Black Beauty
by Anna Sewell · first published 1877
60% recommend40% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Told from a horse's point of view, this well-written, emotionally absorbing story about animal welfare and cruelty is often read in childhood and still valued by adults for its craft.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
(Ages 9-12, Gr. 4-7) An animal rights classic that's also an engaging read, BLACK BEAUTY follows the life of an ebony horse from birth to old age, and from pasture to the cobblestone streets of 19th century England This morality tale and animal "autobiography" gives a sweet and kind horse a voice that's relatable yet unsentimental.. Black Beauty's life begins on the grounds of an aristocratic English family. The young horse learns early lessons from his mother like how not to bite or kick even in play before circumstances force his sale to a new master; it's the first o
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…to handwave Mongol atrocities. 4/5 Genghis Khan and the Quest for God by Jack Weatherford - Again, enjoyable. 3.5/5 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - Charming and enjoyable story. 4/5 Black Beauty by Anna Sewell - Pretty sure this is the first book I ever read that's written from an animal's POV. I liked it. 4/5 The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson (Penguin Classic) - I really liked it. Helped me…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗Just add a few more that are popular - Ralph Waldo Emerson - Henry David Thoreau - Rudyard Kipling (jungle book) - Anna Sewell (black beauty) - Walt Whitman (leaves of grass) - Edgar Allan Poe - Alexander Dumas (Count of Monte Cristo, musketeers) - Tocqueville (democracy in America)
on “Reflections as the Internet Archive turns 25” ↗This reminds me of the year I really got into reading (5th - 6th grade), and I remember reading: Alice in Wonderland, Little Women, Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar, Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, Julie of the Wolves, the Babysitter's Club, The Giver, Holes, and Captain Underpants. I honestly could go on and on. These are all wildly different books and I loved them all! At that…
on “The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading” ↗That's a very sweet idea. I think along with the musings of his growing up connect it with your life and your stories. Have you read 'Black Beauty'? I would want my son/daughter to read something similar while he/she is growing up. To make it a personal thing, it could be stories from my life itself.
on “My new year's resolution is to email my 15 months old son daily” ↗Without casting aspersions on the fine authorship of The Life of a Bear: * Black Beauty is a phenomenally well-written book, with fair comparisons to Bronte, Hardy and Dickens; and is certainly not viewed as a "children's book" * written about horses at a time when horses were the world's…
on “A Penny for Your Books (2015)” ↗…us having much trouble. I was hooked, and I read the whole series by third grade. I had trouble finding a couple of them, which held me up. I got into many other books those years. My Friend Flicka, Black Beauty. The Hobbit. White Fang, Hatchet. The Forest Runners. Where the Red Fern Grows. Still some of my favorites on that list. They really shaped my life, actually.
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗Not saying your main point is wrong, but Black Beauty wasn't written to appeal to young girls. It is an urgent call to treat horses better, and has been called "the most influential anticruelty novel of all time." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Beauty
on “Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls” ↗…"classics" can be considered middle grade (warning: some of these reflect racist and colonialist 19th and early 20thC patterns of thought): Robinson Crusoe; Peter Pan; the Jungle Book; Alice in Wonderland; Black Beauty (not racist, it's about a horse); Dr. Doolittle; Just So Stories - The Harry Potter series starts off at an advanced middle grade reading level and gradually increases to a young adult reading level…
on “Ask HN: How get started with reading books?” ↗…and gently extracting it before she removed one of the pictures, I became slightly fascinated with it. It appears to be a perfectly cromulent children's chapter book, of similar vintage and theme to _Black Beauty_. Its author was anonymous; in the edition I have, he is simply referred to as "by the author of 'The Life of an Elephant'", the author of which was referred to as "by the author of 'The Life of a Bear'."…
on “A Penny for Your Books (2015)” ↗…"classics" can be considered middle grade (warning: some of these reflect racist and colonialist 19th and early 20thC patterns of thought): Robinson Crusoe; Peter Pan; the Jungle Book; Alice in Wonderland; Black Beauty (not racist, it's about a horse); Dr. Doolittle; Just So Stories > - The Harry Potter series starts off at an advanced middle grade reading level and gradually increases to a young adult reading level…
on “Ask HN: How get started with reading books?” ↗