June 6, 2010
Author Babette Cole describes her literary creation, Fetlocks Hall, as “A Very Unusual Pony School Where Extraordinary Things Happen.” Shades of Harry Potter’s alma mater, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Pony-mad Penny Simms, overjoyed at winning a place at Fetlocks Hall, soon discovers that she also has a chance to acquire secret knowledge about horses and the magical unicorn world of Equitopia. The requisite conflict between good and evil is provided by the struggle between the unicorns and the devlipeds, an adventure in which Penny soon becomes involved.

Written for children aged eight to ten, Cole’s series has struck it big. Sales of her first two books, The Unicorn Princess and The Ghostly Blinkers, sold nearly nine thousand copies in the first week, according to Horse &Hound.

Cole’s new series is published by Bloomsbury, the same publisher as Harry Potter. Unfortunately, political correctness there required the author to remove all references to hunting. “They now go team chasing instead,” said author Cole.

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