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7th out of 426 books
—
276 voters
Black Beauty (Abridged)
by
John Davage
Paperback, 43 pages
Published
October 22nd 2008
by Pearson Education
(first published January 22nd 2001)
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‘Black Beauty’ by Anna Sewell is the timeless tale of life in Victorian era Britain through the eyes of the main protagonist, Black Beauty himself. The story begins with the horse’s carefree life as a young colt through to his difficult life pulling cabs under different owners and finally to his happy retirement in the countryside. The story was revolutionary in its time and helped to bring about changes in people’s attitudes to animal welfare and ultimately changes in the law also, something th...more
Wow, well to start with I am the type of girl that tends to read EVERYTHING in books, forewords, recommendations, epilogue's, you name it, I read it-or in some cases skip if it is boring!. In the case of this book, I am really grateful for that commitment to detail as the Life and Times section preceding the story so impressed me. Not only was this book Anna Sewell's only book, it changed the world in a way that has stayed with me in a very powerful way. So clever was her approach in linking the...more
I really enjoyed this book as well. I thought it might just be a story about a horse and horses in general, which it is, but it was MUCH more than that. It was a story about Redemption. It too was the hero's journey. The hero was the the horse. I loved learning about the masters and how they treated their horses because I think there's much to learn about parenting through the relationships of all the horses with their masters. The way the masters treated their horses had EVERYTHING to do with h...more
Dec 29, 2009
Laura
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
audio-books,
read-2009,
book-and-movie,
animals,
aventure,
children-ya,
fiction,
british-literature
This a very touching novel by Anna Sewell who described the abuse of bearing rein in the horses. Nowadays this question of mistreatment of animals is becoming a harsh reality even in the XXI century.
A movie was made based on this book Black Beauty (1994).
A movie was made based on this book Black Beauty (1994).
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Not long ago, while browsing the treasures in an antique shop, I came across a timeworn 1955 edition of "Black Beauty" by Anna Sewell. Holding the book brought back vivid memories of my fifth grade class in 1965 sitting in our third floor classroom, windows agape and dust settling on the wooden floor, enchanted as Mrs. Pritchard read us the entire book out loud. This was a significant experience in my schooling and in the development of my love of books. I purchased this well-worn book and put i...more
Back when mans machinery consisted of horse sweat and hay, "Black Beauty" is about one horses numerous different owners, and his triumphs and struggles encountered with each. Black Beauty begins his life on a prestigious farm bred by a loving owner, and born by his kind mother; Dutchess. As he becomes older his life begins to change and the maturity of "horsehood" starts. He is thrown into saddle and snaffle, and begins training. Once he is a mature horse the owner sells him to a new home with t...more
I love horses. Always have. They're graceful and beautiful animals, and also very kind. Because of my allergies and asthma I had to stop riding, but my love for horses has not diminished. When my daughter chose to read Black Beauty a few months ago, I just had to put it on my list. I hate admitting this, I never read this book before...it's one of those books I've always wanted to read but never got around to it.
The story is told by Black Beauty, it's his memoir/biography. It begins with him as...more
The story is told by Black Beauty, it's his memoir/biography. It begins with him as...more
Not being much of an animal-lover or an anti-animal-cruelty-crusader, this classic wasn't exactly my cup of tea. The whole "mistreated horses" line seemed redundantly expressed to an almost annoying degree. Perhaps a more interesting or in depth writing style would've effectively masked the redundancy. I realize this story must be meant for younger readers than myself, but I am a firm believer in "read higher = think higher" and I would not recommend it to the age group to whom it is meant to ap...more
Black beauty is a beautiful black horse who’s life becomes very difficult after his original owners have to move to another country and sells him to another man. Many tragedies happened to him but he keeps on being strong and a very pleasant animal.Will he be able to find a good home?
Personal Opinion
****
I really liked this book, it is a classic and that’s why I read it, even thought some times I did find it boring it became exiting again. I loved the fact that the story was being told from the h...more
Personal Opinion
****
I really liked this book, it is a classic and that’s why I read it, even thought some times I did find it boring it became exiting again. I loved the fact that the story was being told from the h...more
Somehow I never read this book as a child, but after we talked about it in a class I decided I had to go and read it. It's a remarkable picture of the mistreatment of horses in England, and graphically illustrates the adage that "England is a hell for horses". More importantly, Sewell ties the cruelty towards these animals to the unjust treatment of the working classes in England, and (rather deftly) undercuts the argument that worrying over the welfare of horses is a pursuit of the idle upper c...more
Dec 09, 2009
Manuel Fernandez
added it
I am a fan of horses; a BIG fan. This book taught me deep things about what a horse probably thinks whenever you mistreat him, talk bad to him, or so much as not pet him once in a while. When I first laid eyes on the cover, and read the tittle, I new i had to read that book; and I did! The book intrigued and fascinated me so much that i have read it 7 times now and will {probably} read it again very soon. Ever since the first time i read it, i have been careful with how i talk to my horses and m...more
So I finally finished this one that the kids raved about and loved so much. It was a sweet story but frankly I was bored to tears at several points. Maybe we have just read too many horse books lately, or maybe the other horse books have been more exciting. I am not sure. But it seems like I may have tried to read this book in elementary school too and couldn't finish it. Although the Beauty's life was an interesting tale I just couldn't connect with the horse character and found my self uninvol...more
Author Amanda Craig has chosen to discuss Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty , on FiveBooks (http://five-books.com) on her list of FiveBooks that changed the world, saying that:
“…I find it odd that people don’t realise how revolutionary this book is. It is the autobiography of a horse, written in the first person. It really got the animal rights movement going. It really was a novel that changed how people saw another species..…”.
The full interview is available here: http://thebrowser.com/books/intervi...more
“…I find it odd that people don’t realise how revolutionary this book is. It is the autobiography of a horse, written in the first person. It really got the animal rights movement going. It really was a novel that changed how people saw another species..…”.
The full interview is available here: http://thebrowser.com/books/intervi...more
قصة قصيرة ولطيفة من وجهة نظر حصان في القرن الثامن عشر ..
جيدة تماماً لمن يواجه أعاصير وفيضانات عقليه بداخل مخه ويريد أن يقرأ شيئاً كتغيير بسيط وذو معنى كذلك..
قرأتها وأنهيتها قبل أن يتحرك الباص ظهر اليوم، الكلمات سهلة ومبسطة جداً لمن يريد تطوير لغته الإنجليزية وأن يقرأ، نسختي من سلسلة بينجوين ريدرز.
جيدة تماماً لمن يواجه أعاصير وفيضانات عقليه بداخل مخه ويريد أن يقرأ شيئاً كتغيير بسيط وذو معنى كذلك..
قرأتها وأنهيتها قبل أن يتحرك الباص ظهر اليوم، الكلمات سهلة ومبسطة جداً لمن يريد تطوير لغته الإنجليزية وأن يقرأ، نسختي من سلسلة بينجوين ريدرز.
Dec 24, 2009
Laura
added it
black beauty is the best book i have ever read even low i am 11 years old and i might not of read loads of books but this book is fantastic and you can realy emadgen what it is like for all the horses and the owners i think it is realy nasty for people who bye horses and be realy crule to them. i do horse riding myself and i clean my horse and feed her but if you havent read this book i think you should it isnt childish it is like things that happen in every day life !!!
Black Beauty is about a sprited horse,a black stallion with a white star on his forehead. black beauty adventures where from the green medows to the cold bitter streets of the nineteenth centry london.And goes owner to owner and learns diffrent stuff but the only owner hes likes is jack a little boy who takes care of him alot.Black Beauty meets this brown,delicate,horse he falls in love with named Ginger.I recommend this book to all that like fantasy books.
I loved this book the first time I read it and the second time...so, now I'm reading it again...And I'm still loving it.
It's a most wonderful story, but the truly amazing story is about Anna Sewell, herself. She was an amazing person and lived an admirable and just mind-blowing life.
If you have any love for animals, read this book, it'll only make you love them more.
It's a most wonderful story, but the truly amazing story is about Anna Sewell, herself. She was an amazing person and lived an admirable and just mind-blowing life.
If you have any love for animals, read this book, it'll only make you love them more.
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ANYone who knows me knows this is my favorite book of all time. Hands down. It should be required reading, for all. Anyone that can narrate a book from a horse's perspective....and get you to weep while you read....is an amazing, talented, and brilliant author, to say the least. Beautifully written. The words pull you into the book like a sponge.
The book was great, except for the fact that I adore horses and the ending killed me. Any time I dealt with reading about abuse to the horse I cried. This was the first book I read. This is what got me into reading and got me to love classics. It's a good book in the way it was written but I can personally say I didn't enjoy certain parts.
I have never been a fan of books about animals or the animals narrating the story, but aside form this I really enjoyed the story and what it teaches to kids. I read it to my son and there was a lot of good wisdom that came out without preaching at him. He asked a lot of questions which was good. I would recommend it as a family read aloud.
Black Beauty is the autobiography of a horse which is main character. The book depicts a horse, which was named Black Beauty, was sold by people. Through the trade, we can find that different people have different actions on horse. Some regard them as family members; however, some take advantage of them. They whip and give overwork to horses.
I was confuse continue to read this book called "Black Beauty" cause it was boring and disappointing to read. This author did not a good job put out this book because I was confuse from the beginning to end for this book. This author didn't not deserve for five stars for this book because it's terrible and disappoint.
One of the books to encourage readers from my page 16 of my book, Starfish Loves to Read (Words by Natalie Starfish, Photo Illustrations by Kimberly Chiaris).
In Gratitude,
Natalie Starfish
Author of Children's Books, Starfish Loves to Read and The Alphabet According to Starfish
http://www.NatalieStarfish.com
In Gratitude,
Natalie Starfish
Author of Children's Books, Starfish Loves to Read and The Alphabet According to Starfish
http://www.NatalieStarfish.com
It was really good I reccomend it to people who like horses and drama. It was about black beauty's life and it told the story of her and the things she went through and how hard it was. At the ending everything is fine and works out perfectly. If you want to find out anything more read the book.(it was really good)
Coincidentally, I horseback ride, which made this book even better, but I felt Beauty's pain even harder when unfortunate events occured. I loved thinking that horses could talk, and if they could, what they said would probably be quite similar to what Black Beauty and the other horses talked about.
Just read this again after many years. Loved it the first time. Stayed up reading for 2 hours the other night I was so into it. Very well told story from the horse's point of view. Now my daughter started reading it. She read 8 chapters in just one morning, so I think she's liking it too.
I found my beautiful 1953 edition in a charity shop as I love old books and what a lovely read of this classic tale! Such a charming yet powerful story with an ending which I didn't expect and was therefore pleasantly surprised. It brought a tear to my eye which is always a sign of a good book!
Just reread this for the first time in forty years or more. It is still as sad but this time it seems to teach a lesson on how we should treat animals and humans. It will be interesting what discussions my fourth graders will have as we read through this book.
The "autobiography" of a horse from the 19th c. I just read it with my 5-year-old son, and while he wasn't enthralled (like he was with Treasure Island), it was a sweet story that helped him see the importance of treating all living things with kindness.
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