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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
Black Beauty is a good about a horse named Beauty that was born England during the Victorian Era. Beauty learns from a young age that either humans can be a horse’s greatest friend or greatest foe. Beauty has an easy life with the farmer and his mother. He learns this from talking to horses that have been mistreated and hurt by humans. He moves around to different owners who then sell him. He then meets a horribly mean human who works Beauty until he drops and is very mean and brutal to him. He sees an old friend from the farm he was born at being carted away dead because she was treated so cruelly. This is where it broke my heart and I cried a little reading this. Because he thinks so positively about humans, even when he made him work, they cared about him. But luckily, he was saved by a vet who rehabilitate him. This was such an amazing story and you really bond with Beauty throughout the story. I felt the pain that Beauty felt throughout the story and Beauty is a great animal’s character that you can bond with.
Extremely good book, I wish I had read this classic when I was much younger.
One of my classic book challenge reads I have been intrigued by this book since childhood. As I didn’t come from a family of readers there are a lot of classic children’s books I haven’t read - this being one.
Black Beauty is told from the perspective of a horse through their life. We see their different homes, meet their various owners and other horses they come into contact with.
It was so sad in places, absolutely gutting.
Once I got into it I was swept along. I wish I had come to it as a child as it probably would have been very precious to me. I’m sure.
It still feels so relevant so would be a great conversation starter with young readers about nature and humans. It’s still such an important message.
Highly recommend.
Black Beauty is told from the perspective of a horse through their life. We see their different homes, meet their various owners and other horses they come into contact with.
It was so sad in places, absolutely gutting.
Once I got into it I was swept along. I wish I had come to it as a child as it probably would have been very precious to me. I’m sure.
It still feels so relevant so would be a great conversation starter with young readers about nature and humans. It’s still such an important message.
Highly recommend.
girl why did this victorian children's book about a horse almost make me cry like five times.
(to be fair, it actually wasn't originally written for children, but rather for people who worked with horses, so.)
(to be fair, it actually wasn't originally written for children, but rather for people who worked with horses, so.)
I didn't realize when I picked this up that it was entirely from the horses point of view,(if I’d bothered to read the synopsis it wouldn’t have been a surprise though lol)but this was actually a really interesting read that spans the majority of the horses life, he's called various things over his lifetime but Black Beauty is the one that he is called for the longest amount of time.
You get to see him as a foal playing in the fields, to his first job as a carriage horse in a good situation, then through his life as his situation goes from one bad master to the next and the few good ones he had as well.
Beauty has a lot of ups and downs in his life and the lives of his friends, I was a lot more engrossed in this story than I expected to be.
You get to see him as a foal playing in the fields, to his first job as a carriage horse in a good situation, then through his life as his situation goes from one bad master to the next and the few good ones he had as well.
Beauty has a lot of ups and downs in his life and the lives of his friends, I was a lot more engrossed in this story than I expected to be.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I never read this classic book as a child. When we purchased a group of Children’s Classics Novels that are nearly 100-years-old, I added it to my TBR. I have seen the 1990's movie version of the novel, and it followed fairly closely. There were some pieces cut out, some owners weren’t represented, but all the important pieces were there. The end, and how Beauty found Joe, is different in the book than in the movie, though. Altogether, a great, classic read that I found a hard time putting down. Plus, it will awaken within you the plight of the working horse.
Such a great read!
So much that is said in these pages feels current, you would easily forget it is quite old. Wonderful, sad at times but true.
So much that is said in these pages feels current, you would easily forget it is quite old. Wonderful, sad at times but true.
I remember having read this in 3rd or 4th grade and having liked it. Basically, we have the autobiography of a horse. Black Beauty, it seems, is a stallion (or gelding, we're never told). I always assumed that with a name like that he was a she. But nope! A guy horse. None-the-less, all the 9-year old girls who love horses will adore this book. So, also will old Calvinist moralists, like myself, who like animal stories dosed with some good, old fashioned moralizing.
Anyway, this was quite a fun book. Beauty narrates his life from colthood to old age. He sees many changes in that he switches hands from time to time from a good "master" to a not-so-good one, from good care to negligent care, from proper work to over work, and so on. Along the way, we learn the stories of some of the other horses with whom Beauty shared a stable, and we learn much about the proper way to care for a horse so as to get the best work from him. Horses like to work hard for people they like. Nope, don't mind it a bit. Bless their equine hearts.
Anyway, this was quite a fun book. Beauty narrates his life from colthood to old age. He sees many changes in that he switches hands from time to time from a good "master" to a not-so-good one, from good care to negligent care, from proper work to over work, and so on. Along the way, we learn the stories of some of the other horses with whom Beauty shared a stable, and we learn much about the proper way to care for a horse so as to get the best work from him. Horses like to work hard for people they like. Nope, don't mind it a bit. Bless their equine hearts.