Judith M. Berrisford


	Judith M. Berrisford For such a popular writer there seems to be little information about Judith Berrisford. Her real name is Judith Mary Lewis. She was born in Staffordshire in 1912 and has lived in Caernarvon and Llundudno, North Wales. She wrote the longest running series of UK pony books with her Jackie books. Stretching over 26 years, although Jackie still managed to retain her youthful age of around 14! (Wish I knew her secret!) The books were immensely popular. The author also wrote another series featuring a girl called Pippa, along with a few other pony books, many of which are now quite hard to find. Ms.Berrisford loved other animals as well as ponies and wrote several children's novels featuring a sheepdog called Taff and an Alsation called Skipper, plus other dog and cat stories. All these books are now quite rare and hard to find. In addition to being a children's writer Judith was an expert on gardening. She was Gardening Correspondent for Good Housekeeping magazine and has written many books about the subject. In 1977 she also wrote three other (non-pony) books under the pseudonym of Amanda Hope. (Sources: Contemporary Authors)


	Jackie Series: READING ORDER 1) JACKIE WON A PONY (BROCKHAMPTON 1958) ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM Reprinted in hardback by Brockhampton in the 1950s and 60s and 70s. Paperback reprints were by Armada and Knight/Hodder. Also a 2 in 1 paperback edition was published by Hodder in the 1990s, which also includes Jackie and the Pony Trekkers EDITIONS PICTURED: 1972 Brockhampton edition, Armada paperback, Knight paperback, later Hodder paperback. SUMMARY: Jackie wins Misty in a competition but when she and Babs kidnap a horse to save it from slaughter it leads to Jackie having to give up her prize pony. PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES Read Review (This is also a review of the series in general) 2) TEN PONIES AND JACKIE (BROCKHAMPTON 1959) ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM Reprinted in hardback by Brockhampton with a slightly different dustjacket. Reprinted in paperback by Armada. EDITIONS PICTURED: 1972 Brockhampton hardback, 1960s & 1970s Armada paperbacks. SUMMARY: Jackie and Babs help their friend run a riding stable. But an interfering busybody and a series of disasters puts the stable at risk. PONYMAD VIEW: This is my favourite Jackie book, partly because as a child I was obsessed by the thought of running my own stables and always loved stories about such, partly because it is the most humourous book in the series. PONYMAD RATING: 4 HORSESHOES 3) JACKIE'S PONY PATROL (BROCKHAMPTON 1961) ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM Reprinted in paperback by Armada EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Armada paperbacks. SUMMARY: Jackie and Babs are staying with their Aunt Di in the New Forest. Babs meets Patch for the first time and the girls organise a patrol to catch some thieves with unexpected results. Meanwhile Aunt Di helps an ill-treated young boy called Lenny. PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES 4) JACKIE AND THE PONY TREKKERS (BROCKHAMPTON 1963) ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM Reprinted in hardback by Brockhampton. Reprinted in paperback by Armada. Also a 2 in 1 paperback edition was published by Hodder in the 1990s, which also includes Jackie Won A Pony EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Armada paperbacks, Knight paperback, Hodder paperback. SUMMARY: The girls help out at Pinewoods Trekking Centre in Wales but prove more of a hindrance than help to its owner. PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES 5) JACKIE'S PONY CAMP SUMMER aka JACKIE AND THE PONY CAMP SUMMER (BROCKHAMPTON 1968) ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM Reprinted as a hardback by Hodder & Stoughton with a very slightly different dustjacket. Reprinted in paperback by Armada and Hodder. The latter edition was re-titled with an 'and' in the title for some unknown reason. Also published as a 2 in 1 paperback edition by Hodder in the 1990s, along with Jackie and the Pony Boys. EDTIONS PICTURED: Hodder & Stoughton 1970s hardback, Armada paperback, 1990s Hodder paperback, 2 in 1 edition. SUMMARY: The girls help at a pony camp run by a girl and her two brothers, but their interference causes one of the brothers to run away and Misty to get hurt. PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES 6) JACKIE AND THE PONY BOYS (BROCKHAMPTON 1970) ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM Reprinted a number of times in paperback by Armada and also Knight. Also published as a 2 in 1 paperback edition by Hodder in the 1990s, along with Jackie and the Pony Camp Summer. EDTIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Armada paperbacks, Knight paperback, 2 in 1 edition. SUMMARY: Jackie and her pals try to become friends with a group of boys but their attempts at friendship cause all sorts of trouble, and even causes a rift between Jackie and Babs! One of the few Jackie books to include a boy-girl relationship. PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES 7) JACKIE'S SHOW JUMPING SURPRISE (BROCKHAMPTON 1972) ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM Reprinted in paperback by Armada. EDTIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Armada paperbacks. SUMMARY: Jackie and Babs are helping at the training yard run by an ex-jockey. There's romance in the air when their Aunt Di appears on the scene, but as usual things do not go smoothly! PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES 8) JACKIE AND THE MISFIT PONY (BROCKHAMPTON 1975) ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM Reprinted in paperback by Armada. EDTIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Armada paperback. SUMMARY: Jackie and Babs return to the Pinewood Trekking Centre, first visited in Jackie and the Pony Trekkers, but their friend Molly is worried about the fate of a misfit pony as well as her own tangled family problems. Can the girls help or will they as usual only add to the problems? PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES 9) JACKIE ON PONY ISLAND (BROCKHAMPTON 1977) ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM Reprinted in paperback by Armada and also by Hodder. EDTIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Armada paperback, Hodder paperback. SUMMARY: The girls stay on Pony Island to help out a horsy family giving pony rides. But a nasty mother and son and a gang of bikers cause trouble. PONYMAD RATING: 2-3 HORSESHOES 10) JACKIE AND THE PONY THIEVES (HODDER & STOUGHTON 1978) ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM Reprinted in paperback by Armada. EDTIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Armada paperback. SUMMARY: A camping trip for the girls but then disaster strikes as Patch is stolen! The girls set out to find Patch and realise he is not the only pony in the area to have disappeared. PONYMAD RATING: 2 HORSESHOES 11) JACKIE AND THE PHANTOM PONIES (HODDER & STOUGHTON 1979) ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM Published in paperback by Armada and also by Knight. EDTIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Armada paperback, Hodder paperback. SUMMARY: The girls are staying at a stud in the Lake District. Are the phantom ponies they see really ghosts or is there a more serious explanation? PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES 12) JACKIE AND THE MOONLIGHT PONY (HODDER & STOUGHTON 1980) ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM Reprinted in paperback by Armada and later by Hodder. EDTIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Armada paperback, Hodder paperback. SUMMARY: The girls try and find out the secret of a moonlight pony and its rider as well as trying to help their Gran's friend save her centre for retired horses from having to close down. PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES 13) JACKIE AND THE PONY RIVALS (HODDER & STOUGHTON 1981) ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM First edition issued with pictorial boards rather than dust jacket. Reprinted in paperback by Armada. EDTIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Armada paperback. SUMMARY: Jackie and Babs are helping to run a Highland pony stud while the owner is in hospital but a malicious rival is determined to put the stud out of business and the girls' attempts to stop her have the opposite effect! PONYMAD VIEW: This story was plagiarised from the author's own earlier title Five Foals and Philippa, with Jackie and Babs being substituted for the original heroine and the setting changed from Wales to Scotland. The original story is longer and better developed and I would recommend reading that one instead of this slightly lacklustre imitation. PONYMAD RATING: 2 HORSESHOES 14) JACKIE AND THE MISSING SHOWJUMPER (HODDER & STOUGHTON 1982) ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM First edition issued with pictorial boards rather than dust jacket. Reprinted in paperback by Armada. EDTIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Armada paperback. SUMMARY: Jackie and Babs have the responsibility of looking after a pop singer's expensive ponies while he is away but they have problems with his spiteful cousin and then one of the horses goes missing… PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES 15) CHANGE PONIES JACKIE (HODDER & STOUGHTON 1983) ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM First edition issued with pictorial boards rather than dust jacket. Reprinted in paperback by Armada. EDTIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Armada paperback. SUMMARY: Jackie is too old to ride Misty in the riding club team and has to hand her pony over to Babs if the team has a chance of winning. But jealousies arise...will the girl's friendship survive? PONYMAD VIEW: Amazingly, considering the length of the series, this is the only one where the plot line concentrates on competitive riding. This gives the story a freshness lacking in most of the later Jackie books, and the tension between Jackie and Babs adds a bit of depth. PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES 16) JACKIE'S STEEPLECHASE ADVENTURE (HODDER & STOUGHTON 1984) ILLUSTRATED BY D. E. WALDUCK First edition issued with pictorial boards rather than dust jacket. Not sure if this was reprinted in paperback? Fairly rare. EDTIONS PICTURED: 1st edition. SUMMARY: When a new training stables opens near Jackie's house Jackie and Babs are full of excitement. They are even more excited to be asked to help out with the racehorses when the place is short staffed. The girls soon become involved with two rival apprentice jockeys and a temperamental black racehorse. With the help of Patch and a stray kitten, the horse becomes a changed character. But then it appears someone is out to nobble him and prevent him running in the upcoming big race! Can the girls find the culprit before it's too late? PONYMAD RATING: 2 HORSESHOES Collectors Info: There are some discrepancies regarding the publishing dates of Showjumping Surprise and Pony Island with possible earlier publishing dates cited but the dates I have noted seem by consensus of opinion to be the most likely. The above list is also correct for reading order with no chronological problems. First editions were hardbacks, initially published by Brockhampton/Hodder & Stoughton (both part of the same publishers), and the earlier titles were reprinted a few times, mainly with the same dust jackets, but a few with different ones. Most of them featured very attractive artwork by Geoffrey Whittam. Later first editions had pictorial boards instead of dust jackets. The books were all reprinted in paperback a number of times (except perhaps the last one). They were initially reprinted in paperback by Armada: books 1 to 7 firstly with attractive picture covers then with photographic covers featuring the familiar 'Jackie' logo. The Armada paperbacks from book 8 onwards were all the photographic covers. A few of the books were also reprinted by Hodder, some as Knight Paperbacks with photographic covers and others with a picture cover. There were also a couple of 2 in 1 omnibus editions published by Hodder at the same time. See specific titles above for information on which books were reprinted by whom. Paperback editions are easy to find and cheap, although Change Ponies Jackie can sometimes be a little harder to find than the others. Hardbacks, and first editions are rarer, especially outside of the UK, but they are usually fairly low cost. Jackie's Steeplechase Adventure is quite rare, but can sometimes be found fairly cheaply. I do not think this one was ever reprinted in paperback as I have never come across any paperbacks in my research.

Sue & Ballita Series:
Follows the adventures of Sue and her beautiful Arab Ballita.

1) SUE'S CIRCUS HORSE
(UNIV OF LONDON PRESS 1952)
ILLUSTRATED BY LESLIE ATKINSON
Reprinted in hardback by Hodder and Stoughton.
Reprinted in paperback by Dragon.
American edition published by Dodd Mead in 1952 and reprinted.
EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Hodder & Stoughton hardback, Dragon paperback.
SUMMARY: Sue buys a beautiful Arab from a circus sale, but the pony's circus tricks cause all sorts of bother. Will Sue be able to keep her dream pony?
PONYMAD VIEW: One of my favourite books by the author, amusing and entertaining. Favourite bit is when the children try to make their Granny disappear in a magic show!
PONYMAD BOOKLOVERS RATING: 4 HORSESHOES

2) PONIES ALL SUMMER
(UNIV OF LONDON PRESS 1956)
ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM
Reprinted in paperback by Dragon.
EDITION PICTURED: Dragon paperback.
SUMMARY: The children set up a pets boarding service in order to earn money to keep the ponies.
PONYMAD VIEW: Quite similar in plot to Patricia Leitch's Cross Country Pony, though not quite as good.
PONYMAD BOOKLOVERS RATING: 3 HORSESHOES

3) SUE'S TV PONY
(HUTCHINSON 1964)
ILLUSTRATED BY SHEILA ROSE
Reprinted in the USA in a large print edition by Ulverscroft.
Possibly no paperback edition.
EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Ulverscroft large print edition.
SUMMARY: Sue's pony is chosen to star in a TV show but when Sue is also asked to play a part it means her actor friend Larry has to give up the role he so desperately wanted. Will their friendship survive?
PONYMAD BOOKLOVERS RATING: 3 HORSESHOES

Collectors Info:
The first two books, although not common, are reasonably easy to find in the UK. The third is quite a bit rarer. All are hard to find outside of the UK.


	Family Series: Series about two sisters and their ponies. Unusual in that they are designed not only as stories but with lots of technical info about looking after and training ponies, along with diagrams! The series somewhat succeeds as a more fun way to introduce pony care to children, but the instructional element is a bit clunky and does slow down the pace of the stories a little, with the first being the worst in this regard. 1) A PONY IN THE FAMILY (BROCKHAMPTON 1959) ILLUSTRATED BY ANNE GORDON Reprinted in Knight paperback in a couple of different editions. Published in the USA by Reilly & Lee in 1960. EDITION PICTURED: 1st edition, Knight paperbacks. SUMMARY: Jane and her younger sister Penny are overjoyed when they have Freckles the pony on a week's trial. But it was really the girls who were on trial not the pony! After a series of disasters it looks like she may be sent back, but they have grown to love her: can they prove they are capable of looking after her after all? 2) A COLT IN THE FAMILY (BROCKHAMPTON 1962) ILLUSTRATED BY ANNE GORDON Reprinted in hardback in the 1970s by White Lion (rare). Reprinted in Knight paperback in a couple of different editions. EDITION PICTURED: 1st edition, Knight paperbacks, 1975 hardback. SUMMARY: The girls have a young colt to break in and school! 3) A SHOWJUMPER IN THE FAMILY (BROCKHAMPTON 1964) ILLUSTRATED BY ANNE GORDON Reprinted in hardback in the 1970s by White Lion (rare). Reprinted in paperback by Knight. EDITION PICTURED: 1st edition, Knight paperback. SUMMARY: Penny thinks her pony Rusty has great potential as a showjumper but her parents have banned her from show jumping the excitable young pony… Collectors Info: Harder to find than the Jackie or Pippa books. The paperbacks are the easiest to get hold of. First editions are quite rare. Only the first one was published in the USA.


	Pippa Series: The many horsy adventures of Pippa and her brother. Similar in style to Jackie series though there is an important male character for a change. All the stories have a mystery for the brother and sister to solve. Sadly, none of the series was illustrated. PONYMAD SERIES RATING: 3 HORSESHOES 1) PONY TREKKERS GO HOME (KNIGHT PB 1981) Paperback first edition. Reprinted in hardback by Severn House. EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition paperback, Severn House hardback. SUMMARY: Pippa and brother Pete are overjoyed to be on holiday at a trekking centre in Scotland run by their Aunt Carol. But they soon become involved in trouble. Why are the locals so hostile to the trekking centre and why are there famous horses secretly stabled at Lord Glencairn's stables? The pair set determine to solve these mysteries. PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES 2) SABOTAGE AT STABLEWAYS (KNIGHT PB 1982) Paperback first edition. Reprinted in hardback by Severn House. EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition paperback, Severn House hardback. SUMMARY: back home from their exciting exploits in Scotland, Pippa and Pete run into more trouble. Someone is sabotaging the stables where the pair ride and Pippa helps out, and their hopes of riding in the upcoming horse trials are dwindling if the sabotage continues. Can she and Pete find the culprit before it is too late? PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES 3) PIPPA'S MYSTERY HORSE (KNIGHT PB 1983) Paperback first edition. Reprinted in hardback by Severn House. EDITION PICTURED: 1st edition paperback. SUMMARY: On holiday by the sea, Pippa and Pete finds a beautiful shipwrecked Appaloosa. Pippa soon realises he has been cruelly treated and as she falls in love with the horse, she worries that his cruel owner will return for him. PONYMAD RATING: 4 HORSESHOES 4) TOO MANY PONIES FOR PIPPA (KNIGHT PB 1984) Paperback first edition. Reprinted in hardback by Severn House. EDITION PICTURED: 1st edition paperback. SUMMARY: At last Pippa has her own pony, Magic, but she is not allowed to enjoy her pony in peace for long - when her friend Jane's Aunt goes on holiday she leaves her pony farm in the hands of her niece. But when a stable lad leaves, Jane finds herself shorthanded and recruits Pippa to help. Soon Pippa finds she has too many ponies - and too many problems - to cope with! PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES 5) PIPPA AND THE MIDNIGHT PONIES (KNIGHT 1985) Paperback first edition. Reprinted in hardback by Severn House. EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition paperback, Severn House hardback. SUMMARY: Pippa and Pete are trying to solve the mystery of the nocturnal riders, but then ironically Pete's own pony on loan goes missing! Are the two events linked? The children set off to try and find the answer. PONYMAD RATING: 2 HORSESHOES Collectors Info: First editions are paperbacks and fairly easy to find in the UK, although a little harder elsewhere. The hardback reprints are a lot rarer.


	Other Pony Books: TIMBER THE STORY OF A HORSE (UNIVERSITY OF LONDON PRESS 1950) ILLUSTRATED BY CANEY Reprinted in hardback by White Lion, a hard to find edition. EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, including pic showing the colour frontispiece, White Lion edition. SUMMARY: The story is based on a real horse. Unusually for a British pony book the main character is a boy. He is given a horse but cannot ride. How will he achieve his ambition of becoming a show jumper? Help comes in the form of an excellent trainer and both John and Timber show promise. But when he wins a scholarship and has to go away to school, John is worried: how will Timber be good enough to compete without his schooling? Strangely it is his rather vague and bookish Vicar father who provides the answer. PONYMAD VIEW: A gentle old-fashioned pony story which is completely different in style to the author's other books. PONYMAD BOOKLOVERS RATING: 3 HORSESHOES RED ROCKET MYSTERY HORSE (UNIVERSITY OF LOND0N PRESS 1952) ILLUSTRATED BY LESLIE ATKINSON I don't think this was ever reprinted. EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition. SUMMARY: The appearance among the wild moorland ponies of a strange half tame red stallion is the first indication to Dick and Heather that their holiday on Exmoor is to be anything out of the ordinary. The mystery deepens when, together with their friends the Manners children, they discover the paw-marks of a monkey. With mounting excitement they set out to track Red Rocket, as they have named him. A forest fire, a weird call to which Red Rocket answers and an ill-spelt message chalked on a wall complicate their search and lead them eventually to Red Rocket's elusive owner. PONYMAD BOOKLOVERS RATING: 3 HORSESHOES THE PONIES NEXT DOOR (UNIV LONDON PRESS 1954) Reprinted in hardback by Brockhampton and White Lion (rare). Published in the USA by Dodd Mead in 1955. EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Brockhampton, White Lion. SUMMARY: The Grey family are delighted when Diane and her brother Bill move to the dilapidated old house next door and set up a riding stable! Their lives become full of excitement with moonlight rides, encounters with gypsies and even an elephant from the local circus being housed at the stables! But then a rival riding school starts taking away their custom. Will the stables have to close? It is up to the Greys and their friends to prove themselves in the local show and get good publicity for the stables, but the children are inexperienced and nervous. Things don't look too good for them until help appears from an unexpected source… PONYMAD BOOKLOVERS RATING: 3 HORSESHOES RUSTLERS IN THE NEW FOREST (MACMILLAN PB 1954) ILLUSTRATED BY LUNT ROBERTS This is a very slim (approx 60 pages) staple-bound paperback and could possibly have been designed as a school reading book as it has a quiz in the back asking questions about what has happened in the book. Fairly rare. EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition (paperback). SUMMARY: Bob, Pam and Pete are on a horse-drawn caravanning holiday in the New Forest where they rescue a foal and with its mothers help, set out to foil a gang of rustlers. PONY FOREST ADVENTURE (UNIV LONDON PRESS 1957) ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM Reprinted in paperback by Dragon Books in the 1970s. EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Dragon paperback. SUMMARY: A group of children try to solve a pony rustling mystery in the New Forest. TROUBLE AT PONYWAYS (UNIV LONDON PRESS 1959) ILLUSTRATED BY ELISABETH GRANT Reprinted in hardback by White Lion. Reprinted in paperback by Dragon in the 1970s EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Dragon paperback, White Lion edition. SUMMARY: A group of children on their annual pony holiday find themselves at loggerheads with the owner's new wife. Can they learn to get along with the unfriendly woman or will their holiday idyll be spoilt forever? PONYMAD BOOKLOVERS RATING: 3 HORSESHOES NOBODY'S PONY (UNIV LONDON PRESS PB 1962) As far as I know never reprinted and thus is hard to find. EDITION PICTURED: 1st edition (paperback). SUMMARY: A mistreated horse proves hard to handle until a newcomer to the stables befriends him. FIVE FOALS AND PHILIPPA (BURKE 1963) Not reprinted. Rare. EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition SUMMARY: Philippa goes to stay on her Aunt's pony farm. Five foals are born whilst she is there, along with many other exciting happenings! PONYMAD VIEW: This is in essence the same story as Jackie and the Pony Rivals, although this was the original as it was written first. It is actually a better developed and longer story than the Jackie copy, so worth a read. PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES Read review TAFF AND THE STOLEN PONIES (HODDER AND STOUGHTON 1965) ILLUSTRATED BY HELEN COLLINS I don't think this was reprinted. EDITION PICTURED: 1st edition. SUMMARY: Part of the Taff series, which is about a border collie sheepdog. Most of the books have slight pony content as the main child characters ride; this one about Taff's role in helping to find some stolen ponies is the most horsy of them all. If you like dogs as well as ponies, and enjoy the author's style, I would recommend both the Taff and the Skipper series. Collectors Info: Timber, Red Rocket and The Ponies Next Door I have only seen in hardback editions. I don't think they were reprinted as paperbacks. Some of the others have been reprinted in paperback form; Nobody's Pony and Rustlers in the New Forest are paperback originals. None of these books are common, some are quite rare, but neither are any extremely hard to find in the UK. As far as I know only one of these - The Ponies Next Door - was published in the USA and the books may be quite hard to find in America and elsewhere outside the UK. The rarest is Five Foals and Philippa. The paperback editions of Pony Forest Adventure and Trouble at Ponyways are the easiest to find and cheapest of all these.


	Short stories in other books & collections: TOPPER in PONY CLUB ANNUAL NO. 4 * (NALDRETT PRESS 1953) ILLUSTRATED BY CHARLOTTE HOUGH SUMMARY: Jeremy has to learn to get used to his new pony Topper. * Judith also wrote another article about hunting in this annual but from memory I think it is non-fiction. Collectors Info: Not common, but can be found without too much trouble in the UK. Harder to get hold of elsewhere.