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The story, of course, is about Black Beauty, a handsome horse who is born and raised in happy circumstances. But in Victorian England horses were used much as we use cars today: they were things to be bought and sold and then gotten rid of when they were no longer useful. Black Beauty is first sold to a good home, but as time passes he is sold again and again--and not always to people who treat him kindly or even to those who give him common care.
There are adventures aplenty, like a stable fire and a dangerous bridge; there are many memorable characters, like the horse Ginger and the kind cabbie Jerry. All of them are seen from Black Beauty's point of view, and beautifully, perfectly described. My mother read this book to me, and as soon as I could I was anxious to read it myself; now, some thirty years later I have stumbled once more upon it. And I can honestly say that it lives up to my memory: it is a fine book, and one that every parent should place in the hands of their children. Strongly recommended.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
During the course of his lifetime, Beauty experiences the best and the worst humanity has to offer its companion animals. Children old enough to read this book will just be developing the kind of empathy skills necessary to understand how important kindness is, even, and perhaps especially, to those who cannot verbalize their gratitude.
The book teaches kids to notice how they and their peers treat others, and I have been buying it for all of the kids in my life for as long as I can remember.
I particularly like this edition because it is unabridged (the story is perfect), and because the illustrations are enchanting. I'd give it a hundred stars if I could.
I've been reading horse-topic related books for as long as I can remember; but the very 1st horse story that left an indelible impression on me was ANNA SEWELL's " BLACK BEAUTY ".
It really openend my eyes as to the abuse and cruelty - and majestic fraility - that these wonderful creatures suffer at the hands of their human counterparts.
Ms Sewell opted to write this book from " the horse's point of view " and she was one of the very few authors that was able to pull this off with such great success.
This book also, laid the cornerstone for the ASPCA aims and goals, and brought to light the conditions and treatment of working horses in 20th century London, England ( and elsewhere ).
The story is such a wonderful tale of a horse's life from start to finish; told with a quiet dignity and warmth - and serves as a successful analogy also, as to how humans should interact with one another.
This book also laid the cornerstone for my interest and love of horses, and further spurred my interest in reading about all things Equine.
From there, and I went on to read all of Walter Farley's "The Black Stallion" series ( I used to collect the hardcover editions), and Marguerite Henry's books, and National Velvet(which really wasn't about a horse per se, but more about a little girl who's dreams come true), and anything else I could get my horsey-hungry hands on!
I now keep a copy of Anna Sewell's "Black Beauty" in my library at home, and have given a copy to my daughter to read.
This is a tale that sensitizes the reader to the plight of horses at the hands of their human caregivers, trainers, etc - all told from the horse's mouth ( so to speak )..!
And lest we think that the inhumane treatment of horses has abided since this book was written - one only has to follow the controversy surrounding the use of "Premarin", or abusive training methods of gaited horses, or the Thoroughbred racing industry, or rodeo...etc.
There is still much to be gleaned about the exploitation and abuse of animals from this book - which will always remain a timeless classic.
Kim C. Montreal, 05/2000
Like so many of the Amazon free classics, this book is not really optimised for an ereader. Read more
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