Black Beauty

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Black Beauty

Title:

Black Beauty

Author:

Sewell, Anna, 1820-1878, author.

Ambrus, Victor G., illustrator.

Series:

Eyewitness classics.

Summary:

A horse in nineteenth-century England recounts his experiences with both good and bad masters. Illustrated notes throughout the text explain the historical background of the story. In our electronic age, children are more likely to dial up a website than curl up with a book. But in DK Classics, expert abridgments and retellings are matched with brilliant illustrations to create books which will capture the attention of today's visually sophisticated children. Rich factual content includes new photography, prints, diagrams, and maps, all expertly employed to provide a rich backdrop to classic tales. Each narrative is the perfect medium in which children can work out a world of moral values through powerful story experiences.

Audience:

Middle School.

General Note:

"Abridged for young readers."

Edition:

First American edition.

Physical Description:

64 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 27 cm.

Subject Term:

Horses -- Juvenile fiction.

Geographic Term:

England -- History -- 19th century -- Juvenile fiction.

Author(s):

Ambrus, Victor G.,

Publisher:

DK Pub.,

Publication Date:

1997

ISBN:

9780789414885

9780147510990

Publication Information:

New York : DK Pub., 1997.

Call Number:

J SEWELL

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003416768	Juvenile Fiction	SEWELL	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Brilliant illustrations and photographs bring these classics to life -- guaranteed to capture the attention of any child.

Author Notes

Anna Sewell, March 30, 1820 - April 25, 1878 Anna Sewell was on March 30, 1820 in Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. She was raised a Quaker by her father a bank manager and her mother, a children's novelist. At the age of fourteen, Sewell hurt her knee during a fall and the injury never healed right. Even though she could not walk well, she could still ride horses and drive a horse drawn buggy. It was this form of freedom that sparked her concern for the welfare of horses.

She wrote "Black Beauty" when she was in her fifties, but died a year after it was published in 1877. While she never earned much from the book while she was alive, after her death, the novel snowballed into a something extraordinary. The book was about the abuses horses sustained in their lifetimes, but was told from the unique viewpoint of the horse. Even though the book was intended for children, it impacted all generations and caused everyone who read it to take a look at the inhumane treatment horses received. In the one hundred plus years since "Black Beauty" had been published, over 30 million copies have been printed. At least eight motion pictures have been made based on the novel and it is a well known children's classic.

Anna Sewell died on April 25, 1878 in Old Catton, Norfolk.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (1)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 4-8This abridged version of the classic is presented in a slick format that intersperses factual information, full-color pictures, and labeled diagrams throughout the story. Although the artwork is excellent, it contributes more gloss than substance and may even distract from the importance of Sewell's theme of the often inhumane treatment of horses. The images of their suffering rarely convey how painful their lives could be. Even at the worst moments of his life, Black Beauty never appears ribby or sweated up and his coat never loses its sheen. Only Ginger takes on all of the traits that an abused horse might exhibit, and this occurs in only one illustration. One sketch also shows a neglected horse. The information about horses often consists of broad statements that are sometimes incomplete. For example, after heavy exercise, a horse should be cooled out and not just blanketed and left standing. Horses' hooves don't usually break, they break up (chip, get cracks). The historical information about the different types of carriages and vignettes of life in the 19th century may be more useful and accurate. This classic deserves to be read in its entirety so that its message about the need to treat animals humanely is not diluted. Many young readers will be dazzled by the illustrations but the story is really shortchanged by them.Carol Schene, Taunton Public Schools, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.