Black Beauty: A Graphic Novel

By Anna Sewell, L. L. Owens and Jennifer Tanner

Black Beauty faces human cruelty and mistreatment in a world that cares little for the happiness of animals.  Written in graphic-novel format.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
• Release date: May 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781666309263

Anna Sewell

Anna Sewell was born in Norfolk, England. In 1871, she was told she had only a few months to live, but she spent the next five years writing Black Beauty. She lived to see it published in 1877.

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Reviews for Black Beauty

[word.owl · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Black Beauty, a book that has sold millions of copies since it was first published in 1877, has gained somewhat curious status as a children's classic. The author originally wrote it as a work for adults to promote awareness of cruelty to horses. She succeeded in this when it became very popular soon after publication. It's the story of a horse who starts out his life well taken care of, but through circumstances beyond his control goes through a series of masters both kind and terrible.

Adults may find the author's message heavy-handed, but there are definitely a few gems, such as “...if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt,” and “...we have no right to distress any of God's creatures without a very good reason; we call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words.”

For many children this is their first horse book and they want their parents to read it to them over and over again. Other children, however, might be upset by the scenes of animal cruelty on the way to the happy ending. You know your child best, so adult guidance is suggested.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wasn't a huge horse fan, but I did read this more than once when I was a tween.

Rereading for April/May Children's Books group. Got a very early edition from Open Library.

I am impressed, now that I have finished my reread, to see how Sewell tried to rub out the classism she saw around herself. Every person is an individual, and class & gender & age & money have little to do with whether they are good or bad people. Similarly, every horse is an individual, and all of them are capable of good behavior if only treated well. BB actually became wiser, because of his experiences, than his mother, who never did have to work as a cart horse nor was abused.

Highly recommended to all, not just children, and not just animal lovers or fans of history.

[sandra.pinkerton83 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent teen book