Product Description

Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse Black Beauty's first memories are of a large and pleasant meadow and his mother's hope that her son "will grow up gentle and good and never learn bad ways". Black Beauty's character is tested by the many adventures and hardships he experiences, but whether saving his comrades from a fire, racing to fetch help for his beloved mistress, or working as a London cab horse, his brave and loyal nature shines through. Black Beauty is a moving record of man's cruelty to animals, but above all an exciting adventure story. Published in 1877, Black Beauty has become one of the best-loved classics of children's literature.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1836973 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-22
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 344 pages

Amazon.co.uk 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
Never before has this favorite been so handsomely, and appropriately, illustrated. Keeping (d. 1988), a master draftsman who illustrated 300 books, including all of Dickens, has provided a bountiful number of drawings (some subtly touched with color), combining piercing caricature, compassion, and a sure eye for the horses' beauty, movement, and (at the worst of times) plight. A masterpiece of illustration, capturing the book's drama and period while rising nobly above its sentimentality. (Kirkus Reviews)

About the Author
Anna Sewell (1820-78) was born in Great Yarmouth. She was an invalid for most of her life, following an accident when she was fourteen. Unable to walk properly, she grew to rely on, and to love, the horses which took her around in a cart or trap; a love which moved her to write her only novel. Black Beauty was published only a few months before Anna Sewell's death so, sadly, she was never to learn of it's amazing success. Ian Andrew is a graduate of the Royal College of Art, where he studied Animation. He has illustrated numerous books for children and adults, including Oliver Twist and Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde (Dorling Kindersley), and has a particular talent for bring animal characters to life.