Black Beauty

I bought this for my 87 year old mum who has recently had a stroke and didn't even want to read the newspaper any more. I asked her what her favourite story was when she was a girl and she said 'Black Beauty'. Not very hopeful, I ordered her this copy and am absolutely delighted that she has nearly finished it. It has bought lovely memories back to her. It is an excellent size for her to hold and the print is just perfect. I will be ordering her more books, especially childrens classics as these are easy for her to read. Thank you publishers, a really great book.

I found the purchase of this book very tedious. I looked in all the bookshops and all were equally unhelpful. There are so many versions of this book, you really don't know what you're getting.So I bought blindly. I bought the Wordsworth Classic version, which is a cheap and cheerful version.It is complete and unabridged so perhaps not great for children if you don't want them to read a somewhat graphic description of Gingers death.

i read this as a child, but didn't really appreciate it much. And usually i'm not one for the classics, since i tend to find them rather overrated. However, when i reread Black Beauty, i was so impressed. Sewell brilliantly tells the story from the point of view of Black Beauty himself, and his life in various stages, and all the things he learns about humans and other horses. He goes from loving, gentle owners, to some who mistreat him near to the point of death. The author does an amazing job of conveying their distaste with those who mistreat animals, without being too preachy.What i find so sad is that so many of the issues raised in this book are things that are still issues today, animal cruelty, bad use of animals for fashion, overworking etc. It's sad that in the many years since this was written, things may have changed, but not improved.definitely worth a read for adults, as it really hammers home some heartbreaking points, but is still a beautiful story.

I bought this particular publication for my 8 year old daughter as we are reading through some classics together. Whilst the story is as heart rending and wonderful as it always has been I was disappointed in the way the book is formatted and presented.Inside the book looks like someone has cut and pasted from another document and not bothered to reformat to fit the page size. There are chapter headings at the bottom of a page with no text underneath and other sloppy presentation points that I wouldn't allow to remain in my children's homework let alone a book I was selling to the public. I can understand why some people would think this was quibbling but it just comes across as if the publisher took no care over their work, not something I want my children to associate with such classic literature as this.

This wonderfully illustrated version of the classic horse story is well worth buying for its art work alone. The illustrator has clearly done his research well as the painting of Pulteney Street, in Bath was instantly recognisable by a native of the town. The line drawings as well as the full colour illustrations capture wel;l the emotions of the text. If buying this as a "special" present, I can highly recommend it.