Black Beauty - Hardcover

McKinley, Robin; Sewell, Anna

4.19

422 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0394965752 ISBN 13: 9780394965758

Publisher: Random House Childrens Books, 1986

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A horse in nineteenth-century England recounts his experiences with both good and bad masters.

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Review:

A horse is a horse of course, unless of course the horse is Black Beauty. Animal-loving children have been devoted to Black Beauty throughout this century, and no doubt will continue through the next. Although Anna Sewell's classic paints a clear picture of turn-of-the-century London, its message is universal and timeless: animals will serve humans well if they are treated with consideration and kindness.

Black Beauty tells the story of the horse's own long and varied life, from a well-born colt in a pleasant meadow to an elegant carriage horse for a gentleman to a painfully overworked cab horse. Throughout, Sewell rails--in a gentle, 19th-century manner--against animal maltreatment. Young readers will follow Black Beauty's fortunes, good and bad, with gentle masters as well as cruel. Children can easily make the leap from horse-human relationships to human-human relationships, and begin to understand how their own consideration of others may be a benefit to all. (Ages 9 to 12)

Review:

One of the greatest books ever narrated by a horse, with a fine message: be kind to animals, and they'll be kind to you (Michael Morpurgo Guardian )

One of the most enchanting and best-loved children's stories of all time ( Mail on Sunday )

This was the first book that reduced me to tears - I saw what it meant to campaign ardently and successfully for an important cause. (Esther Rantzen Daily Mail )

So what makes these different to any other set of classics? In a moment of inspiration Random House had the bright idea of actually asking Key stage 2 children what extra ingredients they could add to make children want to read. And does it work? Well, put it this way...my 13-year-old daughter announced that she had to read a book over the summer holiday and, without any prompting, spotted The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas...and proceeded to read it! Now, if you knew my 13-year-old daughter, you would realise that this is quite remarkable. She reads texts, blogs and tags by the thousand - but this is the first book she has read since going to high school, so all hail Vintage Classics! ( National Association for the Teaching of English )

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