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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)

Synopsis
This book describes the adventures, disappointments and joys of a very special hose. 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 goes from a life of freedom and happiness to one of labour. Bravely he works as hard as he can, suffering at the hands of men who treat animals cruelly. But Black Beauty has an unbreakable spirit and a strong will, and is determined to survive.

First Sentence
The first place that I can well remember was a large pleasant meadow with a pond of clear water in it. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
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Black Beauty (Ladybird Classics) by Anna Sewell

Black Beauty (Young Reading Gift Editions) by Anna Sewell  (2)  £4.49

Black Beauty (Penguin Popular Classics) by Anna Sewell  (5)  £1.80

Black Beauty (Everyman's Library Children's Classics) by Anna Sewell £7.14

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6 Reviews 5 star:  (4) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review (6 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   13 of 13 people found the following review helpful: A story of treachery and deceit, of pain and forgiveness., 27 Mar 2000 By A Customer This review is from: Black Beauty (Penguin Joint Venture Readers) (Paperback) Black Beauty is not only one of the best known story in the English language, it is also one of the finest tales ever written. The story is told through the eyes of Black Beauty and this first person narrative gives us the oppertunity of seeing the world as he does. In the course of the story Beauty goes from one home to the other, suffering horribly at the hands of his owners but never losing the hope that it will get better. Eventually Beauty, now a cabhorse, is reunited with his dearest friend Ginger. Ginger is weak and thin and it is not long before he watches the corpse of his beautiful friend being carted off after being worked to death. It seems as though Beauty himself will be butchered but at his lowest moment he is saved by a young boy and his grandfather who feed him and care for him and bring him back to his former self. The book ends with Beauty finding a new home with one of the stableboys, now a young man, from his youth - Joe Green. Joe recognises Beauty and the tale rounds off with Beauty living out his days in peace and thinking of his friends whom he lost through man's barbarity. It is speculated that Anna Sewell wrote Black Beauty to help abolish the bearing rein, and if this is the case then I am glad to say it seems to have worked. Beauty speaks bitterly of the bearing rein and it must be said that anyone who uses a bearing rein is an inhuman, callous monster. Black Beauty if one of the great literary masterpieces and one that everyone should know.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   2 of 2 people found the following review helpful: Already 31 years since I read this classic, 20 Mar 2007 By  Jay "The Amazon Reviewer" (Mauritius) - See all my reviews    This review is from: Black Beauty (Wordsworth's Children's Classics) (Paperback) Read this book back in 1976 !Classic about love and harshness between horses and their masters. The story taught me that masters are not always nice to the horses that they own. Before reading the book, I didn't know that masters could be so cruel to horses. Even though parts of the book are sad, harsh, and cruel there are also exciting and happy moments. I especially liked the masters in the book that gave the best food from the village to Black Beauty. I loved the end but I am going to keep it a secret so you can read it yourself.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   1 of 3 people found the following review helpful: "a real classic", 3 Jul 2007 By  jenaveve "ville7" (leeds, england) - See all my reviews I read this book as a child and was enchanted by it. The story is told through the eyes of Black Beauty and really highlights some of the cruelties that can be inflicted on horses, yet it is not a depressing read. Anna S. creates fantastic empathy. This book has even helped people to become more aware of how horses should be treated, changing things for the better. A true masterpiece.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this) › See all 6 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews I love this book I love Black Beauty because there are horses in it. I thought it was really good. My favourite character is black beauty because she is brave. Published 2 months ago by Lydia Cool Book This is quite an emotional book. It's about a horse who goes through many differant owners some good, some bad, makes friends and loses friends. Read more Published 10 months ago by sara s10 I really really really like this book. I like this book because of the way he tells the story and the excitement in it.I also like the pictures.But the charicters are a little confusing.So it's hard to follow. Published on 5 Nov 1998 Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 6 customer reviews...