James Aldridge

Australian author. Full name Harold Edward James Aldridge. Born in Swan Hill, Victoria in 1918. An award winning author who has written around 30 novels for children and adults as well as short stories, plays and TV scripts.

Although he was born and grew up in Australia, he lived for some years in Cairo and now lives in London. Also worked as a journalist and war correspondent. Not a pony author as such, but has written three horse-themed novels. His most popular books are a series set in the 1930s depression in the fictional small town of St. Helen and are based on his experiences growing up at that time in a similar small town.

His best known pony story was made into a Disney film called Ride a Wild Pony.

Horse & Pony Books:

A SPORTING PROPOSITION
aka RIDE A WILD PONY
(MICHAEL JOSEPH 1973)
Later republished as RIDE A WILD PONY
Reprinted in paperback by Puffin a number of times.
Adapted as a film by Walt Disney with screenplay by Rosemary Anne Sisson (who also wrote the screenplay for another Disney film about ponies, Escape From the Dark).
SUMMARY: Set in the 1930s depression years. A poor boy's only possession is the wild pony that he has tamed. But then his beloved pony goes missing and is found by rich girl Josie, daughter of the most powerful man in town. And she wants the pony for her own…

THE MARVELLOUS MONGOLIAN
(MACMILLAN 1974)
Reprinted by The Childrens Book Club and by Macmillan in hardback. Reprinted in paperback by Piccolo in 1976 and as a later paperback in 2003. Still in print.
SUMMARY: Unusual pony story about a wild Mongolian horse (or Przwalski's Horse) which is brought to the UK to breed with a Shetland pony mare. But the stallion longs to be free and escapes, taking with him his mare. The story is told through the correspondence of two children thousands of miles apart, a Mongolian boy who first spotted the stallion in the wild and the girl who owns Peep the mare the stallion steals. As the two ponies become closer, so do the children, united by their love of horses.
PONYMAD BOOKLOVERS RATING: 3 HORSESHOES
Read Review

THE BROKEN SADDLE
(McRAE 1982)
Reprinted in paperback by Puffin
SUMMARY: Story of a boy and his horse set in Australia at the time of the Great  Depression.

Collectors information:
These are all reasonably easy books to find and due to his popularity as an author worldwide have been reprinted many times. The first editions are a little harder to get hold of.