Pony in the Porch (Animal Ark, #304)

by Lucy Daniels

I have fond memories of reading Animal Ark as a kid. Along with all the other series I'm revisiting at the moment, I've decided to set out to read all of Animal Ark. I know I read a hell of a lot of them but I know I didn't quite get through the whole lot.

Animal Ark follows Mandy and James two crazy obsessed animal lovers for work together to save all the animals in the world. Mandy is the adopted daughter of two vets and many books in the series revolve around her hometown of York and her parent's veterinary clinic - Animal Ark. James is her best friend and fellow helper/trouble maker. The series promotes responsible animal ownership, willingness to work hard for worthwhile goals and encouragement to lend a hand to family, friends and others in the wider community. Animal Ark is pure gold for young readers. Unfortunately they're a bit simple and a lot repetitive for adult readers but let's face it, those of us rereading are likely here for nostalgia than plot. Younger readers will find the series engaging, humorous, a little silly and lots of fun.

This time it's a pony with allergies that needs saving. Well and Mandy to figure out that the horse has allergies. There's a lot of foreshadowing, so it's fairly obvious. Prince the pony (who lives down the road from Mandy) gets a new owner - the new girl in Mandy's class, Susan. Susan is a bit of a spoilt brat and doesn't take Mandy's advice about her new horse well at all. Mandy is very mature with how she reacts to Susan's barbs. Bit funny in a very cheesy way. Love James' dog Blackie who is a devil. 3 stars for the target audience, 2 stars for me. This one was kind of boring.

One interesting thing of note is that Susan Collins appears to be the main character of Snowflakes Over Moon Cottage one of the new books in the Hope Meadows/Animal Ark Revisited series.