This is a collection of sporting prints lampooning the work of expert draughtsmen such as Stubbs, Rowlandson, Fernley and Pollard. Thelwell, the creator of the cartoon character Penelope, has a superb eye for detail and for the relationship between humans and animals.
Little girls. Fat hairy ponies. Hook-nosed riding teachers, riders on backward, and horses gone madly off course. The artist Norman Thelwell published his first pony cartoon in 1953, and quite by accident, his name became synonymous with these kinds of images. "The response was instantaneous," he wrote in his autobiography. "Suddenly I had fan mail...I dreamed up some more horsey ideas and people went into raptures." The "Thelwell pony" soon became the most-often referenced source of horse-humor the world over. In 1957, Thelwell's first collection of pony cartoons, Angels on Horseback, was published, followed by A Leg at Each Corner in '61, and Riding Academy in '63. In this Anniversary Special Collection, readers get all three classics, featuring page after page of Thelwell's hilarious cartoons along with his often blisteringly accurate advice for survival in and around the equine herd. Whether audiences open Pony Calvacade out of nostalgia or curiosity, the delightful details of Thelwell's illustrations and timeless wit of his caricatures and asides are a surefire way to change a day for the better, and certain to send a new generation of fat-hairy-pony-lovers out to the barn to test the truths within.
In Chasing Blue, Sasha and her horse, Charm, have proven that they’re worthy competitors for the elite Canterwood Crest equestrian team. Things are definitely looking up . . . until Sasha finds out who her riding partner for the semester is: her archnemesis, Queen Bee Heather. Not. Good. And when Heather starts spending a little too much QT with Sasha’s almost-boyfriend, Jacob, the partnership is put to the ultimate test. The tension builds in Behind the Bit when Sasha and her team are accepted to a prestigious horse clinic. Can Sasha and Callie work together when it counts?
Norman Thelwell (1923-2004) remains one of Britain's favourite artists and cartoonists. This re-issue is his entertaining look at driving and car ownership.
Penelope, that vociferous heroine of Thelwell's famous riding academy, has something to say on almost every aspect of the human condition, however hair-raising her own may be at the time. Ponies and philosophy go hand in hand when Penelope is around.
This omnibus edition - now in hardback - contains much of Norman Thelwell's invaluable advice to aspiring equestrians on how to get into the saddle and stay there; each item illustrated with inimitable and deadly clarity. From the first publication of Angels on Horseback in 1957, the Thelwell pony entered the language - and the libraries of horse-lovers everywhere. The angels in Angels on Horseback are children, but there is plenty here about their parents. Both for those who know Thelwell, and for those who have not met him before, this book is a savoury at all times - but especially after attending a gymkhana. Since their debut appearance in Punch over sixty years ago, Norman Thelwell's cartoons and drawings have delighted millions of people all over the world. His portrayals of sporting pursuits, human beings at play, the life of the countryside and, of course, ponies, are the products of a unique comic genius.