Billy and Blaze : A Boy and His Pony

Billy & Blaze #1

by C.W. Anderson

Available again, for the first time since 1987, Anderson's classic Billy and Blaze series will delight yet another generation of young horse lovers. In the heartwarming first book of the series Billy and his loyal pony Blaze explore the countryside together, and encounter new adventures at every turn. Illustrated throughout.

Genres: Picture Books, Horses, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Classics, 1st Grade

56 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1936

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

C.W. Anderson - aka Clarence William Anderson
From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence...

Clarence William Anderson (1891–1971) was an author and illustrator of children's books. Known professionally as C.W. Anderson, Anderson had an interest in horses and drawing.

Anderson started his career by illustrating for other authors, but eventually began developing texts to accompany his realistic and lively black and white drawings. He is best known for his "Billy and Blaze" book series.

The adventures of Billy and Blaze would revolve around proper care of the horse, while teaching a lesson. Anderson would go to great lengths to give accurate information. He would even go on to write Heads Up, Heels Down as a training tool for young horse lovers. All of the stories Anderson wrote would be based on true stories or people that Anderson knew, only the plots were fiction.

By the end of Anderson's life, he had written and illustrated over thirty-five horse books, and also had created covers for the Saturday Evening Post.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just about read the covers off this series as a kid. Excellent for anyone who enjoys animal stories.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a wonderful story. I don't know how many times I read it as a child. I loved finding it.

[Lynn Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book with my 4 year old and he loved it. If you like animal stories with a happy ending, this one is sweet. It's an older children's book, but has stood the test of time better than many from that era. I'm hoping the others in that series will still be winners as well.

[Caleb Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dad: What do you think of this book
C: Good, I liked it. He was a very good pony.
D: What was your favorite part?
C: I liked when Billy and Blaze got the dog.
E: Doggie!! Doggie doggie!!!

[Megan B]

Sweeeeeeet sweet books written in the 1930's about a boy and his beloved horse. Kinley read this as an "early reader", but it would also be nice as a bedtime book. It's longer than most picture books.

[Peter Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This whole series is excellent for young boys. The writing is perfect for that age and the drawings are delightful. Also it hearkens back to the days when boys spent days wandering the woods and exploring. Highly recommended.

[Staci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Billy and Blaze books are perfect for horse crazy children. The reading level is 1st-3rd grade and both my 1st grader and ESL 12-year-old find these a fast read with enough vocabulary to make it a good learning tool. The illustrations are beautiful and the books get a little harder and longer as the series goes on. Theses are quite old, but perfect little gems for newly independent readers. So glad to run into them at the library.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember checking this out at the library as a child. This brings back great memories!

[Khari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Woops. Looks like I am reading this series out of order, ah well, such is life.

This is the first one. I started with...I have no idea which one. My boss was cleaning through her trunks and found her copy of one of them and lent it to me.

The first one is quite different in the art. The art is still good, but it's not as stunning as the other one I read. The other one, wow, it was actually alive, portraiture in pencil. This is obviously an illustration type of art, not as delicate, realistic, or winsome. But it's still really good. Amazing what you can do with hash marks from a pen.

It's a simple story about a young boy and his brand new pony getting to know each other and having everyday adventures in the woods near their home.

It's sweet.

Story: Narrative
Art: Very good
Price: $4.99...I doubt very much it is still that price.

[Renee M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered the Billy and Blaze books as a young teacher. The school librarian was “updating” the shelves and so I got several well-worn copies for my classroom. I read them to my first graders every year and they just loved the adventures. The illustrations are gorgeously rendered pencil/charcoal drawings with lots of detail. In addition to being cool stories, they gave me the opportunity to talk about how art doesn’t need bright colors to be beautiful.

[Saleh MoonWalker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Onvan : Billy and Blaze: A Boy and His Pony - Nevisande : C.W. Anderson - ISBN : 0689716087 - ISBN13 : 9780689716089 - Dar 56 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 1936

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and cute, a good easy reader pick for a boy who likes horses.

[Sandie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love C.W. Andereson's books and art.....I have read his books since I was a little girl and I have always been excited about reading them to my children.

None of my three kids are huge horse lovers, though my daughter comes the closest. I started reading these books to her at about 4 but now at 5 she is enjoying them a bit more.

We both liked this first story about Billy and his love of horses and how he came to get his own pony Blaze as well as a dog and how he won the pony show!

My daughters favorite part is where they are in the Pony Show. The pages are not colored, that may seem different to many youngsters, but the drawings are great and detailed. A horse loving kid will enjoy the pictures a lot! The pages are short and easy to read. Any of the books can be read alone....it does not follow a strict story format though you will see where some characters are introduced and re-used throughout the series.

Wonderful books!

[Nichole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do you have any of those kids who like books where nothing really happens? (Do those kids still exist?) This is the book for them! A little boy easily gets the pony he's always wanted, the pony is amazing, they find a dog stuck in a trap who is sad but very quickly saved by our hero, and then they are all best friends. Billy enters a horse competition and it's so funny that even the dog jumps in it. Billy and his horse win, of course. The end.

There is no tension. No doubt that he will save the dog. No doubt he will win the competition. Life is easy and perfect for Billy.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had this book when I was a kid - I found it at the library today and signed it out so I could read it to ZZ - she liked it and thought it was interesting that "way back when my mom was a kid" the book pictures were black and white!
It is a trip reading books like this to her now that I'm an adult. As I read, I remembered a lot of the illustrations...I hope by reading books to ZZ now, she will be able to have similar memories as an adult.

[Julie Rowse · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is on the Nebraska 150 Books list, which is the only reason I picked it up. I'm glad I did though--I like to give books as gifts, and if I ever have the chance to recommend or give a gift to a young boy who loves animals, this moves to the top of the list. It's a sweet story about a boy, his pony, and his dog, with what resembles pencil-drawn illustrations. Enjoyable.

[Jorgina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for young boys. The whole boy-pony-dog relationship in a time when land was open and adventure was awaiting in your backyard. Oh, yes and all before rules were so restrictive that a person cold still prove themselves without strict authoritative approval.

[Terrah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a nice change to read a kids book from the 1930's compared to all the Dora and My Little Pony books that go through my house. The girls loved it too! So sweet, we'll be reading the whole series.

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are nice, sweet books and all my children enjoy them. It is interesting to see how independent children were in the past. Billy is responsible for his pony, he rides him in a show and he does this all without the help of his parents. My children were impressed.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a card to the Osterville Public Library and every summer for years I'd read dozens and dozens of books- many of them time and time again! These Blaze books were just some of the many... Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, The Black Stallion series, The Secret Garden and The Little Princess!

[Gmc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic horse story for young people.

Billy is a young boy who is horse crazy, and he took every chance to ride any horse that he could. On his birthday he received a pony. It's a great story. Read it with a young person that you know that loves horses.

[Dolly Garnecki · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 6 year-old enjoyed reading this book from cover to cover. He was able to pronounce most of the words. The intricate drawings inspired imagination and encouraged a quest for details. What a great story and series to illustrate courage, bravery, and the love of a boy for his remarkable pony.

[Elaine Jemmett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the Billy and Blaze books as a kid. There were several of them, and I read every one in the library. The stories were fairly wholesome, as I recall. What I remember most of all was the illustrations. They were excellent: really, really beautiful drawings. Top quality.

[ZZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book is awesomely cool and my mommy had black and white books.

[Katherine Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to my younger brother when he was little, and the art by this author, C.W. Anderson, who illustrated his own books, really inspired me to draw horses.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked that Billy got what he really wanted and he got to ride his horse a lot. It was good that he jumped over fences. I want to read the rest of the Billy and Blaze books.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of the books CW Anderson wrote about Billy and Blaze. It's a keeper!

[Rivkah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this books series. It's a sweet story about a boy and the adventures he has with his pony Blaze. I was addicted to these books when I was little and I think they need to be republished.

[Katy Brandes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the earliest reading memories from my childhood.

[Mitzy Tait-Zeller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I read and re-read in public school. A classic in its own right.