by Carole Smith and illustrated by Alexandra Wilson
Published by Ink! By The Author School
Publication Date: July 2023
The New Forest is an ancient woodland in Southern England. It is famous for its beauty but also for the wild ponies that roam its pathways. Like the author herself, as a young child on family holidays, I too was captivated by the place. It felt old and mythical, a place that had seen many things. I would wonder about all the people and animals that had walked through the woods and the many lives that had been and that were still linked with its paths, hollows and byways.
The New Forest is very much a character in this beautifully written and illustrated children’s book. Carole Smith utilises place names such as the Deer Sanctuary at Bolderwood, Hinchelsea and Wootton Bridge to create the story world of her text. All these places drew, for me as a reader, a sense of nostalgia but for younger readers they ground the world of the text which helps paint the landscape the inhabitants walk through. The central characters are young ponies called Drummer, Merlin, Peewee, Riley, Juliet and Willow who go on a literal and figurative journey in search of a mythical unicorn that is rumoured to live in the New Forest. We experience their feelings of excitement and trepidation as they test themselves to see how brave they are to face the unknown, a key part of growing up and developing a sense of self. This felt an intrinsic idea within the book and makes it a lovely book to share and discuss with younger children.
As the ponies traverse the New Forest in search of this mythical creature, they encounter a number of older and wiser forest characters in the form of Skipper and Super Ted both older and wiser ponies who offer advice and guidance. They also meet Henry a wise old owl and the majestic stag, ‘The Monarch’ who is made all the more vivid by the illustrations accompanying the text. The Monarch has seen the unicorn. It is linked with the passing of the seasons and can been seen in the autumn amidst the fireworks of bonfire night. This season itself is steeped in folklore and the mythic. It was a beautiful reminder of how time passes, we grow, and we learn. There is excitement in this idea, mirrored in the ponies trepidation of the drift which happens annually within the Forest and we leave them ready to take a new and different journey in their young lives. A beautifully written tale, which encapsulates the childhood imagination of adventure and escapism.
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