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Anna Sewell

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Black Beauty Paperback – December 8, 2011

by Anna Sewell (Author)

4.6 6,662 ratings

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HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. '!we call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words.' When his beloved owners are forced to sell him, Black Beauty leaves his life as a young, care-free colt behind him and embarks on a working life of misery. Cruelly treated by his new masters, Anna Sewell rails against animal mistreatment in this poignant tale of a horse whose spirit can not be broken.

Review

A handsome foal with promising beginnings is passed from owner to owner and soon learns the particular cruelties of hard masters and the rich in this horse story. The audio version, narrated by Martin Jarvis, abridges and brings alive the high points of Sewell's classic. --Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Anna Sewell (1820-78) was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Black Beauty, her only book, was completed and published in 1877, just a few months before she died, so she did not live to know of the book's huge success. Apart from being a good story, Black Beauty was instrumental in changing people's attitudes towards horses, and domestic animals in general.

Reading age

7 - 11 years, from customers
Print length

184 pages
Language

English
Lexile measure

990L
Dimensions

6 x 0.42 x 9 inches
Publisher

Simon & Brown
Publication date

December 8, 2011
ISBN-10

161382100X
ISBN-13

978-1613821008
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Brown (December 8, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 184 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 161382100X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1613821008
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 7 - 11 years, from customers
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 990L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.42 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #6,448,355 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #112,030 in Classic Literature & Fiction

Customer Reviews:
4.6 6,662 ratings

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Anna Sewell
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Common Classics Dyslexia-Friendly
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Common Classics aims to make classic literature accessible for all readers.
Common Classics Dyslexia Friendly books update your favorite classic titles with easy-to-read dyslexia-friendly OpenDyslexic font (11 point). Some titles may also be available in large print dyslexia-friendly font (16 point).
Dyslexia-friendly fonts are specifically designed to increase readability for readers with dyslexia. Unique letter shapes, heavy weighted bottoms, and wider letter spacing may help some symptoms of dyslexia.
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Paper Mill Press
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Paper Mill Press is proud to present a timeless collection of unabridged literary classics to a twenty-first century audience. Each original master work is reimagined into a sophisticated yet modern format with custom suede-like metallic foiled covers.
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Anna Sewell
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4.6 out of 5

6,662 global ratings

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Diane Chartrand

Granddaughter Loved this book

Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2023

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Granddaughter loves horses and loved this book

One person found this helpful

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L. Barlow

Gorgeous book

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2023

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This hardback book--the cover, binding, printing, original drawings--is better than I hoped for!! I bought this for grandson's 11th birthday since it was my favorite book as a child. I told him there are some stressful situations for Black Beauty, but not to worry as it has a happy ending. Others in his family want to read it too and I think partly because it's such an attractive book. Included a bookmark with it. I definitely recommend this version of Black Beauty.

4 people found this helpful

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Tamara

A manly talk you'll not hear today

Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2015

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xcept from "Black Beauty" A Manly Talk You Will NOT See in a Modern Book:
"You are a very good man," said James. "I wish I may ever be like you."
"I don't often speak of myself," said John, "but as you are going away from us out into the world to shift for yourself I'll just tell you how I look on these things. I was just as old as Joseph when my father and mother died of the fever within ten days of each other, and left me and my cripple sister Nelly alone in the world, without a relation that we could look to for help. I was a farmer's boy, not earning enough to keep myself, much less both of us, and she must have gone to the workhouse but for our mistress (Nelly calls her her angel, and she has good right to do so). She went and hired a room for her with old Widow Mallet, and she gave her knitting and needlework when she was able to do it; and when she was ill she sent her dinners and many nice, comfortable things, and was like a mother to her. Then the master he took me into the stable under old Norman, the coachman that was then. I had my food at the house and my bed in the loft, and a suit of clothes, and three shillings a week, so that I could help Nelly. Then there was Norman; he might have turned round and said at his age he could not be troubled with a raw boy from the plow-tail, but he was like a father to me, and took no end of pains with me. When the old man died some years after I stepped into his place, and now of course I have top wages, and can lay by for a rainy day or a sunny day, as it may happen, and Nelly is as happy as a bird. So you see, James, I am not the man that should turn up his nose at a little boy and vex a good, kind master. No, no! I shall miss you very much, James, but we shall pull through, and there's nothing like doing a kindness when 'tis put in your way, and I am glad I can do it."
"Then," said James, "you don't hold with that saying, `Everybody look after himself, and take care of number one'?"
"No, indeed," said John, "where should I and Nelly have been if master and mistress and old Norman had only taken care of number one? Why, she in the workhouse and I hoeing turnips! Where would Black Beauty and Ginger have been if you had only thought of number one? why, roasted to death! No, Jim, no! that is a selfish, heathenish saying, whoever uses it; and any man who thinks he has nothing to do but take care of number one, why, it's a pity but what he had been drowned like a puppy or a kitten, before he got his eyes open; that's what I think," said John, with a very decided jerk of his head.

24 people found this helpful

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Kenya Starflight

Well-told story and a warning against animal cruelty

Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2020

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"Black Beauty" is often dismissed as a children's book, or only for girls who love horses. In actuality, it's not only a novel that adults can enjoy as well as kids, but it's a powerful statement on animal welfare, and on treating animals with respect and not just living machines. And while it does feature an animal main character, it handles this realistically and not like a children's "talking animal" book, so it's more in the vein of "Watership Down" than "Zootopia." And even over 100 years after its publication, it's still worthwhile reading.

The title character, a black horse aptly named Black Beauty, lives a good life in the care of a wealthy nobleman, and believes all men to be as gentle and caring as his master. He gets a rude awakening when the family's circumstances change and he is sold... and over the years he changes hands and knows a variety of masters, some caring, others ignorant, and still others outright cruel. And as he and his foal-hood friend Ginger struggle to survive in a world where humans view horses as little more than fur-covered engines, he realizes that man has a great capacity for cruelty... and for redemption and kindness as well.

Anna Sewell wrote this book in reaction to the often-harsh treatment of horses in Victorian England, and even then it was a serious wake-up call to how horribly horses were treated. And while horses WERE bred to be domestic creatures and beasts of burden, she makes it clear that just because they're working animals doesn't mean that they should be treated like objects rather than living creatures. The book went a long way towards reforming how horses were treated, including the almost-complete elimination of the check-rein (a device meant to hold a horse's head erect). And while the treatment of Beauty, Ginger, and other horses in this book may be distressing, it's a clear warning that animal abuse still exists, and needs to be treated seriously.

As this book was written primarily for its message, this can mean that plot falls by the wayside. There's really not much of a plot to this book aside from "a horse grows up and changes hands multiple times before being retired," and Beauty himself is a rather passive character (perhaps intentional on the part of the author, as animals have almost no control over who owns them). But the writing is still solid, and the horses are given a surprising amount of character without being overly humanized.

"Black Beauty" is still a well-deserved classic after all this time, and is not only a call to treat animals kindly but a vivid but still realistic account of a horse's life. Not just for kids -- adults can enjoy this novel as well.

18 people found this helpful

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Alexandra Mitchell

Beautiful

Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2023

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One of the best books I've read in a long time. I can't believe I've waited this long to read it.

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