Best friends Cassie and Lina are excited to pet sit Tony the miniature pony. His owner, Dr Jim, has left them with instructions to keep Tony’s blanket on, or make sure he’s tied up firmly, as Tony sometimes gets himself into unusual places. While pet sitting Tony, the girls must also watch Lina’s little brother Timmy, while Lina’s mum does some important work from her home office. Mum’s instructions are clear: ‘No chaos! And no emergencies!’ and no unnecessary noise so the twins don’t wake up from their naps. It seems simple enough. But Gus thinks ponies are boring and while the girls are inside decorating Tony’s pony blanket, and Timmy is bouncing on the trampoline, Gus flicks the rope securing Tony’s halter to the fence accidentally setting Tony free. When the girls look out of the window a little while later, they are shocked to see that Timmy, Gus and Tony are all missing from the paddock—even though all the gates are shut! Cassie and Lina race outside and follow the hoof print clues only to discover that not only has Tony grown wings and is now flying awkwardly around the property, but Timmy is having a wonderful time riding him mid-air! Horrified, they find Gus who tells them a long, drawn out story of what has happened… but they can’t listen properly. They need to catch Tony and get Timmy back to the ground, all without waking up the babies or disturbing Lina’s mum! A good strategy of luring Tony using apple pieces from the twins’ morning tea almost works… until Gus takes matters into his own paws, launches himself onto Tony’s rear end, and bumpily rides him into the wet laundry on the line. And without a moment to spare! When Lina’s mum looks out the window, everything seems peaceful and calm apart from Gus hanging tangled and embarrassed from the clothesline. Tony and Timmy are safe once more, and Gus realises that a magical, flying pony is probably more exciting than he – or anyone else – ever imagined.
Author:
Ella Shine LOVES pets of all kinds. She lives in Sydney, Australia with her three cats, four bunnies, parakeet, bearded dragon and an imaginary ant farm for company. When shes not writing stories for children she can be found dreaming up adventures and hunting for the unexpected with at least one of her pets in tow! (And when shes not doing any of the above, Ella Shine is simply the super fun pen name of two real authors writing books together, chapter by chapter.)
Illustrator:
Lisa Flanagan has illustrated over a dozen books for children of all ages. She loves being creative and exploring outside. When she was little, Lisa had a budgie that couldnt fly but walked on the floor like a person. You needed to be very careful where you stepped!
* Humorous series fiction thats fun for adults to read too.
* Australian setting and characters.
* Themes: friendship, responsibility, risk-taking, problem solving, family and community, unconditional love.
* Multicultural flavour with BIPOC character.
* Teachers notes available.
Publicity:
* The authors and illustrators do 2-5 school visits per year at which they talk about the series.
