The Gundaroo Pony by Libby Anderson

This is a book written for children from 4 to 10 years. It is set in an old historic town near Canberra, Australia. Libby wrote this story for her second daughter Dianne, after the Anderson family moved to the village and grew to love and delight in some of the unique features of the old historic town.

This is a story of a little girl and her pony. Dianne lives with her parents in the historic village of Gundaroo. One Christmas they called her outside and there stood a little grey pony. Dianne could not think of a name that suited him, so she called him No Name. Dianne soon learned to saddle and bridle him herself and they had many happy rides together. One day Dianne came back from school very excited. There was going to be an historical picnic and all the children were going dressed in period costume.

This book tells of the costume Dianne chose to go in, and how No Name took part in the picnic too, and got a new name: Gundaroo Pony. Ronald Rivett is well known in Australia for his beautiful pencil drawings. A member of the Royal Society of New South Wales, he has won many prizes for oils, water colours and black and white works. His work adds authenticity to this fictional yet historic book, designed to help give all Australian children a feeling of history and pride in their nation