Black Beauty
Black Beauty
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Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
It is good people who make good places. ― Anna Sewell, Black Beauty Black Beauty is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she remained in her house as an invalid. The novel became an immediate best-seller, with Sewell dying just five months after its publication, but long enough to see her only novel become a success. With fifty million copies sold, Black Beauty is one of the best-selling books of all time. While forthrightly teaching animal welfare, it also teaches how to treat people with kindness, sympathy, and respect. Black Beauty became a forerunner to the pony book genre of children's literature. In 2003, the novel was listed at number 58 on the BC's survey The Big Read. Black Beauty spends his youth in a loving home, surrounded by friends and cared for by his owners. But when circumstances change, he learns that not all humans are so kind. Passed from hand to hand, Black Beauty witnesses love and cruelty, wealth and poverty, friendship and hardship . . . Will the handsome horse ever find a happy and lasting home? Carefully retold in clear contemporary language, and presented with delightful illustrations, these favorite classic stories capture the heart and imagination of young readers. By retelling the story in a shorter, simpler form, these books become highly engaging for children, and the color illustrations help with both comprehension and interest level. Black Beauty is part of a collectible series that has strong gift appeal. A True Classic that Belongs on Every Bookshelf>It is good people who make good places. ― Anna Sewell, Black Beauty
Black Beauty is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she remained in her house as an invalid. The novel became an immediate best-seller, with Sewell dying just five months after its publication, but long enough to see her only novel become a success. With fifty million copies sold, Black Beauty is one of the best-selling books of all time. While forthrightly teaching animal welfare, it also teaches how to treat people with kindness, sympathy, and respect. Black Beauty became a forerunner to the pony book genre of children's literature. In 2003, the novel was listed at number 58 on the BC's survey The Big Read. Black Beauty spends his youth in a loving home, surrounded by friends and cared for by his owners. But when circumstances change, he learns that not all humans are so kind. Passed from hand to hand, Black Beauty witnesses love and cruelty, wealth and poverty, friendship and hardship . . . Will the handsome horse ever find a happy and lasting home? Carefully retold in clear contemporary language, and presented with delightful illustrations, these favorite classic stories capture the heart and imagination of young readers. By retelling the story in a shorter, simpler form, these books become highly engaging for children, and the color illustrations help with both comprehension and interest level. Black Beauty is part of a collectible series that has strong gift appeal. A True Classic that Belongs on Every Bookshelf>Anna Sewell was a lovely and kind woman whose passion for horses and wish to see them treated better led to the most famous animal story of the nineteenth century. She was raised in a strict Quaker family in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, where she learned the value of self-reliance, moral responsibility, and 'sensitive care for the Creations of God.' She was up with a tremendous passion for animals and abhorred any kind of brutality towards them. She seemed to have a natural affinity with horses, and her mastery of riding in 'Black Beauty' was the result of a lifetime of practice. Anna received her education at home from her mother, who, in addition to instilling in her a sense of responsibility and faith, also surrounded her with music, painting, and poetry--she was an outstanding ballad writer herself--and Anna quickly established herself as a good pianist and artist.
Anna, who already had a severe bone illness, had a fall when she was fourteen, which rendered her an invalid for the rest of her life. She couldn't get around on her own by her mid-thirties and had to rely on a pony cart to get around. She never used a whip on her own horses, and one of her goals with Black Beauty was to 'induce gentleness, sympathy, and an knowledge of horse treatment.' Anna began composing Black Beauty in 1871 when confined to her chamber due to illness, but she abandoned the project until 1876.
Fearing she wouldn't survive long enough to see the book published, she toiled away at it despite her worsening health. Anna was ecstatic when she saw her work in print in November 1877, thanks to her mother's efforts. She died five months later and was laid to rest near Old Catton, Norfolk, in the family plot. Anna did not live to see the impact her 'small book' has had on the millions of individuals who have read it around the world.
It has been translated into a number of languages, and various attempts to film it have been made. Black Beauty has had a significant impact on how animals are treated, just as Anna wanted.
SKU | Unavailable |
ISBN 13 | 9781503251281 |
ISBN 10 | 1503251284 |
Title | Black Beauty |
Author | Anna Sewell |
Series | Anna Sewell Collection |
Condition | Unavailable |
Binding Type | Paperback |
Publisher | Createspace Independent Publishing Platform |
Year published | 2014-11-28 |
Number of pages | 142 |
Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
Note | Unavailable |