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The Little Sea Pony
When Molly's father, a fisherman, brings home a tiny pony from the sea, Molly is sure that the creature must be magic. Pure white, with hooves of gold, the pony is too special to keep in captivity, but the townspeople—believing that the pony will bring them good luck—lock it in a cage and throw away the key. Now, Molly and her friend Peter must find a way to save the beautiful pony, and return him to his home in the sea. Helen Cresswell’s engaging, simply written fantasy adventure is perfect for young independent readers.
80 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1964
61 people want to read
About the author
Helen Cresswell
145 books59 followersHelen Cresswell (1934–2005) was an English television scriptwriter and author of more than 100 children's books, best known for comedy and supernatural fiction. Her most popular book series, Lizzie Dripping and The Bagthorpe Saga, were also the basis for television series.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 4, 2022
I really enjoyed this short but lovely story about the finding of a little white sea horse, and how the townspeople and mayor get involved, and how things go amiss and are made right again, and how everything turns out perfectly in the end. There is something about the story that reminds me of a favorite author, Rosalie Fry. There is just the right amount of enchantment in the story, just like my favorite stories by Fry. I am interested in reading more books by Helen Cresswell!
July 19, 2017
I had a quiet evening at home and had just finished my current read. Not wanting to start a new novel just before bed time, I decided to pick this up from the shelf instead. What a sweet little children's story! Being completely horse-crazy (even at 37 years of age!), I loved it, and had to smile at the antics of the donkeys. And we all love a baddie - so liked that the Mayor was finally thwarted. The illustrations are lovely too. A really nice book to while away half an hour.
April 15, 2018
I can sum this story up in one word: MAGICAL!
Disney should turn this enchanting tale into a movie.
Disney should turn this enchanting tale into a movie.
September 24, 2018
such a good book. very sad and interesting.
March 12, 2024
A fantastical tale of mystery and enchantment.
April 15, 2024
A wonderful, as in filled with wonder, story for all ages.
Vivid imagery.Integrity ...
Vivid imagery.Integrity ...
January 12, 2025
Really enjoyed this book one of my children borrowed it from the school library and it made a wonderful bedtime story
June 9, 2007
I picked up and old and battered copy of The White Sea Horse at the Starbucks in Dublin. They maintain a bookshelf there which is a combination of discards from the Dublin library and wild releases by local BookCrossing members. The cover art and its length (under 100 pages) are what caught my attention. The man on the cover reminded me of John Wayne and I could just hear him in my head: "Wahll pilgrum, this here is a sea hahrse."
Obviously the book doesn't have a John Wayne character in it nor is it a Western. It's British children's story, one of those "small town along the coast is visited by magical sea creatures" type stories. In this case, the creature is a "sea horse" or like the unicorns in Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn, an equine manifestation of the ocean's waves. Of course in The Last Unicorn the unicorns were turned into waves and here the wave is turned into a horse.
The sea horse apparently can bring luck to anyone who touches it. The thought of luck turns otherwise sensible people in to greedy and thoughtless ones. Rather than finding itself new blessed, this sea side town finds itself in a whole heap of trouble.
The story relies on the sort of bizarre cause and effect logic that young children use and since the two protagonists are young children (probably around the age of six or seven) it makes sense. As it is such a short book these strange leaps in logic work well and add up to a delightful read that takes about an hour from start to finish.
Obviously the book doesn't have a John Wayne character in it nor is it a Western. It's British children's story, one of those "small town along the coast is visited by magical sea creatures" type stories. In this case, the creature is a "sea horse" or like the unicorns in Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn, an equine manifestation of the ocean's waves. Of course in The Last Unicorn the unicorns were turned into waves and here the wave is turned into a horse.
The sea horse apparently can bring luck to anyone who touches it. The thought of luck turns otherwise sensible people in to greedy and thoughtless ones. Rather than finding itself new blessed, this sea side town finds itself in a whole heap of trouble.
The story relies on the sort of bizarre cause and effect logic that young children use and since the two protagonists are young children (probably around the age of six or seven) it makes sense. As it is such a short book these strange leaps in logic work well and add up to a delightful read that takes about an hour from start to finish.
July 23, 2016
I read this book to a year 3-4 class. Some of them really loved it and others weren't really interested. I have to say that I wasn't totally in love either. It's brief and has some nice ideas and a play on the idea of sea horses. The descriptions are nice and the illustrations are very pretty. But you can't really get into it and you don't feel very attached to the characters. However, it might be a nice independent read for a 7-9 year old. Especially one who likes horses.
It was OK.
It was OK.
April 23, 2012
mollys father found a sea pony and it was captured then molly and peter set the sea pony free.auryn
June 20, 2012
yay! one of my fav. little kid books!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews