Dorothy Lyons


	Dorothy Lyons Born in Michigan in 1907. Pursued a secretarial career and also worked for the Red Cross. She loved horses and wrote 12 pony novels set in various equestrian fields from racing to showing to polo. Also bred Connemara ponies and was president of the American Connemara Pony society. Many of her books were illustrated by the great Wesley Dennis, which makes them very collectable. Unfortunately a lot of her books tend to be very hard to find and/or expensive which makes acquiring a full collection very costly. More on the author can be found on the Bookthink website (see link).


	Connie McGuire Series: Historical horse series set in America's Great Depression era. 1) SILVER BIRCH FIRST EDITION HARCOURT, BRACE & CO [USA] 1939 ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN AUSTIN TAYLOR Reprinted in hardback a number of times by original publisher. Fairly rare in the USA, very rare outside the States. EDITION PICTURED: Harcourt reprint. SUMMARY: Connie McGuire longs for a horse of her own, but with the Depression hitting the country hard there is no money for such luxuries. She decides the only way to get a horse is to capture the elusive Silver Birch, a beautifully Arabian mare which was abused and then abandoned and now runs free. But many have tried to capture the mare and failed. Can Connie succeed? 2) MIDNIGHT MOON FIRST EDITION HARCOURT, BRACE & CO 1941 ILLUSTRATED BY W. C. NIMS Reprinted in hardback a number of times. Fairly rare in the USA, very rare outside the States. EDITION PICTURED: Harcourt reprint. SUMMARY: Connie recklessly makes a bet that she can win first or second prize at a horseshow within the year. But if she doesn't succeed she faces losing her beloved horse. 3) GOLDEN SOVEREIGN FIRST EDITION HARCOURT, BRACE & CO 1946 FIRST UK EDITION MUSEUM PRESS 1949 ILLUSTRATED BY WESLEY DENNIS Reprinted in hardback by original publisher. Reprinted in paperback a number of times by Scholastic. Also published in hardback in the UK by Museum Press. Easy to find in the USA. EDITION PICTURED: Harcourt reprint. SUMMARY: Can Connie tame the wild streak in Golden Sovereign, the beautiful but wilful son of Silver Birch? 4) COPPER KHAN FIRST EDITION HARCOURT, BRACE & CO 1950 FIRST UK EDITION MUSEUM PRESS 1952 ILLUSTRATED BY WESLEY DENNIS Also published in hardback in the UK by Museum Press. Rare EDITION PICTURED: First edition, UK edition. SUMMARY: Connie rescues and nurses back to health Copper Khan, a racehorse with a broken leg. But is he now good enough to race? Collectors Info: Golden Sovereign is the only one easy to find, due to it having been reprinted in paperback a number of times Even so non-American collectors may not be able to find a copy outside of the USA The other are all very hard to find anywhere but the States, and Copper Khan is rare, even there.


	Ginny Series: Not to be confused with the British series of same name (though different spelling)! 1) JAVA JIVE (HARCOURT, BRACE & CO 1955) ILLUSTRATED BY WESLEY DENNIS (FRONTISPIECE ONLY) Very rare EDITION PICTURED: First edition. SUMMARY: Ginny longs for a pony of her own and when a stray pony wanders into the family paddock and she is able to have the pony on loan, it is a dream come true! But there is more excitement in store when Sugar has a foal and Ginny has young Java Jive to nurture and train. 2) SMOKE RINGS (HARCOURT, BRACE & CO 1960) ILLUSTRATED BY WESLEY DENNIS (FRONTISPIECE ONLY) There was a German edition produced entitled Smoky Rare. EDITION PICTURED: First edition. SUMMARY: Thanks to courageously helping a stranger, Ginny is now the proud owner of the fantastic TB Smoke Rings. Can the pair of them fulfil her dreams to join the Olympic Team? Collectors Info: Apart from s German edition of Smoke Rings I don't think these were reprinted at all. Unfortunately both are hard to get hold of, even in their native USA, especially Java Jive which is also usually very expensive too.


	Other Horse & Pony Books: RED EMBERS FIRST EDITION HARCOURT, BRACE & CO 1948 ILLUSTRATED BY WESLEY DENNIS Rare EDITION PICTURED: First edition. SUMMARY: Polo story about a girl and her pony Red Embers HARLEQUIN HULLABALLOO aka BLUEGRASS CHAMPION FIRST EDITION HARCOURT, BRACE & CO 1949 ILLUSTRATED BY WESLEY DENNIS Reprinted under the title of Bluegrass Champion by Grossat & Dunlap as part of their Famous Horse Stories series. Can sometimes be found in the UK. EDITIONS PICTURED: First edition, Famous Horse Stories edition. SUMMARY: Set in the world of Saddlebred showing. Harlequin is a trick horse turned 5 gaiter. He also happens to be one of the first spotted horses to show in the classes - and as such faces prejudice from people who don't approve of his colour. NB. Has a descripton of 'tail nicking' a surgical procedure which produces the artificially high tail position seen in theses horses - many readers may find this unpleasant. DARK SUNSHINE FIRST EDITION HARCOURT, BRACE & CO 1951 ILLUSTRATED BY WESLEY DENNIS Reprinted in hardback by original publisher. Reprinted in hardback by original publisher also. EDITION PICTURED: Paperback. SUMMARY: After being crippled by polio, Blythe feels her life is over. But then she rescues the mare Dark Sunshine from a landslide and finds she has something to live for again as she trains the mare and begins to ride once more. When she is offered the chance of a music scholarship she is overjoyed but then she finds out there is an athletic element. How can she manage it with her disability. Dark Sunshine again comes to the rescue when Blythe realises she can compete in an endurance race for the athletic element of the scholarship. But do she and Sunny have what it takes to complete the gruelling competition? PONYMAD RATING: 4 HORSESHOES Chat forum reading group discussion of the book BLUE SMOKE FIRST EDITION HARCOURT, BRACE & CO 1953 ILLUSTRATED BY WESLEY DENNIS Reprinted in hardback by original publisher. Reprinted in hardback by original publisher also. Also a German edition entitled Blue Smoke und Andy EDITION PICTURED: First edition. SUMMARY: Andy must solve the mystery of her QH stallion Blue Smoke's ownership if she is to keep him from being claimed by an unscrupulous man. BRIGHT WAMPUM FIRST EDITION HARCOURT, BRACE & CO 1958 ILLUSTRATED BY WESLEY DENNIS Rare. EDITION PICTURED: First edition. SUMMARY: Merry longs to buy the Appaloosa mare Bright Wampum and decides to try and make the money by riding in rodeos. PEDIGREE UNKNOWN FIRST EDITION HARCOURT, BRACE & CO 1973 ILLUSTRATED BY WESLEY DENNIS Also a Book Club Edition Can be found in the UK. EDITION PICTURED: First edition. SUMMARY: Story for older teenagers. Disallusioned after a failed romance, teenage Jill rescues an ill-treated pedigree-less horse and realises that a pedigree is not as important as she had once thought, either in horses or people. . Collectors Info: Some of these are reasonably easy to find, Dark Sunshine probably being the easiest (in paperback at least). Some may also be found in the UK. However Bright Wampum and Red Embers are pretty rare even in America. Ironically the German editions of some of the books can be easier to find than the English language versions!


	Books About the Author: THE DEVIL MADE THE SMALL TOWN BY Dorothy Lyons FIRST EDITION KIILKERRIN PB 1983 Paperback original. SUMMARY: Autobiography Collectors Info: Although a paperback it is extremely hard to find and very expensive!