A book these days has to have an elevator pitch. For my latest junior fiction novel that part was easy.

“It’s Hitler Stole My Pony,” I told my agent.  Her ears pricked up. “You had me at Hitler,” she said.

A dual narrative novel for 8- to 12-year-olds set partly in modern-day Berlin and also in Berlin and Poland during World War II, Prince of Ponies is based around the true story of Hitler’s plan to create an Aryanesque equine master race.

Yes, you heard right: true story. In real life, the Nazis took a break from plundering art and bullion to get grabby with the ponies. To carry out the task, Hitler appointed a man named Gustav Rau as his Master of Horses, effectively charging him with the task of cherry-picking the best stallions from throughout Europe to gather at two secret stud farms – at Hostau​ in Czechoslovakia and another in St Martin, a Tyrolean Third Reich stronghold, where a breeding programme was begun in earnest using Lipizzaners​, Trakehners​, Thoroughbreds and Polish Arabians to create the ultimate warhorse.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Stacey Gregg is an author of junior fiction about horses. Stacy is of Ngāti Mahuta and Ngāti Pukeko descent and grew up in Ngaruawahia.

Previously a fashion journalist, Stacy swapped stilettos for gumboots when the manuscript for her first book in what was to become the Pony Club Secrets series, Mystic and the Midnight Ride, was picked up by HarperCollins London. Since then she has written 25 books with HarperCollins – including 13 in the Pony Club Secrets series and four in the Pony Club Rivals series. Her series Pony Club Secrets is currently optioned by Libertine Pictures who plan to produce a major TV series aimed at the international 8-12 market, filmed in New Zealand.

In 2013, HarperCollins UK published Stacy’s first stand-alone hardback novel, The Princess and the Foal, based on the true story of the childhood of HRH Princess Haya of Jordan. Stacy got Her Royal Highness’s blessing to write the novel and was given unprecedented access to the Royal Palaces and stables in Jordan and access to the Princess’s childhood friends and family as part of her research process. The Princess and the Foal sold rights into over a dozen territories including the UK, the USA, Italy and Germany and was translated into Arabic.

Following on from The Princess and the Foal, Stacy’s next six stand alone novels have all been based on true stories, often with dual narratives with an historical perspective. She always travels to the countries where her books are set to undertake her research. Her work to date has taken her to Spain, Italy, Russia, Iceland and now, for her latest book which is due out in October 2019, Berlin and Poland.

Her 2017 book, The Thunderbolt Pony, diverges slightly from the international format. It is set in Kaikoura during the earthquakes and its heroine, Evie, must make a cross-country journey to rescue her animals while battling her own issues with post-traumatic OCD. Stacy consulted closely with clinical psychologist and OCD specialist Hilary Mack to ensure that the depictions of OCD in the novel were both heartfelt and accurate.

To date, Stacy has sold over a million and half copies, has been nominated four times for New Zealand book awards for junior fiction, has won the Children’s Choice award for fiction three years running, and has also been awarded 7 Storylines Notable books awards including two in 2019, one for her novel The Fire Stallion and the other for Mini-Whinny: Happy Birthday to Me!, her first book in a new series of younger fiction for 5-7 year olds. Mini Whinny was also shortlisted for the NZ Children’s Book Awards in August 2019.

She is HarperCollins NZ’s third best-selling children’s author of all time – outranked only by David Walliams and Dr Seuss. She tours extensively around New Zealand primary schools pro bono on a regular basis, and has also toured in Beirut, Sydney, Abu Dhabi and London.

Prince of Ponies, her new novel set in wartime Berlin, released in September 2019. Her second picture book in the Mini Whinny series – Goody Four-Shoes was also released in September 2019.

Stacy lives in Herne Bay, Auckland with her 19 year old daughter Isadora. She still rides horses and currently competes at level 2 dressage on her Arab gelding Cam.

An Otago second-hand dealer is defending his range of Nazi memorabilia and says he has sold several swastika badges since the Christchurch attacks.

The New Zealand Jewish Council said while it recognises the legal right of people to profit from Nazi memorabilia, it hopes they appreciate the suffering seeing such items causes vulnerable communities.

Trash Converters owner and manager Barry White sells a wide range of Nazi memorabilia at his Palmerston store.

He said it was mostly imitation, including swastika badges and armbands, plus Waffen SS insignia.

He also offers military memorabilia from a host of other countries, including Allied forces, though toys are his biggest seller.

Among his most popular Nazi items were lapel badges bearing a swastika.

Three of the badges had been sold since the Christchurch terror attacks, he said.

In the same cabinet as the badges was a large red coffin sash, again bearing a swastika.

Also available for purchase was the Skull and Crossbones insignia of the 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf, or the “Death’s Head” division.

It was responsible for several war crimes, including the mass execution of Jews in Poland, and the Le Paradis massacre, where they machine-gunned 97 British troops captured during a retreat.