Beautiful Jim: The World's Smartest Horse

by Jodie Parachini, Dragan Kordic (Illustrator)

Told in the first person as if written by Beautiful Jim himself, this is the story of the sensation in the late 1800s and early 1900 a horse whose owner, Doc Key, a formerly enslaved man who loved animals, taught to read, write, and do math. Reading Jim's diary and the story, we learn how, together with Doc Key, Jim performed all over the United States, even for two presidents, while promoting kindness to animals.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 2021

Reviews

[Momo]

What a wonderful new children's book, about Beautiful Jim, a mahogany bay Arabian-Hambletonian mix horse taught by his owner, Doc Key, a formerly enslaved Kentucky man, "the alphabet, how to count, and even [how to] play a musical instrument." Although expected to follow the path of his thoroughbred father and race, Jim, a fragile colt at birth, took a different path, thanks to Doc, and, with his amazing skills, performed around the United States, on the Broadway stage, at the 1904 Saint Louis world's fair, and in front of President William McKinley. Perhaps most importantly, he promoted the kind treatment of animals. The storytelling is sweet and fun, and the illustrations have a nice old-timey look to then--they make me think of Golden Books from when I was a kid. I can't wait to introduce Beautiful Jim to my little four-year-old twin nephew and niece!

[Lauren]

I always love reading about Beautiful Jim Key, his trainer, who taught his horse with pure kindness and patience and helped forge the groundwork for animal rights. Doc Key overcame the cruelty of slavery to share an important message of compassion.

This book loses points in the math department—if Jim was 16 hands high, that is 64 inches, or 5’ 4” (64 = 12 x 5 + 4) not 5’ 3. But I can’t fault them much because the imperial system of measurement is stupid.

[Mindy Alyse Weiss]

I’m a huge animal lover and instantly fell in love with Beautiful Jim. I wish I could’ve seen him in person. I love all the amazing tricks he did…and adore that he helped bring about awareness of treating animals with kindness.

[Kara Flowers]

Such a cool story

[Nathan]

Wow!