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Black Beauty by Anna Sewell – review

Black Beauty

Black Beauty is a horse, who grows up on a farm with other colts to play with. He lives with his mother. One day, a horse is shot by accident. Black Beauty's mother is extremely sad for this particular horse and Black Beauty soon realises that the horse was his older brother.

Black Beauty endures kind masters and mean, selfish ones. The book shows that humans and animals should be treated alike.

In my most favourite five books in the world, Black Beauty's probably second. I don't know what's my favourite book, probably the Diary of Anne Frank, anyway.

I really enjoyed Black Beauty because Anna Sewell wrote it in such a way that it was amazingly from a horse's perspective throughout the novel.

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Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell | Book Review

Bianca Schulze

Book Review of  Black Beauty The Children’s Book Review

Black Beauty: Book Cover

Black Beauty

Written by Anna Sewell

Ages 10+ | 288 Pages

Publisher: Wordsworth Editions Ltd | ISBN-13: 9781840227871

What to Expect: Horses, Animal Welfare, Kindness, and Classic Literature

Black Beauty  by Anna Sewell is a timeless classic that has captured the hearts of young and old readers for over a century. Its enduring popularity is a testament to Sewell’s masterful storytelling and the poignant message at the novel’s heart.

Through the eyes of Black Beauty, readers are transported to a world filled with hardship, compassion, and hope. Sewell’s choice to tell the story from the horse’s perspective was a groundbreaking literary approach that paved the way for future writers to explore the interior lives of animals. The themes explored in the novel are just as relevant today as they were in the Victorian era, as we continue to grapple with issues of animal welfare.

Black Beauty is a lovely black horse that begins his career as a carriage horse, but when he is injured, his wealthy owner decides that he is no longer good enough to be a carriage horse. From that moment, he is passed from owner to owner and endures lots of hard work. Even though many inhumane things happen to Black Beauty at the hands of unkind humans, he lives up to his name both outside and inside, remaining a kind and respectful horse.

This story of his life from birth to old age is so beautifully descriptive that everything from his sprightly days as a colt in a farm pasture to a hard life pulling taxicabs on cobblestone paths in London can be readily envisioned. Each chapter carries an important message about animal welfare, kindness, and respect—and is filled with plenty of page-turning suspense, including a stable fire, a dangerous bridge, and a slew of memorable characters.

This Collector’s Edition of Black Beauty pays tribute to the beauty and elegance of this beloved classic. Every detail of the book has been carefully considered. From the bespoke illustrations on the cloth-bound cover to the embossed gold and colored blocking, this edition is truly one-of-a-kind. The matching colored endpapers add an extra touch of luxury, making these books the perfect addition to any collector’s library and an excellent opportunity to experience this well-bred story that will reach your heart and stay with you forever.

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About the author.

Born into a deeply devout Quaker family, English author Anna Sewell is best known for her childhood classic Black Beauty. Critically injured as a child, Sewell was unable to walk without aid and became highly skilled at driving horse-drawn carriages. These close interactions with horses led to an interest in their ethical treatment and inspired Black Beauty , which was written in declining health late in her life, and which remains her only novel. Sewell died of hepatitis in 1878.

Anna Sewell: author head-shot

What to Read Next If You Love Black Beauty

  • The Black Stallion , by Walter Farley
  • Misty of Chincoteague , by Marguerite Henry
  • My Friend Flicka , by Mary O’Hara
  • The Georges and the Jewels , by Jane Smiley
  • A Books About Horses List
  • Kids’ Book For Horse Lovers

Bianca Schulze reviewed  Black Beauty . Discover more books like Black Beauty by reading our reviews and articles tagged with Animals and Classics .

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Bianca Schulze is the founder of The Children’s Book Review. She is a reader, reviewer, mother and children’s book lover. She also has a decade’s worth of experience working with children in the great outdoors. Combined with her love of books and experience as a children’s specialist bookseller, the goal is to share her passion for children’s literature to grow readers. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, she now lives with her husband and three children near Boulder, Colorado.

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Black Beauty

Written by Anna Sewell Review by Jane Burke

This re-issue of a classic Victorian children’s novel tells the story of Black Beauty – a beautiful black horse whose life takes him from comfort and kindness through every stage of exploitation and cruelty to an unexpectedly happy ending. Unusually for the period, and still affecting today, it is written as though by Black Beauty himself; and what a character he is: noble, warm and honest, never afraid to criticise wrong-doing, but never mean or hasty in judgement.

Black Beauty may be recounting his adventures in human words but he is never less than a real horse, concerned about oats and hay and a warm straw bed as well as the sorrows of his human masters, which he realises only vaguely. When Beauty must gallop to fetch a doctor for his sick mistress, he understands only that he must run for dear life; when his beloved cab-driver Jerry is taken ill, and must sell-up all he owns, he understands only the sadness, and that he must be sold. But the reader understands all, and is caught up in the story, which has the relentless, absorbing pace of a race. What will happen next, and how will Beauty survive?

Written as a political manifesto against the foolish and unnecessary mistreatment of horses, and indeed against cruelty in general, Anna Sewell builds an unmatched picture of Victorian contemporary life, high and low, whilst introducing children to the concept that animals have thoughts and feelings, hopes and fears just as they do.

This book carries a surprisingly up-to-date ecological message – that ignorance about the natural world is one of the most dangerous issues facing us today, and that empathy for the creatures with which we share our planet should be uppermost in our dealings with them.  Highly recommended for readers of ten years old and upwards.

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Book Review: Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

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review of book black beauty

What is this book about?

A jet-black young colt, Black Beauty, spends his early years in a cozy meadow growing up with a gentle master, a strong mother and an ideal upbringing. Through the years, he changes hands with different masters: some rough, some kind, some indifferent. Black Beauty’s experiences throughout his life give him lessons on real friendship, loss, hardship and human nature. Gallop with Black Beauty as he grows into a worn yet mature and handsome, dutiful and loyal old horse.

My review :

This story is a true classic for me. It was my favorite classic when I was a child and after reading it again, it stays in first place. The story is written from the viewpoint of the horse, Black Beauty. The reader travels with Beauty through a lifetime of ups and downs with humanity. He was a loyal and patient horse and I loved that no matter what life threw at him, he maintained those wonderful qualities. This is a book that has a permanent spot on my bookshelves.

What I enjoyed most about this book :

The love and loyalty that Beauty gave and received from people.

What I didn’t like about this book :

Rating 5 out of 5 stars

Would I recommend this book to others? Absolutely. This is a wonderfully written children’s book that truly earns the title ‘classic’. This is a standalone novel.

Where can I learn more about this author and their books?

-Loraine Nunley

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Black Beauty

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Great book just sad, amazing book, passes off an important message everyone needs to hear, black beauty, by himanshi, till i read it was..., 1st and loved, book review of black beauty by anna sewell.

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Black Beauty by Anna Sewell book review

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell book review

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Black Beauty by Anna Sewell book review : The famous 19th-century moving animal tale tells a horse’s trials in the hands of many owners.

People love horses, don’t they?

I, personally, haven’t yet met anyone that didn’t. Of course, I’ve met people that are somewhat afraid of them. Nevertheless, even those, ate least, I found to admire them for their extreme beauty.

This generic horse-fondness goes way back, and one of the written proofs of that is the 1877’s book, Black Beauty by Anna Sewell.

If you think this book is a silly tale written to male people cry, think again. On the contrary,  it could be considered one of the first, if not the first, and most important books about animal rights written. And the reason is simple: A horse is the Main Character, and the first person, of the story.

Today, almost 150 years later, a significant part of our society evolved in its approach towards animals and nature in general. However, a significant part of the world’s population can still benefit from the messages contained in this book.

In Victorian England, men had a different relationship with horses from what we see today.

The society of those days depended, a lot, on horses for transportation and almost everyone didn’t care much if animals needed to be treated better than a steam engine or an anvil.

Anna Sewell was clearly aware of this mentality and disagreed. Horses were a big part of her life since she had a chronic injury that prevented her from walking well and relied heavily on horses to help her.

She became devoted to them and decided to write this story, hoping to expose the cruel practices she’d witnessed all her life.

Anna Sewell was a late 19th-century British novelist, notorious as the author of the 1877 classic novel, Black Beauty.

The Book Review

I read this book and watched the movie so many times during my child hood that when I look back, it seems I just had it all the time with me. Story’s like Black Beauty by Anna Sewell bring us closer to nature and animals. Maybe, in the future, we will have enough stories to sway humanity to a better path.

This book doesn’t seem to fit very well in a classic structure, but it does follow it loosely. If I had to be strict about it, the book appears to be a saga of many small stories, and I bet it would serve very well as a general story line for a series of small books.

Characters and Archetypes

Protagonist = Fate. I believe that the story is driven by fate since there is no common objective in the story. Black Beauty certainly is not the protagonist and just passively follows the tides of his destiny.

Related to the inner stories, however, in some of the black horse plays active, heroic protagonist parts.

Antagonist = Many evil characters that represent the general society at the time.

Main Character  = Black Beauty. On the other hand, is the black horse is the character that sees the story through the reader’s eyes.

Impact Character = The only person (yes, person), I could call an Impact Character here would be the author herself. It is she that drives a conflict of ideas into the minds her readers. She uses Black Beauty as the main character to do that. When she makes the reader learn what the horse feels and thinks, she is, actually, criticizing the 19th-century society.

Guardian = The Horse Doctor

Co-Antagonists = The ignorant and stupid people.

Sidekick = Black Beauty’s horse friends, mainly.

Skeptic = The foolish that don’t believe animals deserve proper treatment.

Emotion = Reuben Smith and other characters that act based on feelings and out of control.

Reason = The Horse Doctor

Dramatic Structure Analysis

Black Beauty is raised by his mother, Duchess, under the kind care of Farmer Grey,

Beauty learns from a young age that humans can be either a horse’s greatest ally or their worst enemy.

He is sent to Squire Gordon at Birtwick Park, where he spends the happiest years of his life.

Mrs. Gordon’s becomes very ill and the Gordon family their property in England and the horses.

After this point on, Beauty’s tale becomes a struggle as he becomes victim to stupid treatment and carelessness from a range of new owners, resulting in several hazards towards his health, mind, and body.

Beauty is finally sold to a cab driver that treats him well, but, the man’s illness once again changes Beauty’s fate.

Furthermore, Beauty suffers by the hands of cruel owners who work him until he drops. He also faces one of his friend’s death under the sae kind of treatment.

Overworked and injured, he is saved by a rational horse doctor who thinks he can still be fixed up and sold.

During an emotional sequence full of uncertainty about his future, Beauty is bought by a kind farmer, who rehabilitates him to resell.

In the end,  the kind farmer sells him to a family who remembers him as Squire Gordon’s beloved horse and gives him the happy life he deserves.

Intelligently, Sewell targets her book to the audience that, she thinks, deserves educating.

Please leave a comment about Black Beauty by Anna Sewell.

Black Beauty Book Cover

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review of book black beauty

Book Review

Black beauty.

  • Adventure , Historical

review of book black beauty

Readability Age Range

  • Originally Lupton Publishing Company; then other publishers, such as Puffin Books in 2010

Year Published

This book has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine .

Plot Summary

Black Beauty is born on a farm in the English countryside. He spends the first four years of his life there with his mother and the other farm horses. When he turns 4, the kind farmer trains Beauty to wear a saddle and a bridle, and teaches him how to carry a rider. Once the training is done, Beauty is sold to Squire Gordon.

At Squire Gordon’s home, Beauty makes friends with a pony named Merrylegs and a poorly behaved mare named Ginger. Ginger was treated poorly and abused by her previous masters, so she doesn’t trust people. As time goes by, Beauty and Ginger are paired as carriage horses and become good friends. Under the care of the coachman, John Manley, Beauty thrives in his new home and becomes a favorite of his master and the family.

Beauty proves his worth on many occasions. On a stormy night he refuses to cross a bridge because he senses something is wrong. The storm caused the bridge to wash away. By following his instinct, he saves John’s and Squire Gordon’s lives. When a barn at a hotel catches fire, Beauty’s bravery helps Ginger get the courage to run to safety. And when the mistress becomes ill, Beauty runs hard to bring the doctor back in time to save her. Despite all this, Squire Gordon is forced to sell Beauty because his wife becomes too sick to stay in the country.

Both Ginger and Beauty are sold to a neighboring Earl. This new home uses a bearing rein, which hurts Beauty’s neck and makes it harder for him to pull the carriage. Even though the work is harder than at his old home, Beauty is well taken care of until the stableman goes with the family to London. A man named Ruben Smith is left in charge of the stables.

Ruben struggles with alcoholism, and one night he falls back into his old vices. Drunk, Ruben rides Beauty with a loose shoe, something he would have been sensible enough to fix if he’d been sober. When the shoe comes off, Beauty hurts his foot and stumbles to his knees. The fall throws Ruben, who hits his head and dies. The accident leaves Beauty with permanent scars on his knees. He’s considered blemished and no longer attractive enough to be a carriage horse.

Beauty is sold to a livery stable where he is rented out to inexperienced drives that want a carriage for the day. He remains there until a gentleman takes a liking to him. This man suggests his friend, Mr. Barry, buy Beauty. Mr. Barry is unfamiliar with how to take care of a horse and pays a groom to do the work for him. The first man he hires steals Beauty’s food to feed his chickens. The second is vain and lazy. He doesn’t clean out Beauty’s stall, which makes Beauty very ill. Mr. Barry discovers both men’s bad behavior and decides he personally isn’t fit to own a horse. Once healthy, Beauty is sent to a horse auction where he is bought by a London cab driver named Jerry.

Jerry isn’t a rich man, but he works hard to support his family and takes care of Beauty and Captain, his other cab horse. Beauty always has Sundays to rest and is treated very well by Jerry and his family. During his time with Jerry, Beauty sees many masters abuse their horses.

One day he meets his old friend Ginger. She is much changed after enduring a number of hard masters. She tells Beauty that she wishes she would die so that the unbearable work and cruelty she endures would end. Later, Beauty sees a dead horse that looks much like Ginger. He hopes that the animal is Ginger and that her suffering is over.

Beauty’s time with Jerry comes to an end when his master becomes ill and takes a job in the country that will be easier on him and provide more opportunities for his family. Beauty is sold to be a carthorse. He is worked very hard in his new position and almost dies. It is determined that Beauty needs rest before he can go back to work, but his master doesn’t care to use his time or money on Beauty and decides to sell him. A man named Farmer Thoroughgood buys Beauty after his grandson insists they can help him.

After many months resting in the country, Black Beauty regains his old strength, and Farmer Thoroughgood decides it’s time to sell him to a good home. He is brought to the home of three women who are looking for a good, reliable horse. Their groom, Joe Green, comes to inspect Beauty and recognizes him. Joe worked under John Manly and remembers Black Beauty before the years of bad treatment took their toll. He tells his mistresses that Beauty is a fine horse, and the ladies decide to keep him. It is in their care that Black Beauty finds his final home.

Christian Beliefs

Jerry refuses to work on Sunday because he believes in resting that day. Jerry and other characters thank God and say, “God bless you.”

Beauty speaks with other horses about having to endure the bearing rein because it’s fashionable. Another horse tells of how his tail was docked for fashion, but he believes that men should leave horses alone because God made them as He intended.

Other Belief Systems

Authority roles.

John Manly is the groom for Squire Gordon. He is known to be a good and honest man. On many occasions he sees a master or farmer’s son mistreating a horse or overworking it, and he steps in to stop the abuse. He isn’t afraid to defend a creature that’s suffering. When he trains the young Joe Green, he is tough but also fair with the boy. It is because of his good training that his apprentices find jobs when they become men.

Squire Gordon is known around the countryside as a great man and wise when it comes to horses. He also believes in treating horses fairly and confronting others when he sees them treating their animals poorly. Because of his example and that of John Manly, Joe Green is brave enough to confront a grown man when he is abusing his boss’s horse. He even testifies in court regarding the man’s actions.

Profanity & Violence

There are numerous scenes in which horses are mistreated. Ginger is abused when she is broken into a bridle and saddle. The men who break her are so rough that she bleeds at the mouth and is beaten with a whip. She and Beauty are made to wear bearing reins, which force their heads up and strain their necks.

Beauty meets a horse whose tail has been docked because it is viewed as fashionable. A fire starts in a hotel stable, and only Beauty and Ginger make it out. All the other horses are trapped and burned alive. Beauty sees a man and a horse fall while hunting a hare. The man breaks his neck and dies; the horse is shot because he cannot be saved.

Captain talks to Beauty about being a warhorse and how he saw many battles. One of his masters was hit by a cannon ball and knocked off Captain’s back. He speaks about seeing many horses and men die on the battlefield. While there are many scenes that mention abuse, violence and blood, the wounds inflicted on the horses are not described in graphic detail.

Sexual Content

Discussion topics.

Get free discussion questions for this book and others, at FocusOnTheFamily.com/discuss-books .

Additional Comments

Alcohol: Many characters drink or speak of the evils of drinking. Ruben Smith gets drunk and rides Black Beauty incorrectly and is killed because of it.

Smoking: Various characters smoke pipes.

Lying: Beauty notes that many people lie at the horse auction.

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Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.

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Black Beauty (Book Review)

Full spoilers for the entire book below. Proceed with caution.

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Title:  Black Beauty Author:  Anna Sewell Publication Date:  November 24, 1877 (novel), 2008 (audio) Publisher:   Jarrold & Sons (novel) BBC Audiobooks, Ltd. (audio) Narrated By : Nathaniel Parker Recording time : 5 hrs and 21 mins

via  Wiki :

The story is narrated in the  first person  as an autobiographical memoir told by the titular horse named Black Beauty—beginning with his carefree days as a foal on an English farm with his mother, to his difficult life pulling cabs in London, to his happy retirement in the country. Along the way, he meets with many hardships and recounts many tales of cruelty and kindness. Each short chapter recounts an incident in Black Beauty’s life containing a lesson or moral typically related to the kindness, sympathy, and understanding treatment of horses, with Sewell’s detailed observations and extensive descriptions of horse behavior lending the novel a good deal of  verisimilitude . The book describes conditions among London horse-drawn  cab  drivers, including the financial hardship caused to them by high license fees and low, legally fixed  fares . A page footnote in some editions says that soon after the book was published, the difference between 6-day cab licenses (not allowed to trade on Sundays) and 7-day cab licenses (allowed to trade on Sundays) was abolished and the cab license fee was much reduced.

Black Beauty is commonly thought of as a children’s book, however, the well-constructed prose and the novel’s deep moral message makes it an excellent and satisfying read for anyone, of any age. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.

I listened to the audiobook performance of Nathaniel Parker and thought that it was consistently great. His voice is clear, intelligible, and the range of voices he used, for the various characters, were pleasantly distinctive.

The first thing you notice while listening to Black Beauty narrate his autobiography is the effective way that Sewell communicates a denunciation of horse cruelty through the anthropomorphism of the novel’s narrator. However, as the novel continues, you realize that the focus is not limited to how men treat horses. Sewell’s book is also an admonition for human beings to treat each other better, also.

In one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the book, Black Beauty runs into a horse, Ginger, that he had known in his youth. She has been so badly mistreated in the intervening years that she tells him when they see each other again she longs for death. He later sees a dead horse that resembles her and says that he hopes it was her. This is deep and dark stuff for a children’s novel, but the message is delivered in a way that I think older children can digest it.

After reading the story, I read up on the novel’s reception and learned that it is now considered one of the most effective and influential arguments against animal cruelty ever made. From wiki :

Upon publication of the book, many readers related to the pain of the victimized horses, sympathized and ultimately wanted to see the introduction of reforms that would improve the well-being of horses. Two years after the release of the novel, one million copies of  Black Beauty  were in circulation in the United States. In addition, animal rights activists would habitually distribute copies of the novel to horse drivers and to people in stables. The depiction of the “bearing rein” in  Black Beauty  spurred so much outrage and empathy from readers that its use was not only abolished in Victorian England, but public interest in anti-cruelty legislation in the United States also grew significantly. The arguably detrimental social practices concerning the use of horses in  Black Beauty  inspired the development of legislation in various states that would condemn such abusive behaviors towards animals. The impact of the novel is still very much recognized today. Writing in the  Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare , Bernard Unti calls  Black Beauty  “the most influential anti-cruelty novel of all time”. Comparisons have also been made between  Black Beauty  and the most important  social protest novel  in the United States,  Uncle Tom’s Cabin , by Harriet Beecher Stowe, on account of the strong degree of outrage and protest action that both novels triggered in society.

In addition to its commentary concerning animal cruelty, the novel also provides a significant amount of sermonizing regarding the way that people treat each other, focusing in particular on the evils of alcoholism and ignorance, and the need for good men and women to boldly intervene when one sees a wrong being done. Sewell seems to have been particularly focused on the last point as it happens multiple times throughout the story and is applauded each time.

Some of my favorite quotes from the story, to those points, are below:

“There is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham – all a sham, James, and it won’t stand when things come to be turned inside out and put down for what they.”
“Do you know why this world is as bad as it is?… It is because people think only about their own business, and won’t trouble themselves to stand up for the oppressed, nor bring the wrong-doers to light… My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt.”
“My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt.”
“If we could act a little more according to common sense, and a good deal less according to fashion, we should find many things work easier.”
“Only ignorance! only ignorance! how can you talk about only ignorance? Don’t you know that it is the worst thing in the world, next to wickedness? — and which does the most mischief heaven only knows. If people can say, ‘Oh! I did not know, I did not mean any harm,’ they think it is all right.”
“He said cruelty was the devil’s own trade-mark, and if we saw any one who took pleasure in cruelty we might know who he belonged to, for the devil was a murderer from the beginning, and a tormentor to the end. On the other hand, where we saw people who loved their neighbors, and were kind to man and beast, we might know that was God’s mark.”

The thing that makes Black Beauty so effective as a commentary on animal cruelty and human behavior is that it shows its message, rather than merely preaching. The first person narration, from a horse, was not silly, nor was it over-wrought. The depictions of its life felt quite authentic. The different types of people that Beauty meets along the way also ring completely true, and ranging from young to old and wise to cruel. The overall arc was also well-constructed. Beauty begins life in an ideal home, meets a harsh and sometimes cruel world, and then miraculously finds himself back in an ideal home again as he meets old age. The emotional impact of this restoration hits hard and it leaves the reader, at the story’s end, wanting to fix the world that made the middle portions of Beauty’s life so difficult.

If you haven’t read Black Beauty , or if you haven’t read it since grade school, I recommend picking it up again.

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5 thoughts on “ black beauty (book review) ”.

There was a movie adaptation in the 1990’s with Sean Bean as one of the stallion owners.

I remember the movie but I did not know / remember that Sean Bean was in it. That’s really interesting.

He was in the first half hour of that 90’s flick.

That’s really interesting. I assume his habit of dying on-screen did not begin in that adaptation.

He didn’t die on screen. This isn’t a war movie.

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review of book black beauty

Black Beauty

Anna sewell, everything you need for every book you read..

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Anna Sewell's Black Beauty . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Black Beauty: Introduction

Black beauty: plot summary, black beauty: detailed summary & analysis, black beauty: themes, black beauty: quotes, black beauty: characters, black beauty: symbols, black beauty: literary devices, black beauty: theme wheel, brief biography of anna sewell.

Black Beauty PDF

Historical Context of Black Beauty

Other books related to black beauty.

  • Full Title: Black Beauty
  • When Written: 1871–1877
  • Where Written: Old Catton, England
  • When Published: 1877
  • Literary Period: Victorian
  • Genre: Children’s Novel, Social Problem Novel
  • Setting: Mid-19th century England
  • Climax: Black Beauty is reunited with Joe Green.
  • Antagonist: Cruelty, fashion, various human characters
  • Point of View: First Person

Extra Credit for Black Beauty

Modern Horse Jobs. Today, horses are used mostly for recreational purposes, but there are still a handful of jobs for working horses with police forces, ranchers, film productions, and breweries, to name a few. Horses can also be a good way for people to access places where motorized vehicles cannot go, so the forest service and some tourism companies use horses to access remote rural areas. Some horses are even trained to track missing persons or narcotics by following a scent.

Bearing Reins Today. Bearing reins—which are known as checkreins today—still exist in various forms, though they aren’t used for the same purpose that they were in the Victorian era. Some people who still drive horses use a rein called a side check or overcheck to keep a horse from lowering its head below the level of the shafts, which ensures a horse’s harness doesn’t get tangled and cause an accident (a major concern, as driving accidents are far more dangerous than riding accidents). Grass reins are another modern descendent of the bearing rein. They keep ponies ridden by inexperienced riders from grazing on grass.

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  • Book Review: Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

review of book black beauty

Title : Black Beauty Series : - Author : Anna Sewell Genre : Children's Classic Publisher : Puffin Books Publish Date : 2015 (First published in Puffin Books 1954) (First published 1877) Pages : 263 Goodreads link :  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3685.Black_Beauty Author link :  http://www.biography.com/people/anna-sewell-9479834 Book blurb : As a young colt, Black Beauty gallops in the fresh green meadows with his beloved mother, Duchess, and their kind master. But when his owners are forced to sell him he swaps a life of freedom and happiness for one of work and toil. Black Beauty has an unbreakable spirit and a strong will, but is it enough to survive...?

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Black Beauty | Anna Sewell | 1877 | Book Review

Black Beauty is an 1877 novel by Anna Sewell about the various stages in an enchanting black horse's life

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anna Sewell was born in Norfolk in 1820. She fell down when she was fourteen and severely injured her ankles. Anna used a crutch to walk and often depended on horse-drawn carriages to move around. This inspired her love for horses and motivated her to pen Black Beauty , which was her sole published novel. Anna died in 1878, shortly after Black Beauty was published.

There is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham.

Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty is one of the first animal fiction novels in children’s literature . It is the touching story of a well-bred horse that is forced to leave its safe home in the middle of a pleasant meadow to move to Victorian London.

The story is narrated from the perspective of Black Beauty, the eponymous beautiful black horse. It explains every step in its journey, starting from its childhood days at the meadow, and its experiences in Birtwik. It also relates, in meticulous detail, how it changed masters and ended up in London as a cab horse.

The novel is divided into 4 parts , each dealing with a different facet of the horse’s life. Though Black Beauty is the main narrator, the novel also features many other interesting characters such as Jack, John, Ginger, Merrylegs, among others. All of them add value to the story in their own unique ways. Every character is neatly etched with a gripping backstory.

The author painstakingly explains the pain suffered by horses due to the bearing reins, tight saddles, horseshoes, and the tight bits placed inside their mouths. She subtly drives home the now well-known fact of even animals having feelings . She successfully inculcates in children the notion that animals, just like human beings, also experience emotions such as pain, sorrow, joy and fear. The story, and her own life to a large extent, underscore an animal’s ability to develop feelings of compassion and empathy toward other living beings.

Black Beauty can also be regarded as a political commentary against the cruel treatment of horses during the Victorian era . However, unsurprisingly, the novel is no less relevant in the twenty-first century. It vehemently insists on the need to live in harmony with nature and other living creatures. Apart from this, the plot also reminds young readers that, no matter what the circumstances, one must never give up.

The book is both fast-paced and engaging. The writing is uncomplicated and fairly easy to understand. And probably that is why excerpts from the book can be found in several English-literature textbooks.

Black Beauty is completely worthy of a 4.5-star score. The story of Black Beauty can entertain and educate children like few modern works of fiction can. In addition, the book is also replete with moral values, which young minds are bound to accept and embrace by the end of the story.

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‘Black Beauty’ Review: A Melodrama in Need of Rougher Edges

Set in the present day, this adaptation of the classic children’s novel forgets why the story of a horse surviving the maliciousness of humans has endured for so long.

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review of book black beauty

By Robert Daniels

Written in 1877, Anna Sewell’s classic children’s novel “Black Beauty” warned against the abuse of horses. The pristine adaptation streaming on Disney+ is a melodrama in need of rougher edges. Directed by Ashley Avis (a former competitive equestrian), the movie is set in the present-day United States and features two female protagonists: the fiery mustang Black Beauty (voiced by Kate Winslet) and the recently orphaned Jo (Mackenzie Foy), now living with her uncle John (Iain Glen), training horses at Birtwick Stables.

Angry at the world, Jo softens after meeting Beauty, a kindred spirit without a family, too. On the ranch’s sun-kissed pastures, the girl and horse heal each other, until a fire destroys the stables at Birtwick. Struggling financially, John leases Beauty as a show horse to a wealthy equestrian family, the Winthrops, for their spoiled tween daughter Georgina (Fern Deacon). Jo despises Georgina’s abusiveness toward Beauty — the brat kicks holes into the horse — yet Jo still falls for Georgina’s dreamy older brother, George (Calam Lynch). Ultimately, Birtwick sells Beauty out from under Jo. Beauty, now forced to work for new owners, endures hardships: She performs grueling rescues of lost hikers and later pulls carriages through Central Park.

Though Winslet is the marquee name on the cast list, “Black Beauty” materializes not as the horse’s story, but Jo’s. Unfortunately, even that character’s grief is underwritten as she pines for a daydream teen romance and a reunion with her steadfast horse, rather than ever revisiting her parents’ death. Avis loses the novel’s sincerity by watering down Sewell’s animal welfare plea. In this update, the humans are not as villainous. Beauty is not as prominent. And the novel’s mustang spirit diminishes into a ho-hum horse movie.

Black Beauty Not rated. Running time: 1 hour and 49 minutes. Watch on Disney+ .

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Black Beauty

97 pages • 3 hours read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-10

Part 1, Chapters 11-21

Part 2, Chapters 22-31

Part 3, Chapters 32-41

Part 3, Chapters 42-45 & Part 4, Chapters 46-49

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Summary and Study Guide

Black Beauty was written by English novelist Anna Sewell, and published in 1877. It quickly became extremely popular, and led to increased activism and public concern for the humane treatment of horses and other animals. It went on to become one of best-selling novels of all time, and has been adapted numerous times into films and theatre productions. Sewell used her novel to explore themes such as kindness and responsibility, and to critique social problems such as alcohol abuse, animal cruelty, and the impacts of the Industrial Revolution. This guide references the Oxford World Classics edition. Abusive treatment towards animals is referenced in the guide.

Black Beauty is set in England in the 19th century, and is narrated in the first-person by a horse named Black Beauty. Beauty begins his life by describing a happy childhood growing up on a farm with a loving mother. When he is old enough, he is trained to carry a rider, or pull a cart or carriage. While some aspects of this training are stressful, Beauty is trained to be confident, patient, and calm. He is determined to always work hard, and to do his best to please his owner.

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Once his training is complete, Beauty is purchased by a well-off man named Squire Gordon. He lives some of the happiest years of his life on Squire Gordon’s estate. John Manly , a wise groom, cares for him, and he makes friends with the other horses there, including Ginger and Merrylegs. He has many adventures, including being ridden one night for a doctor to save Squire Gordon’s wife’s life.

Eventually, the illness of the Squire’s wife leads the family to move away from England. All of the horses, including Black Beauty, are sold to new owners. At his new home, Beauty is not treated as well, and he is eventually seriously injured in an accident caused by groom riding him while drunk. Due to the scars left from his injuries, Black Beauty is no longer considered fashionable, and is sent away from his comfortable life on country estates to a new life as a working horse in more urbanized centers.

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Black Beauty encounters suffering and hardship, but his luck seems to change when he is purchased by a man named Jerry Barker . Jerry works as a hired cabdriver in London, and he is very kind and caring. Black Beauty stays with Jerry for three years, working hard, but also being treated with respect and affection. Tragically, Black Beauty encounters his old friend Ginger and sees that her life has been ruined by hard labor and neglect. Eventually Jerry falls ill, and after he recovers, he and his family decide to leave London and move to the countryside. Black Beauty is sold yet again.

Since he is older, and his health is becoming more and more fragile, Beauty quickly passes from owner to owner. He is treated worse and worse each time. One day, Black Beauty collapses while attempting to pull an overloaded cab. He nearly dies, but is purchased by a kindly farmer who can see that Beauty was once a beautiful and elegant horse. After being nursed back to health, Black Beauty becomes a gentle and reliable horse, and is sold to a pair of ladies. He is reunited with a former stableboy whom he knew during his time with Squire Gordon, and lives a happy and quiet life at last.

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Book Review – Black Beauty a Children’s Classic Novel

Bhumika Goel / March 2019

Introduction:

Black Beauty is a classic novel for children written by Anna Sewell. This story is an Usborne Young reading Series two adaptation of the classic novel. It is an autobiography of Black Beauty the horse. Anna Sewell being an animal lover wanted to let the world understand the suffering of horses. It is a timeless story written in the 19 th century. In those days, domestication of horse for work and pleasure was on the rise. Sewell formerly wrote the book to encourage “kindness and empathy towards the horses” by their masters.

The book is considered to make the impact by reducing cruelty to horses in the later years after the publication of the novel.

The main characters:

The hero of the story is a young horse called Black Beauty. It is a beautiful horse with a white star and a white patch on his back. A faithful horse who serves all his masters with his best abilities while suffering from the ordeals.

Ginger is another important character. An unhappy, angry horse whose story is full of hardships and cruelty of her masters.

There is a kind, loving and caring master John who takes care of the horses. He teaches young Joe how to groom the horses.

There were mentions of the masters who made the horses go through pain for their work and pleasure.

Black Beauty was a happy young colt living with his mother. When he turned four, he was sold to Squire Gordon who was a kind man. Black beauty had a beautiful life at Gordon’s place too. He helped in getting the right treatment for his master’s wife. He made friends with Ginger and learned her sad story. Ginger narrates her miseries. The cruelty of her masters had made her heart filled with anger and hate. After a period of time, Gordon’s had to sell everything. They sold the horses too to different people.

The sufferings of the Black Beauty began with him being sold to an uncaring master. He realized the cause anger and disappointment of Ginger. The story moves on with the further selling of the horses. When finally, in the end, Black Beauty is able to find some happiness.

My favorite:

The very truth of life is shared by a mother with his son is the best part of the story. A mother’s guidance to his son lead his life on his own is something we all teach to our kids. I also liked the happy ending of the story. It keeps the reader’s hope in humanity alive.

Recommendation:

This is a classic novel for children. A must-read for every growing child to learn and understand the kindness and empathy we need to share with animals.

These are the qualities every parent wants to cultivate in their children. This book is one of the best mediums to instill these qualities in children.

The story is written brilliantly. I enjoyed reading the book from the very first chapter. The modest and thoughtful presentation of the story is very heart-touching.

Bibliography:

Author : Anna Sewell

Adapted by : Mary Sebag-Montefiore

Illustrator : Alan Marks

Publisher : Usborne Publishing Ltd.

Gift your child the book today. Encourage them to read more books. Reading is a good habit. Let your kids write reviews of the books they read.

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Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, black beauty.

review of book black beauty

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Anna Sewell ’s “Black Beauty” has seen a number of on-screen incarnations since the Silent Era. The last adaptation from 1994 was a video store staple, its amber-colored poster illuminated a gorgeous black horse rearing up, a display of both natural beauty and strength that caught your eye every time you passed it—even if you’ve already seen the movie. It’s no surprise that as memorable as that version was a generation ago, there’s a new adaptation for younger audiences who have yet to learn about the bittersweet saga of what can happen to these gorgeous creatures. 

Like in the source material and its many adaptations since, director Ashley Avis ’ “Black Beauty” begins with the picturesque life of a young horse, except this time she’s a filly and not a colt. Kate Winslet voices our mustang hero from her humble roots in the American West (actually, the film was shot in South Africa), through its journey through the hands of many different owners. Some are kind, like John Manly ( Iain Glen ) and his niece, Jo Green ( Mackenzie Foy ), who comes to live with John after her parents’ death. It’s during this difficult time for humans that Black Beauty bonds with young Jo. Things are going about as well as they could be going for Black Beauty after losing her home and her herd when circumstances beyond John and Jo’s control force her to be sold into the hands of other strangers, including a rescue worker, a farmer and a few horse carriage drivers.

Avis’ adaption, which she also wrote and edited, brings Black Beauty to the present day U.S. from Victorian England. Here, Black Beauty is both harmed and helped by cell phones and forced to contend with spoiled young rider, Georgina ( Fern Deacon ) and her ruthless mother, Mrs. Winthrop ( Claire Forlani ), who wants her daughter to win dressage trophies. In an additional twist, the character of Jo, originally Joseph Greene in the book, is given much more backstory than any of the other of the horse’s handlers and owners. Although she’s missing for a sizable portion of the movie, the horse thinks of her constantly, like a great first love that got away. "Black Beauty" also gives Jo a love interest, George ( Calam Lynch ), the antithesis to his mother and sister’s treatment of horses. Through Jo’s experience, the movie softly touches upon class, gently pointing out the differences between Jo whose uncle works at a stable to the rich girls who make fun of her and the Winthrops, who more or less make their own rules because they own their own stables. However, it’s a bit jarring to take the reins of an animal’s story and hand them over to build up the human characters, but after a time, the movie switches back into Black Beauty’s point-of-view.

While much of this “Black Beauty” strays from the original, the spirit of empathy and combatting animal cruelty remain intact. Some of the harsher scenes from the novel show up here as well, including the sobering moment when Black Beauty realizes one of her former stablemates, Ginger, endured a terrible life that comes to a heartless end. The film also references the uncomfortable beauty standard placed on these animals for competitions. Mrs. Winthrop is obsessed with seeing the horse’s head held high for dressage, a reference to the Victorian standard that also forced horses’ heads into uncomfortable, unnatural positions. The publication of the book helped fade the practice from most mainstream use, but as the movie shows, the cruelty that keeps a horse working all day and night pulling a carriage or forced into dangerous situations that threatens its well being is just as prevalent as ever. 

Avis’ film clearly adores its four-legged subjects. Through David Procter ’s cinematography, she recreates the look and feel of one of Disney’s nature documentaries for the first moments of Black Beauty’s life. It’s a golden-hour, idealized look at a herd of horses galloping through fields and in the shadows of mountains. No wonder leaving these scenes feels like a true loss. Without humans and their drama to get in the way, we can just appreciate the horses without our meddling, saddles, bridles or whips. This might just be the wish of a former horse rider, but I’d much rather spend more time with Black Beauty than with Jo or any of the other human characters in her path. It’s a narrative choice that may work better for some than others, and it probably won’t ride well with devotees of the book. 

Now playing on Disney+.

Monica Castillo

Monica Castillo

Monica Castillo is a critic, journalist, programmer, and curator based in New York City. She is the Senior Film Programmer at the Jacob Burns Film Center and a contributor to  RogerEbert.com .

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Film credits.

Black Beauty movie poster

Black Beauty (2020)

Kate Winslet as Black Beauty (voice)

Mackenzie Foy as Jo Green

Claire Forlani as Mrs. Winthorp

Iain Glen as John Manly

Calam Lynch as George Winthorp

Fern Deacon as Georgina Winthorp

  • Ashley Avis

Writer (based on the novel "Black Beauty" by)

  • Anna Sewell

Cinematographer

  • David Procter
  • Guillaume Roussel

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BLACK BEAUTY

adapted by Robin McKinley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 6, 1986

An abridgement (to about a third) of the classic horse story by Anna Sewell, first published in 1877. Normally, abridgements of famous stories cheat the reader: even when the new work has merit, reading it is a different, usually inferior experience. This case is different. Black Beauty is as much tract as Story, an exhaustive exploration of the treatment and mistreatment of the Victorian horse, aimed at reform. McKinley has used the author's words and retained most major events, pruning out extra incidents that reinforce the author's point but leaving the message clear. The result reads well and still gives a sufficiently detailed overview of the uses and abuses of the pre-automobile horse for most modern children. Jeffers' large, colorful illustrations, pen and wash with crosshatching, are satisfyingly full of quintessentially beautiful horses; they can be faulted only for being too pretty: even the poor, the underfed, the moribund, are pictured as sleek and lovely. Yet that too is in Sewell's spirit—it's the "beauty" who wins advocates. An attractive edition that should win new friends for an old favorite.

Pub Date: Oct. 6, 1986

ISBN: 0333493346

Page Count: 72

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1986

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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CINDERELLA

From the Once Upon a World series

by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Sandra Equihua ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 2016

A nice but not requisite purchase.

A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.

Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado . Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White , set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.

Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017

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THE LITTLE MERMAID

adapted by Hannah Eliot ; illustrated by Nivea Ortiz

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by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Dinara Mirtalipova

RAPUNZEL

by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan

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THERE'S A MONSTER IN YOUR BOOK

THERE'S A MONSTER IN YOUR BOOK

From the who's in your book series.

by Tom Fletcher ; illustrated by Greg Abbott ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 5, 2017

Playful, engaging, and full of opportunities for empathy—a raucous storytime hit.

Readers try to dislodge a monster from the pages of this emotive and interactive read-aloud.

“OH NO!” the story starts. “There’s a monster in your book!” The blue, round-headed monster with pink horns and a pink-tipped tail can be seen cheerfully munching on the opening page. “Let’s try to get him out,” declares the narrator. Readers are encouraged to shake, tilt, and spin the book around, while the monster careens around an empty background looking scared and lost. Viewers are exhorted to tickle the monster’s feet, blow on the page, and make a really loud noise. Finally, shockingly, it works: “Now he’s in your room!” But clearly a monster in your book is safer than a monster in your room, so he’s coaxed back into the illustrations and lulled to sleep, curled up under one page and cuddling a bit of another like a child with their blankie. The monster’s entirely cute appearance and clear emotional reactions to his treatment add to the interactive aspect, and some young readers might even resist the instructions to avoid hurting their new pal. Children will be brought along on the monster’s journey, going from excited, noisy, and wiggly to calm and steady (one can hope).

Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-5247-6456-2

Page Count: 32

Review Posted Online: June 4, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017

THERE'S A BEAR IN YOUR BOOK

by Tom Fletcher ; illustrated by Tom Fletcher

THERE'S A UNICORN IN YOUR BOOK

by Tom Fletcher ; illustrated by Greg Abbott

THERE'S A WITCH IN YOUR BOOK

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review of book black beauty

IMAGES

  1. Book Review: Black Beauty

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  2. Black Beauty And Modern Horse Stories

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  3. 7 Facts About 'Black Beauty,' The Book That Made Every Kid Completely

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  4. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, Paperback, 9780486407883

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COMMENTS

  1. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

    Children's books Children's books This article is more than 9 years old Black Beauty by Anna Sewell - review 'The book shows that humans and animals should be treated alike' Ratatouille...

  2. Black Beauty Book Review

    Black Beauty Book Review | Common Sense Media Concerned about social media, AI, and screen time? Subscribe to our newsletter and get the best out of media and tech. Sign me up Parents' Guide to Black Beauty By Barbara Schultz, Common Sense Media Reviewer age 10+ Classic horse novel has be-kind-to-animals message.

  3. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

    276,311 ratings6,650 reviews As a young horse, Black Beauty is well-loved and happy. But when his owner is forced to sell him, his life changes drastically. He has many new owners--some of them cruel and some of them kind. All he needs is someone to love him again...

  4. Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell

    3 min Black Beauty by Anna Sewell is a timeless classic that has captured the hearts of young and old readers for over a century. Its enduring popularity is a testament to Sewell's masterful storytelling and the poignant message at the novel's heart.

  5. Black Beauty

    Jane Burke This re-issue of a classic Victorian children's novel tells the story of Black Beauty - a beautiful black horse whose life takes him from comfort and kindness through every stage of exploitation and cruelty to an unexpectedly happy ending.

  6. Book Review: Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

    What is this book about? A jet-black young colt, Black Beauty, spends his early years in a cozy meadow growing up with a gentle master, a strong mother and an ideal upbringing. Through the years, he changes hands with different masters: some rough, some kind, some indifferent. Black Beauty's experiences throughout his life give him lessons on real friendship, loss, hardship

  7. Kid reviews for Black Beauty

    Parent and Kid Reviews on Black Beauty Our Review Parents say (2) Kids say (20) age 10+ Based on 20 kid reviews Add your rating Sort by: Most Helpful malenab Kid, 11 years old July 3, 2021 age 10+ great read! I loved this book! Being a classic and pretty old I wasn't expecting much.

  8. Black Beauty

    Anna Sewell never married or had children. In visits to European spas, she met many writers, artists, and philanthropists. Her only book was Black Beauty, written between 1871 and 1877 in her house at Old Catton. During this time, her health was declining, and she could barely get out of bed.

  9. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell book review

    Nevertheless, even those, ate least, I found to admire them for their extreme beauty. This generic horse-fondness goes way back, and one of the written proofs of that is the 1877's book, Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. If you think this book is a silly tale written to male people cry, think again. On the contrary, it could be considered one of ...

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    Black Beauty is born into a good situation and is raised to be a faithful horse. His life is forever changed when his kind master is forced to sell him. ... Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion ...

  11. Black Beauty (Book Review)

    Black Beauty is commonly thought of as a children's book, however, the well-constructed prose and the novel's deep moral message makes it an excellent and satisfying read for anyone, of any age. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.

  12. Black Beauty Study Guide

    Summary Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Anna Sewell's Black Beauty. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides. Black Beauty: Introduction A concise biography of Anna Sewell plus historical and literary context for Black Beauty. Black Beauty: Plot Summary

  13. Book Review: Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

    Reading Black Beauty was never a plan of mine, I did it because of a coursework. One of the subjects that I'm taking is literature, so I'm required to read Black Beauty. I had no objections, because this could be the start for me to read classic books. But somehow, it took me around four months to finish the book.

  14. Black Beauty

    Ameya Rating: Black Beauty is completely worthy of a 4.5-star score. The story of Black Beauty can entertain and educate children like few modern works of fiction can. In addition, the book is also replete with moral values, which young minds are bound to accept and embrace by the end of the story.

  15. 'Black Beauty' Review: A Melodrama in Need of Rougher Edges

    Avis loses the novel's sincerity by watering down Sewell's animal welfare plea. In this update, the humans are not as villainous. Beauty is not as prominent. And the novel's mustang spirit...

  16. Black Beauty

    Category: Arts & Culture In full: Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse See all related content → Black Beauty Illustration from the 1916 edition of Black Beauty (1877) by Anna Sewell. Black Beauty, the only novel by Anna Sewell and the first major animal story in children's literature.

  17. Black Beauty Summary and Study Guide

    97 pages • 3 hours read Anna Sewell Black Beauty Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1877 A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

  18. Amazon.com: Black Beauty: 9781503251281: Sewell, Anna: Books

    Black Beauty. Paperback - February 15, 2021. "It is good people who make good places.". ― Anna Sewell, Black Beauty. Black Beauty is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she remained in her house as an invalid.

  19. Black Beauty by Pauline Francis

    The classic story of a brave and noble working horse in Victorian England, retold for younger readers. Anna Sewell's classic novel follows the story of Black Beauty, a horse that overcomes danger and cruelty to eventually find a loving home. He has a series of masters who are often cruel and thoughtless. He survives flood, fire, and fever until ...

  20. Book Review

    Black Beauty is a classic novel for children written by Anna Sewell. This story is an Usborne Young reading Series two adaptation of the classic novel. It is an autobiography of Black Beauty the horse. Anna Sewell being an animal lover wanted to let the world understand the suffering of horses. It is a timeless story written in the 19 th ...

  21. Black Beauty movie review & film summary (2020)

    Reviews Black Beauty Monica Castillo November 27, 2020 Tweet Now streaming on: Powered by JustWatch Anna Sewell 's "Black Beauty" has seen a number of on-screen incarnations since the Silent Era.

  22. BLACK BEAUTY

    BLACK BEAUTY adapted by Robin McKinley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 6, 1986 An abridgement (to about a third) of the classic horse story by Anna Sewell, first published in 1877. Normally, abridgements of famous stories cheat the reader: even when the new work has merit, reading it is a different, usually inferior experience. This case is different.

  23. Black Beauty by John Escott

    The book is called Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. The book is about a young horse called 'Black Beauty'. Black Beauty is a beautiful black horse with a white star on its forehead. The story begins where he lives with his mother and lot of other horses on a farm until he is four years old. The mother told him what he has to do, how to behave etc.