose-Grey Arabian one too? I forgot about that, and now I want to read it! Was that the one that became a cowhorse? (Maybe Arabian Cowhorse was the title?)

It's funny how I can remember the covers so clearly on all of the old books...

For realistic horse stuff, I agree on Jean Slaughter Doty (love Monday Horses), and also K.M. Peyton. Fly-by-night has the heroine staring at her shaggy, half-wild pony in her debris-littered council house backyard, thinking WTF am I supposed to do now--and that's about as honest as you can get for a teen-gets-pony story. (:

[SarahandSam]

Also, I remember the Nancy Drew goes to the Derby book. I borrowed that from the fifth-grade teacher when I was in second grade. I can even picture where on the bookshelf it was when I found it. (:

[War Admiral]

I also remember reading one called "Golden Lady" about a 5 gaited saddlebred that also foxhunted. Talented mare but in those days, did they put those big shoes on?

Hmm, that one sounds interesting, might have to check it out!

The shoes stay on for show season but then are taken off. ASB people are pretty good about giving their horses a nice long winter vaycay after indoors. It's not like H/J where they're kept on the road 24/7/365.

An ASB doing both 5g and fox hunting would not be too terribly unusual even now. The young lady whose horse beat Q in the Hunter Over Fences this year rides a horse with a 5g show record as long as your freakin' arm, but now that he's doing hunters he can still beat a young green ASB purpose-trained for the hunters! He's an awesome horse. I'd link to a pic but she's a minor and I tend to not want to post pics of other people's kids w/o permission...

[abrant]

For realistic horse stuff, I agree on Jean Slaughter Doty (love Monday Horses), and also K.M. Peyton. Fly-by-night has the heroine staring at her shaggy, half-wild pony in her debris-littered council house backyard, thinking WTF am I supposed to do now--and that's about as honest as you can get for a teen-gets-pony story. (:

Oh dear, I loved KM Peyton, there was only one in print when I was a kid and the city library only had a handful. When I went to college, the university collection had ALL of her books, I spent way too much time between classes in the Children's room reading them.

She had the tendancy to be brutally honest and the plotlines were not so very happy.

[Bacardi1]

Thanks SO much for this BLAST FROM THE PAST!!! I SO remember "Golden Sovereign" like it was yesterday!! In fact, I still have my original copy in storage somewhere. Since I've always loved Palominos, I loved that series in particular.

As a VORACIOUS reader, our local library + the Scholastic Book Club through school were paradise for me. And as a horse-crazy kid, I scarfed up anything even remotely horse-related.

Scholastic Book Club was the BEST for getting kids to read back then. I think my parents paid something like $1 per book - or even less.

[Bacardi1]

True. Also, was the ASB stud book still open in 1943?? It was closed before my time but you could still show unpapered Saddlebreds as late as the 1960s...

That said, it was a very disappointing book from Dorothy Lyons. My two faves of hers are the aforementioned Harlequin Hullaballoo (also published as Bluegrass Champion - they're the same book) and Dark Sunshine, the one about the girl recovering from polio who rescues a mustang from a valley and trains it for endurance riding.

Another BLAST FROM THE PAST. I have an original hardcover edition of "Harlequin Hullaballoo". As a horse-crazy little girl - absolutely LOVED that book, even though I knew absolutely nothing about the Saddlebred scene.

Thanks for resurrecting the memory - I'll have to try to find my copy.

[Sandy M]

Ooh, did Dorothy Lyons write the Rose-Grey Arabian one too? I forgot about that, and now I want to read it! Was that the one that became a cowhorse? (Maybe Arabian Cowhorse was the title?)

It's funny how I can remember the covers so clearly on all of the old books...

For realistic horse stuff, I agree on Jean Slaughter Doty (love Monday Horses), and also K.M. Peyton. Fly-by-night has the heroine staring at her shaggy, half-wild pony in her debris-littered council house backyard, thinking WTF am I supposed to do now--and that's about as honest as you can get for a teen-gets-pony story. (:

No, Arabian Cow Horse was JOhn Richard Young, quite a good trainer. Excellent books: THe Schooling of the Horse and Schooling for Young Riders.

[LaurieB]

Golden Sovereign is the son of Silver Birch. This is the sequel to whatever book that was.


So she was a cremello, one has to suppose?

Silver Birch was grey, and Midnight Moon was black. As someone else pointed out, color genetics was unknown when those books were written.

I think I've read every book mentioned in this thread. A couple other authors that wrote horse stories I loved when I was a child were Patsy Gray and Betty Cannova.

[darkmoonlady]

I can't believe I had never heard of these books AND they were illustrated by Wesley Dennis! I collect books illustrated by him and of course have a bunch of Marguerite Henry and Wesley's own Flip books and of course Exterminator. I went on Ebay thought to price some of these whoo boy some were way up there. I'll keep an eye out now at all the antique stores and used bookstores for her books though. Even if the plots are silly they are new Wesley Dennis illustrations so I'll be sure pick them up.

[Kwill]

I love Patsey Gray's Horsepower and it will remain on my bookshelf in a hallowed spot forever. I also loved all the Black Stallion books, up until the Black Stallion and the Girl, which was frankly awful. It was just too topical and not timeless enough -- I didn't care about Alex's love life ('cept with horses).

Wesley Dennis is my favorite illustrator, too -- he had an amazing way with drawing horses.

I was reading something about collecting horse books, and indeed, anything with a WD illustration is worth some money. He's very collectible.

Back to Golden Sovereign, in the book he didn't wear any shoes -- they talk about taking him to an "itinerant farrier" to get him some shoes so he would move better in the show ring. But clearly they weren't worried about it like the specialized show horses are today.

Surprisingly, Dorothy Lyons loved Connemara ponies, not saddlebreds ... she bred Connemaras. I think the horse world was a lot less stratified back in the 30s and 40s than it is today. The breeds and especially the registries weren't nearly as important as they are today. But if you think about it, the mid 40s was when recreational horsemanship was just coming back after all the horses had been replaced by motor vehicles. People had money and more leisure time, thus opening up the horse industry to lots of people that didn't live on a farm (for instance, she makes a good living as a boarding stable, because the city people wanted someplace to board their horses where they could trail ride, according to the book).

[RHdobes563]

The mare in Dark Sunshine was a Morab (NOT a mustang) who had gotten trapped in the canyon at a young age.

[War Admiral]

The mare in Dark Sunshine was a Morab (NOT a mustang) who had gotten trapped in the canyon at a young age.

Sorry, my bad; haven't read it in 30 years! Though I must say I certainly don't remember the term "Morab" in general use until at least the 1980s...

[laskiblue]

Scholastic Book Club was the BEST for getting kids to read back then. I think my parents paid something like $1 per book - or even less.

Oh yes, I remember books being 65 cents or so sometimes (early 1970s). I would get the Scholastic book flyer at school, circle everything I wanted, see what my allowance would cover, and usually ask my parents for the rest. It was a developing book junkie's dream.