Black Beauty is a first-person narrated autobiographical fiction of the life of a horse in England. Beginning with his carefree days as a foal the book describes many acts of cruelty and brutality as Black Beauty goes to work in London as a taxi-cab horse. The book is now most commonly read as a child's book, but when it was published it was intended for a more mature audience. The novel advocates for better treatment of animals in general and horses in particular. Black Beauty's popular success and wide readership has ...
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Black Beauty is a first-person narrated autobiographical fiction of the life of a horse in England. Beginning with his carefree days as a foal the book describes many acts of cruelty and brutality as Black Beauty goes to work in London as a taxi-cab horse. The book is now most commonly read as a child's book, but when it was published it was intended for a more mature audience. The novel advocates for better treatment of animals in general and horses in particular. Black Beauty's popular success and wide readership has vastly contributed to the successes of animal rights, sparking people's interest, and ultimately leading to legislative reform.
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This is one of the best horse stories of all time, it still rings true over a hundred years after it was written: horses haven't changed, even if the work they do is different now, and nor have the humans who deal with them. Every horse-loving child should read it.
My favourite edition of this favourite story is not the one illustrated but the Dent 1972 reprint with the superb illustrations by Lucy Kemp-Welsh. they add an extra dimension of reality to the horse. The binding is dark red fake leather and the book looks old-fashioned, so some youngsters might prefer a more modern edition. But no other edition has illustrations that are a patch on these.
Azzie
Jul 17, 2009
I read this when I was in elementary school and the story has stayed with me ever since. So many scenes in the book have never left me and now in my early 20s I have not sat on a horse since I finished reading this book. It's hard to separate the horse characters in Ms. Sewell's book from actual horses and every time I see a horse, I have to wonder if the horse would appreciate me sitting on him or her.
A very powerful book and recommended for anyone, horse lovers or those indifferent to these elegant creatures.
