~ borrowed from the Library

PONY PARTY is one of the book in the PONY SCOUT series. These little books are at the Second Grade Reading Level. This particular book is at the beginning 2nd Grade level and it has 584 words.

One of the reasons I like this series is that there are real stories. In this book the girls help Jill's mother bring two ponies to a party. Everyone assumes that the birthday girl will be delighted, but instead she's oddly standoffish. The Pony Scouts carry on and the rest of the kids have a blast. After everyone has had a ride, Meg goes over to Tina the birthday girl and tries to engage her, only to be rebuffed.

"Whatever," Meg muttered.
She couldn't believe that Tina
cared more about clean shoes
than riding a pony!

When Meg tells Annie and Jill what the girl said, she adds that she thinks Tina is snob who is "too good for us and our ponies!" Annie however realizes that something else might be bothering Tina and she uses a little psychology to solve the dilemma.

~
Besides PONIES!! there is a lot to like in this series. The girls are always supportive of one another, and the adults around them. The author notes that helping the other children with the ponies was exhausting, but that they didn't mind because everyone was having fun -- plus we know that they like to help Jill's mom.

Meg isn't very generous with her interpretation of Tina's behavior, but this only serves to show young readers that you can seriously misread a person's motivations and that it's best not to jump to conclusions.

A lot of depth for a second grade primer. ( )