Janet Lambert (1893-1973)

American author of young adult books, mainly aimed at teenage girls and of a 'coming of age' theme. Janet Lambert was born in Indiana in 1893. She worked as an actress before marrying a career army man. As a military wife, Ms. Lambert used her knowledge of that world to provide ideas and backgrounds for the novels she began to write. Many of her heroines are army wives or daughters. She was a prolific writer, penning a number of series including the Penny and Tippy Parrish series, for which she is perhaps best known.

One series - featuring the character of Dria - was a pony series, and ponies do occasionally appear in some of her non-pony books too. The first book in the Penny Parrish series - Star-Spangled Summer - may possibly have more pony content than the others and qualify as a pony book, but as I haven't read it as yet I am not certain. Please let me know if you have read it and think it should be included (or indeed any of the other books by the author).

There are a number of good bibliographies of the author's full works on the internet - please visit the links on the right to find out more.

Dria Series:

1) STAR DREAM
(DUTTON [USA] 1951)
Reprinted in hardback by original publishers.
Reprinted in hardback by Grosset & Dunlap.
Most recently reprinted by Image Cascade in paperback.
SUMMARY: Dria Meredith has a great summer when she stays with her grandmother on her farm in Virginia, meets the beautiful horse Star Dream and learns to ride.

2) SUMMER FOR SEVEN
(DUTTON [USA] 1952)
Reprinted in hardback by Grosset & Dunlap.
Most recently reprinted by Image Cascade in paperback.
SUMMARY: Dria returns to her grandma's along with six friends. One there she hope to ride Star Dream in the county fair.

3) HIGH HURDLES
(DUTTON [USA] 1955)
Reprinted in hardback by Grosset & Dunlap.
Most recently reprinted by Image Cascade in paperback.
SUMMARY: Dria is to ride Star in the National Horse Show in New York!

Collector's Info:
Easy to find in the USA in both hardback and paperback. Harder to find in the UK, but not impossible.

Short stories in other books and collections:

TALL AS THE STARS
in EVERYGIRL'S HORSE STORIES
(GROSSET & DUNLAP [USA] 1956)
ILLUSTRATED BY RICHARD H. BURHANS
SUMMARY: No story summary. The book itself includes a number of pony stories by American authors such as Marion Holland and Adele de Leeuw.
More information about the book and the stories it contains can be found on the American Short Story Collections webpage.

Also in: THE AMERICAN GIRL BOOK OF HORSE STORIES
(WINDWARD BOOKS/RANDOM HOUSE [USA] 1963)
ILLUSTRATED BY SAM SAVITT
Reprinted as a paperback. in the 1970s.
SUMMARY: No summary of story. The book it is contained has a number of horse stories which are mainly aimed at girls with a touch of romance in many.
More information about the book and the stories it contains can be found on the American Short Story Collections webpage.

Collector's Info:
Both reasonably easy to find in the USA, the American Girl book tends to be a bit cheaper. Harder to find elsewhere.