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Pony Pals #4
Give Me Back My Pony
Lulu must give the beautiful pony she's rescued and cared for back to its mean, snobby owner...unless the Pony Pals can come up with a plan.
112 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1995
10 people are currently reading
260 people want to read
About the author
Jeanne Betancourt
153 books95 followersWhen I was growing up I never thought of being an author. I was a terrible speller and didn't want to write any more than I had to. I wanted to be a tap dancer when I grew up. After a few years of teaching junior high and high school, I wrote my first novel. It was a surprise to discover that I liked making up stories and writing them down. I liked it so much that eventually I stopped teaching and became a fulltime writer.
Besides novels for children and young adults, I've also told stories by writing scripts for television and the movies.
I live on the top floor of a sixteen-story building near the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. From my apartment I have a view of Manhattan that includes the Empire State Building and the Plaza Hotel. In my free time I draw, paint, and read. I still love to dance.
Some people think that a writer's life is lonely. But when I'm writing a story I don't feel lonely because I am actively involved with lots of interesting people – the characters in my books. I love knowing that some day readers will get to know these characters, too. If you are one of my readers I hope you have as much enjoyment in reading my stories as I have writing them.
Besides novels for children and young adults, I've also told stories by writing scripts for television and the movies.
I live on the top floor of a sixteen-story building near the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. From my apartment I have a view of Manhattan that includes the Empire State Building and the Plaza Hotel. In my free time I draw, paint, and read. I still love to dance.
Some people think that a writer's life is lonely. But when I'm writing a story I don't feel lonely because I am actively involved with lots of interesting people – the characters in my books. I love knowing that some day readers will get to know these characters, too. If you are one of my readers I hope you have as much enjoyment in reading my stories as I have writing them.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
June 6, 2024
Review originally published on my blog,
Dragon Bite Books
.
Read my series review here Dragon Bite Books .
I grew up on this series, and rereading this book now, I think I read it even after I surpassed the age of the intended audience (but I would have been 6 when this book came out). The Pony Pals are three girls living in the fictional Connecticut town of Wiggins: Pam Crandall, a Black girl, top of her class, and the daughter of the town’s veterinarian; Anna Baxter, who is dyslexic; and Lulu Saunders, the POV character for this novel, who lives with her grandmother (and later with her widower father). Lulu and Anna are both white. The girls have bonded over their shared love of ponies and the activities they do and time they spend together with their own ponies.
Lulu, coming from a middle-class background and having moved often, does not own a pony of her own, but she has been taking care of Snow White while her owner, Rema, is away at boarding school. When Rema comes home for the summer in this novel, she has outgrown Snow White, physically and emotionally. The Pony Pals are uncomfortable leaving Snow White in Rema’s care and scheme ways for Lulu to continue to look after her.
The girls are independent. They trail ride without supervision, although they do not in this ride alone, riding always with at least one other Pony Pal. They meet at the town’s diner without their families (although the diner is owned by Anna’s mother). They come up with ideas to solve their problems seemingly without appealing to adults for help or guidance.
Prior to finding this at a book sale, it had been decades since I had seen a Pony Pals book, which now I would have to qualify as a beginning chapter book series on par with The Magic Tree House or Dragon Masters. I had thought that this was one of those series that had paragraphs that were repeated each novel, but I didn’t find any such paragraphs in this novel (those paragraphs may come later as Betancourt became less sure that her audience would be fully up to speed). I was pleased to find such paragraphs absent.
As a book from the 90s, I am impressed by the protagonists’ diversity, both in terms of race and neurodiversity.
There’s no magic to these. These are realistic horse stories.
I will say that I found the girls’ insistence that Snow White be called a pony and not a horse a touch annoying, although I imagine Betancourt was intending to be factual and educational; she is indeed a pony, shorter than 14.2 hands high. Then too I have always been annoyed by other writers’ misuse of “colt” as a gender-neutral term (this happens not infrequently; I remember it particularly in Marguerite Henry’s works.) I was an annoying horse kid too. Maybe insisting on proper terminology and being a bit annoying about it comes with the territory.
This book dates itself with the arrival of a fax and the absence of mobile phones.
Because this is a book filled with nostalgia for me, take my rating with its grain of salt, but I give it ****
Read my series review here Dragon Bite Books .
I grew up on this series, and rereading this book now, I think I read it even after I surpassed the age of the intended audience (but I would have been 6 when this book came out). The Pony Pals are three girls living in the fictional Connecticut town of Wiggins: Pam Crandall, a Black girl, top of her class, and the daughter of the town’s veterinarian; Anna Baxter, who is dyslexic; and Lulu Saunders, the POV character for this novel, who lives with her grandmother (and later with her widower father). Lulu and Anna are both white. The girls have bonded over their shared love of ponies and the activities they do and time they spend together with their own ponies.
Lulu, coming from a middle-class background and having moved often, does not own a pony of her own, but she has been taking care of Snow White while her owner, Rema, is away at boarding school. When Rema comes home for the summer in this novel, she has outgrown Snow White, physically and emotionally. The Pony Pals are uncomfortable leaving Snow White in Rema’s care and scheme ways for Lulu to continue to look after her.
The girls are independent. They trail ride without supervision, although they do not in this ride alone, riding always with at least one other Pony Pal. They meet at the town’s diner without their families (although the diner is owned by Anna’s mother). They come up with ideas to solve their problems seemingly without appealing to adults for help or guidance.
Prior to finding this at a book sale, it had been decades since I had seen a Pony Pals book, which now I would have to qualify as a beginning chapter book series on par with The Magic Tree House or Dragon Masters. I had thought that this was one of those series that had paragraphs that were repeated each novel, but I didn’t find any such paragraphs in this novel (those paragraphs may come later as Betancourt became less sure that her audience would be fully up to speed). I was pleased to find such paragraphs absent.
As a book from the 90s, I am impressed by the protagonists’ diversity, both in terms of race and neurodiversity.
There’s no magic to these. These are realistic horse stories.
I will say that I found the girls’ insistence that Snow White be called a pony and not a horse a touch annoying, although I imagine Betancourt was intending to be factual and educational; she is indeed a pony, shorter than 14.2 hands high. Then too I have always been annoyed by other writers’ misuse of “colt” as a gender-neutral term (this happens not infrequently; I remember it particularly in Marguerite Henry’s works.) I was an annoying horse kid too. Maybe insisting on proper terminology and being a bit annoying about it comes with the territory.
This book dates itself with the arrival of a fax and the absence of mobile phones.
Because this is a book filled with nostalgia for me, take my rating with its grain of salt, but I give it ****
April 17, 2021
This is a really cute story. I like it that the girls cannot go anywhere without their ponys, but that's totally what I signed up for when I wanted to read a Pony book!
And for the first time ever I agree to "you don't have to read the first books first"
And I am glad that the happy ending has logic.
I mean, we all know, that's a children's book, of course it will have a happy end, but even a H. E. needs logic!
And for the first time ever I agree to "you don't have to read the first books first"
And I am glad that the happy ending has logic.
I mean, we all know, that's a children's book, of course it will have a happy end, but even a H. E. needs logic!
January 21, 2025
This definitely reads like a book 4 (or, NOT book 1) in the series, but it's fine enough to read on its own after the initial exposition. The main thing to understand is the Pony Pals are three girls with their own ponies... or, rather, two girls with their own ponies and one girl (Lulu) who is pony-sitting for another girl (Rema) who is returning soon.
The title is clearly meant to be from the point of view of Rema, since Snow White is her pony despite only having had her there for a few weeks before leaving for boarding school. Yet the tone of the book is clearly Lulu feeling that Snow White is hers *at heart* due to the amount of time invested in caring for (and having rescued!) the pony. So it's a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, between knowing Rema owns the pony logically and legally, and the very natural "I've grown attached" of a girl and the pony that's been in her care.
Luckily for everyone in the latter camp, this is a young adult book, and what young adult book would have a sad ending? Definitely not one that wants continued readership! (It DOES tease a very different ending for a minute, though.)
Mostly, this feels like a book for young readers who can't have ponies and are living vicariously through these girls. I sort of feel that, myself, despite never in my life having seriously wanted a horse (pony or otherwise).
The title is clearly meant to be from the point of view of Rema, since Snow White is her pony despite only having had her there for a few weeks before leaving for boarding school. Yet the tone of the book is clearly Lulu feeling that Snow White is hers *at heart* due to the amount of time invested in caring for (and having rescued!) the pony. So it's a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, between knowing Rema owns the pony logically and legally, and the very natural "I've grown attached" of a girl and the pony that's been in her care.
Luckily for everyone in the latter camp, this is a young adult book, and what young adult book would have a sad ending? Definitely not one that wants continued readership! (It DOES tease a very different ending for a minute, though.)
Mostly, this feels like a book for young readers who can't have ponies and are living vicariously through these girls. I sort of feel that, myself, despite never in my life having seriously wanted a horse (pony or otherwise).
January 5, 2020
This book felt rushed, especially the ending. I felt like I’d just gone on a power sprint around the block and didn’t enjoy it. This book had so much potential and I really feel it was wasted.
August 27, 2020
HOW THE HECK DO YOU READ THESE!! I CAN FIGURE IT OUT!!!
October 6, 2025
Childhood favourite series (haven't read in a long time) giving all four stars unless it was a favourite as a child.
November 17, 2016
What an amazing story by Jeanne Betancourt.
December 28, 2019
Give Me Back My Pony is the fourth book in the Pony Pals series. Lulu is the point of view character for this book. The main plot is that Rema has returned from boarding school and Lulu has to return Snow White as the lease ended. Lulu's father is also back and Lulu thinks she's going to have to move. This book takes a good look at how hard the possibility of moving is, how returning a lease pony can be hard, why its important to understand when you outgrow a pony, and selling a pony honestly.
May 11, 2015
It is a chapter book and book 4 of the "Pony Pals" series. My now grown daughter LOVED these books as a child (she begin to read them when she was about 8) and read all of the ones in the series. I found her copy of many of them and decided to try and read them to see what they were like.
It's a nice storybook of a beginning of friendship for three girls (all 5th graders) and the bond they form with each other and each of their horses. In this story one of the girls pony has to go back to his owner. As she was just 'borrowing' him as the owner was away at school. When the owner comes back she has 'outgrown' him and so she blames the Pony Pal for damaging him when in reality she had outgrown him. The three Pony Pals have to put their heads together to try and figure out a way their friend can buy her pony back.
As a mother reading these books I really appreciate the way Ms Betancourt has written about the girls putting their heads together and trying to work out problems together and coming up with solutions themselves. As the young adults they are becoming it gives the girls in the story the opportunity to think things through. Which helps readers know they could do the same thing to try and find solutions as the young adults they will be in a few years. This is the fourth book I've read of this series and in each book the girls have tried to come up with solutions to problems and that is such a good thing to teach children.
It's a nice storybook of a beginning of friendship for three girls (all 5th graders) and the bond they form with each other and each of their horses. In this story one of the girls pony has to go back to his owner. As she was just 'borrowing' him as the owner was away at school. When the owner comes back she has 'outgrown' him and so she blames the Pony Pal for damaging him when in reality she had outgrown him. The three Pony Pals have to put their heads together to try and figure out a way their friend can buy her pony back.
As a mother reading these books I really appreciate the way Ms Betancourt has written about the girls putting their heads together and trying to work out problems together and coming up with solutions themselves. As the young adults they are becoming it gives the girls in the story the opportunity to think things through. Which helps readers know they could do the same thing to try and find solutions as the young adults they will be in a few years. This is the fourth book I've read of this series and in each book the girls have tried to come up with solutions to problems and that is such a good thing to teach children.
December 6, 2017
Even though these books are meant for young readers, they can certainly be emotional. I hadn't realized how well written the characters were and how much I cared about them until I re-read this book, where you're dealing with both Rema coming back for her pony and Lulu possibly leaving Wiggins.
It's only the fourth in the series, and it does seem a little odd to have not covered more of the early adventures of the Pony Pals, but you really do feel for all of the characters.
It's only the fourth in the series, and it does seem a little odd to have not covered more of the early adventures of the Pony Pals, but you really do feel for all of the characters.
July 23, 2008
This book is great. You should read it. It is about a girl named Lulu and she took care of a girl named Rema's horse while Rema was at boarding school. When Rema came back from boarding school she blamed every thing on Lulu such as how she was not good at riding any more. You shouls totally read this book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 19, 2022
We all knew the day was coming where Lulu would have to give back the pony and go off with her dad. How the Pony Pals handle it is interesting and creative as usual. A fun book, not all the great, but still a good way to pass the time.
July 7, 2015
Pony Pals was one of my favourite "horsey" series growing up. Jeanne Betancourt has a writing skill that makes the books easy to read and interesting. I read many of the series and I was enthralled with each new story.
July 30, 2008
It was a great book
August 22, 2009
read them all
November 20, 2009
exiting book
August 13, 2011
it was ok
Read
October 21, 2014600L
January 29, 2015
This book is so fun.
Is someone taking your pony away? Or it is your cousin?
Is someone taking your pony away? Or it is your cousin?
March 31, 2015
Love the series!!
April 14, 2015
I loved it!! I think it was cool. I liked the pony coming back to the girls paddock.
June 27, 2015
Book Level 3.6 AR Points 1.0
This is a very good book, to me it shows something of being kind to people. Also shows some personalities that one would hope they never become like.
This is a very good book, to me it shows something of being kind to people. Also shows some personalities that one would hope they never become like.
June 15, 2016
When I was younger, I loved horses! I read lots of these books and really enjoyed them. Of course, it's been a long time since I've read these, but I can assure you they are worth reading.
February 20, 2010
was an awesome book should read the whole series!
August 8, 2012
Very good book.
April 14, 2015
great book to read !!
Read
August 20, 2016really good "own"
April 29, 2017
I am happy that Lulu Sanders gets to have Snow White. I think that Lulu is responsible enough to care for Snow White. I also think that they are a good pair.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews