Flambards and The Edge of the Cloud by K. M. Peyton were both reissued and rejacketed by Oxford Children’s Books this year.
First published in the late 1960s and set around the period of WW1, this pair of novels will appeal to readers who fancy a change of tempo and mood from brash contemporary teen fiction. They can also be appreciated by adults who enjoy reading Edwardian period fiction filled with horse riding and plane flying. Peyton’s writing is immaculate. The second book was awarded the Carnegie Medal.
A third Flambards novel appeared soon after, and a fourth title a few years later.
In an excellent recent Guardian feature, it was said: “There are shades of Downton Abbey in Peyton’s sweep from the top of the social scale to the bottom…”
Here is a chronological list of her titles:
- Sabre, the Horse from the Sea – 1947
- The Mandrake, A Pony – 1949
- Crab the Roan – 1953
- North to Adventure – 1959
- Stormcock Meets Trouble – 1961
- The Hard Way Home – 1962
- Windfall – 1963
- Brownsea Silver – 1964
- The Maplin Bird – 1964
- The Plan for Birdsmarsh – 1965
- Thunder in the Sky – 1966
- Flambards – 1968
- The Edge of the Cloud – 1969
- Flambards in Summer – 1969
- Pennington’s Seventeenth Summer – 1970
- Fly-by-Night – 1971
- The Beethoven Medal – 1972
- A Pattern of Roses – 1972
- Pennington’s Heir – 1974
- The Team – 1975
- The Right-Hand Man – 1977
- Prove Yourself A Hero – 1978
- A Midsummer Night’s Death – 1978
- Marion’s Angels – 1979
- The Flambards Trilogy – 1980
- Flambards Divided – 1981
- Dear Fred – 1982
- Going Home – 1982
- Who, Sir? Me, Sir ? – 1983
- The Last Ditch – 1983
- Pennington– A Trilogy – 1984
- Frogett’s Revenge – 1985
- The Sound of Distant Cheering – 1986
- Downhill All the Way – 1988
- Plain Jack – 1988
- Who Sir, Me Sir ? – 1988
- Skylark – 1989
- Darkling – 1990
- No Roses Round The Door – 1990
- Late To Smile – 1992
- Poor Badger – 1992
- The Boy Who Wasn’t There – 1992
- The Wild Boy and Queen Moon – 1993
- Mr. Brown – 1995
- The Swallow Tale – 1995
- Snowfall – 1996
- The Pony That Went to Sea – 1997
- Windy Webley – 1997
- Unquiet Spirits – 1997
- Danger Offshore – 1998
- Firehead – 1998
- Swallow Summer – 1998
- Swallow the Star – 1998
- Blind Beauty – 1999
- Pony Stories – 1999
- The Paradise Pony – 1999
- The Pied Piper – 1999
- The Scruffy Pony – 1999
- Horses – 2000
- Pony In The Dark– 2001
- Stealaway – 2001
- Small Gains – 2003
- Greater Gains – 2005
- Blue Skies And Gunfire – 2006
- Minna’s Quest – 2007
- No Turning Back – 2008
- Far From Home – 2008
