Book description
Black Beauty is a handsome, sweet-tempered colt with a strong spirit.
As a young colt he is free to gallop in the fresh green meadows with
his beloved mother, Duchess, and their kind master. But when his
owners are forced to sell him, Black Beauty goes from a life of
comfort and kindness to one of hard labour and cruelty. Bravely he
works as hard as he can, suffering at the hands of men who treat
animals badly. But Black Beauty has an unbreakable spirit and will,
and is determined to survive . . .
With a wonderful introduction by award-winning author Meg Rosoff,
Black Beauty is one of the twelve best-loved classic stories
being launched in the newly branded Puffin Classics series in March 2008.
Anna Sewell (1820-78) was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
Black Beauty
, her only book, was completed and published in 1877, just a few months
before she died, so she did not live to know of the book's huge success.
Apart from being a good story,
Black Beauty
was instrumental in changing people's attitudes towards horses, and
domestic animals in general.
