The Black Stallion (The Black Stallion, #1) in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Jan 31, 2014 stephanie rated it really liked it

Shelves: childhood-favorites, horses, winter-challenge-ya-2013, 2014

as a kid, i loved this book. it wasn't my favorite - i preferred others in the series more - but it was the first, and that made it special. it's very much wish fulfillment, but given that it was written by a boy in high school, would you really expect anything else? of course they are going to survive the storm, of course everything will end up how it should.

so i read it again, this time really looking at the parts about the Black - how realistic is this about a horse?

and . . . not so much. t as a kid, i loved this book. it wasn't my favorite - i preferred others in the series more - but it was the first, and that made it special. it's very much wish fulfillment, but given that it was written by a boy in high school, would you really expect anything else? of course they are going to survive the storm, of course everything will end up how it should.

so i read it again, this time really looking at the parts about the Black - how realistic is this about a horse?

and . . . not so much. there is no way a horse could survive on dried seaweed and then still be in such good shape. horses can't swim that long, even in the best of shape, and there are some truly awful stories of horses drowning at sea - while their owners watched from shore. the black jumps a 7 ft fence with no problem. alec rides him with no saddle and bridle for the majority of the story. alec is able to crouch like a jockey bareback. then, they try to get the black used to a saddle, and he flips over rearing, but after that first time, everything is hunky dory. etc etc etc.

but! the black could not be registered with the jockey club, and that is extremely true. so i appreciated that, and how they had to create this match race for him to compete, because it's true, he wouldn't have been allowed on a track without being able to prove he was a thoroughbred. there are some mentions about how he looks - too big to be a full arabian, and i think we all forget sometimes that the foundation sires of the thoroughbred breed were three arabians.

it's a good story, and it has enough of reality to make it passable. for those who think it is racist, remember that india IS STILL A BRITISH COLONY when the story was written. this is a completely different time. and to be fair, at least the italian wasn't lambasted, since we were at war with italy when the book was published. it was a different time, completely.

actually, it's a fascinating slice of history - published during WWII, at a point when colonies still existed, seabiscut and war admiral had just swept the nation up in their match race, the depression was just beginning to end, and places - especially new york city - were full of immigrants. this is still the time of "orientalism" and othering, still a time when information traveled fairly slowly, etc. ...more

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Jan 23, 2011 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was amazing

Shelves: children-s, read-aloud

One of the books listed in "1001 Children's Books"

Wow did I love this book!!! I proceeded to read every book my town library had by Walter Farley, and then bought all the rest as I was able, so I'm fairly certain I read every book in the Black Stallion series.

In my mind, this book stands as the best book ever written for kids about horses.

I read this aloud to my kids, and they loved it, too. ...more

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