Hans Baumann (1914-1988)

German poet, songwriter and author. Born in 1914 in Anberg, Bavaria. He began writing songs from an early age and some became quite famous. He was noticed by the Hitler Youth movement and invited to Berlin where he worked as a poet, songwriter and journalist. During the Second World War he enlisted in the German Army and spent much of his time working for a Nazi propaganda unit. After the war he tried to distance himself from his involvement with the Nazi party and began to write children's novels and plays. However his Nazi connections came back to haunt him when he had to hand back a prize he had won for a drama written under a pseudonym when his real identity was revealed.

However his past did not seem to effect the sales of his children's books and he became a very popular and respected author in that field. Most of his children's stories were historical. He wrote one pony story which was about a pit pony.

Horse & Pony Books:

JACKIE THE PIT PONY
(1st UK edition OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1958)
ILLUSTRATED BY ULRIK SCHRAMM
Don't have any information on an original German publication.
First published in the UK by Oxford University Press in 1958.
It was also published in the USA by Franklin Watts in 1958.
Not sure which of these were the first English language edition.
SUMMARY: Monny loves her little pony Jackie, who also happens to have a job working as a pit pony with her father.

Collector's Info:
Not that common a title, although it is usually quite reasonably priced. The UK edition is easier to find than the American.