Black Beauty - Anna Sewell

When I was younger I loved reading books and used to read as many books as I could, but these days I don't classify myself as a heavy reader anymore. To be honest with you I am a very light and occasional reader these days . . . and I have work and the internet to blame for my shortage of reading habits! English isn't my first language; I'm trying to pick up ideas and develop as much as I can by reading and taking some quick courses now and then. As a part of my latest English course I am told I should read at least one book per week. Sounds easy? Perhaps it ought to be, but for me it's tough! Reading novels and bulky books has never interested ...  Read the complete review

I have always been verging on the obsessed when it comes to horses. Growing up, if a book featured horses and ponies I'd devour it. I was also fanatical about horse welfare, indignant about horses being transported live to Europe for slaughter and keen to raise money for horse rescue centres, such as Redwings with various half-baked schemes. So it probably isn't surprising that a childhood favourite of mine was the classic, Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse. I recently re-visited the book and found it had retained the magic that had captured me as a child . The story is told in the 'first horse' (first person) and is narrated by Black Beauty (also ...  Read the complete review

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell has to be one of my all time favourite books, and it's one I still can't read without a hint of a tear forming on the last couple of pages.. oh.. even as I'm thinking about it now, I'm getting a welling in the tearducts.. hmm.. Back to the book, which has been interpreted in countless ways for films, series, cartoons.. It is the story of a horse, Black Beauty, and is written in the first person (or should that be first horse.. sorry, I couldn't resist), and tells his tale from foalhood with the kindly farmer, to his first sale, and subsequent moves through the stewardship of various owners. ...  Read the complete review

As I said in my review of the 1994 film with the same name, Black Beauty is my favourite piece of literature. It's magical how captivating a story with the simple moral message of 'be kind to animals and other humans' can be. First off, a little bit of the history and background to Black Beauty that I promised in the film review. Black Beauty was first published in 1877, and was Sewells first and only book. Anna Sewell was an incredibly passionate animal lover and therefore you could possibly call her book propaganda - as it changed how the Victorian public viewed their treatment towards animals greatly. Copies of it were handed out to cabbies on cabstands ...  Read the complete review

The Story of Black Beauty by Anna Sewell is one of the best story's ive ever read (along with J.R.R. Tolkiens "The Hobbit" [see my opinion on that!]). As I mentioned in my The Hobbit opinion, I am not (and never have been) a girl for reading stories, I simply cant see the point in getting a book from the library about a fictional being, when the 3 week loan could have been spent reading a book about quantum physics, genetic engineering, ionic bonding, etc! So on the whole I never read these books. Infact in my life ive only read about 6; "The Hobbit" "Animal Farm" by George Orwell "Mayor of Casterbridge" by ...  Read the complete review