This book probably deserves 5 stars or at least 4, and I do recommend it to everyone, especially to girls who love horses. I’m giving it only 3 stars, however, not because I wasn’t one of those girls who were big horse fans (which I wasn’t really), but because for me it was just too emotionally harrowing. This might have been the first book I ever read that made me sick with depression. The horse goes through a lot of suffering in this book. Not for the overly sensitive but a beautifully told st...

This is the first book I ever read. I remember the day that I brought it in to show to my teacher, Miss Gerardi. She asked me if I could read it, so I started reading it aloud to her right away. The story is told in Black Beauty's own words. Beauty's friends are hard to forget, especially high-spirited Ginger. Anna Sewall's words are full of loving empathy for these beautiful animals. The story was set in 19th century England, at a time when almost everyone came into frequent contact with horses...

Black Beauty is one of those rare books that can preach without being preachy. Anna Sewell wrote this to illustrate the abuse of horses, in particulary the harsh use of the bearing rein. The bearing rein was used to get the horse's head arched, but made it difficult for the horse to breathe and near impossible for the horse to pull a carriage uphill. When Sewell died, the hearse to carry her body used horses with bearing reins. Her mother went out and made the driver get rid of them.Another Sewe...

“I hope you will grow up gentle and good, and never learn bad ways; do your work with a good will, lift your feet up well when you trot, and never bite or kick even in play.” This book was such a pleasant surprise! I did not expect it to be such a page-turner. With its short, straight-to-the-point chapters; the didactic yet never preachy writing style, the clean prose, and the beautiful characters, it made an amazing quick read that will definitely stay in my mind for quite some time. According

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” ― Mahatma GandhiI had never actually owned a copy of this wonderful classic until very recently when I spotted this one well worn and loved in a house clear out of a relative and when I was asked if there was anything I would like to take as a memento I was so happy to give a home to this stunning book. Black Beauty was always out on loan from my school library and as a child I remembering cons

I revisited this classic horse story not knowing what to expect, really. I have found that I can't really trust my childhood memories. In this case, however, the years made no difference. The odd thing I noticed while reading this book was how completely I'd internalized the messages regarding animals and how one should treat them. I know that I must have read this 20 or 30 times before I was 14, but I didn't realize that I was memorizing whole chunks of it and grafting it into my moral code. It...

Anna Sewell's evocative, poignant and yes, often devastatingly brutal autobiography of a horse, her 1877 Black Beauty, is a novel which even though I very much and dearly cherish and appreciate (and consider it even a personal favourite), I am also glad to have first read as an adult, and NOT as a child. For with horses being amongst my favourite animals, particularly Black Beauty's many many trials and tribulations, his often neglectful and at times even deliberately cruelly abusive grooms and

4.5★A Goodreads member requested some of the Black Beauty quotes be cleaned up. I owned this copy and it became easier to reread and try to fix as many quotes as I could while reading. (I should note that doing this is quite definitely a one-off & that I was intending to read this book next year anyway!)This is the story of Black Beauty's rise and then fall through the ranks through no fault of his own. BB's voice is quite definitely Ms Sewell's, a kindly woman who wanted to see horses (still th...

Black beauty is one of the most sensitive and heartfelt animal stories I have read. Being an autobiography of a horse, Black Beauty exposes the suffering of horses due to the thoughtless and cruel conduct of humans and advocates the need for their overall welfare. It is said that what inspired Anna to write the only book she ever wrote was to create social awareness of the suffering of horses and to induce to treat them with kindness, compassion and understanding. Although the story is focused o...

A timeless story that should be required reading for everyone, whatever the age. When this book was written, horses were used for every kind of pleasure and work, and were part of most upper class households. Many thought of them the way we think of cars, vehicles there for our use and disposable when they no longer meet our requirements. These, however, are sentient creatures, with needs and feelings, and Sewell wrote a moving and informative piece in their behalf.Who would not fall in love wit...

Review Black Beauty by Anna Sewell is a beautiful story meant for older children or very young adults. It was written in the 19th century by a woman who passed away shortly after its publication. I enjoyed the story and have given it a 3 of 5 stars, which is still very good in my book.A few interesting things:1. The point of view in the book is from Black Beauty, the horse.2. It takes place in London nearly 150 years ago.3. It's still a cherished story for both pleasure reading and ed

This was one of my very first 'horse' books. I read it when I was nine or ten, and it left a deep impression on me. Told from the viewpoint of the horse, it starts with Beauty's gentle upbringing and careful training. Well cared for and well mannered, Beauty is a valued animal with a good life at first. But a mishap or two is all it takes for Black Beauty to begin a downward spiral into a world where the appearance of an animal matters far more than its comfort, and into the depths where the onl...

Okay it had started as a review but it ended up becoming something totally different. It is rather dark, you have been warned. "In Defense of Cannibalism""I think the story starts when, as a kid, I was a neighbor of this family of slaughterers for a short while and, though they did their work within walls of their house, still sitting inside our home, we could hear the cries of goats, full of pain, as they were being slaughtered. These cries would go on for several minutes. It was unbearable for...

I'm sorry, I read this book when I was 6 or 7 and it almost scarred me for life..the sight of Ginger's body being carted away stayed with me for years. Between this, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Yearling, and of course Old Yeller I have to assume that somewhere there is a Marquis de Sade school of children's literature. I never gave these to my children as they were growing up (they had to make do with Narnia, Charlie Bucket, and some others). Neither the books nor the movies did I take them to...

Black Beauty, Anna SewellBlack 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. The novel became an immediate best-seller, with Sewell dying just five months after its publication, but having lived long enough to see her only novel become a success. With fifty million copies sold, Black Beauty is one of the best-selling books of all time.The story is narrated in the first person as an autob...

"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.".BLACK BEAUTY, with the help of some of her friends and acquaintances, narrates her own life story in this absolute gem of a children's classic. I've always loved the beauty and grace of horses, but now have an even greater respect and appreciation for them......and their needs.A few heartbreaking stories are told here, but the positive, encouraging messag...

I think this was my first 'favourite book'.I've read it over and over again, and I still cry every single time, at so many different points. It's such a beautiful book and I always feel it so deeply. The way some people treat animals (and each other) can be appalling. On the other hand, some people can be incredibly wonderful, the kind of person we all should want to be, and hopefully know (this applies to both the book and life in general of course). Black Beauty's life has a great many ups and...

This was my favorite book growing up as a child. I was obsessed with horses and living in a barn. Black Beauty was the ultimate fan-girl horse book and I ate it up as a little girl. Revisiting this as an adult was equally impactful. I teared up multiple times as I re-lived Beauty and the slew of his bad owners, his poor knees and despite it all his good, tender heart. This is my favorite animal character in any book and Beauty still has a beloved space that I'll cherish in my soul. This book sti...

Do not be expecting an objective review here. I have loved this book since a copy was given to me at the end of my sixth grade school year and have read it so many times I practically know it by heart. And as a matter of fact, I still have that very book! Here is the GR link for it, which did not take me nearly as long to find as I thought it might (there are nearly 800 editions of Black Beauty listed). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...The story follows Black Beauty from his days as a foa...

“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.” ~ First Read- 2013 ~~Second Read- 2021 ~~First Rating- 4 stars ~~Second Rating- 5 stars ~Content / Trigger Warnings- Animal Cruelty Note- I have tried to include all the content warnings that I noticed, but there is no guarantee that I haven’t missed something.-Mention of some of these in the review- “There is no religion without love, and