Welcome to Litsy!

(1877) I understand this was one of the first books to use first-person perspective from an animal's viewpoint, and that choice was brilliant for Sewell's project of exposing cruelties toward animals. It won't be among my favorites -- too plotless and polemic and I'm probably just too old -- but I admire Sewell's aim and her effortless prose. I get why it's a classic.

The first place that I can well remember was a large pleasant meadow with a pond of clear water in it.

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

So glad I finally read this 😊

77/62

#MountTBR #ReadAway2024

"The first place that I can well remember was a large pleasant meadow with a pond of clear water in it."

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

When I read The Eighty-Dollar Champion, last month, there was mention of the how and why Black Beauty came to be written. I decided it was finally time to read this book I've had since I was about 8.

My troubles are all over, and I am at home; and often before I am quite awake, I fancy I am still in the orchard at Birtwick, standing with my old friends under the Apple trees.
#BlackBeauty #AnnaSewell #lastline #closingline #book #books #bookstack #bookstacks #bookshop #bookshops #bookshopping #booksale #bookstore #stack #stacks #bookshopper #bookdesign #Classics #Fiction #Childrens #Animals #YoungAdult #Horses #HistoricalFiction #Adventure 🩷🩷

One of my favourite childhood books. I‘ve reread it as an adult and can confirm it‘s still a favourite read!
#CoverLove #horse

#CoverLove #Horse Gifted to me yesterday, from a dear friend. This copy belonged to her mother.

Such a brave and handsome #horse for today‘s #coverlove

#SpringSkies @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
#AnimalPOV

#BlackBeauty #AnnaSewell #book #books #epicreads #bookend #bookends #bookending #bookendings #bookedit #bookedirs #bookeditor #bookeditors #read #bookrecommendation #bookrecommendations #recommendation #recommendations #bookreport #bookreports #bookreview #bookriot #booktattoo #booktree #bookthief #booktattoo #booktattoos #booktopia #bookyourself #Classics #Fiction #Childrens #Animals #YoungAdult #HistoricalFiction #Audiobook #Horses #Adventure 🩵

#HoldYrHorses. I 🖤 horse stories.

#IdiomInsight

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#BookBinge #InvolvesAnimal A classic I read so many times in my youth. I also remember my grandfather having a minor obsession with black horses and “difficult “ horses.

#DarkHorse 🐎🖤 #VolumesAndVocals 🎶🌞🌈🌼

#BookNerd 🤓📚💙

The first place that I can well remember was a large pleasant meadow with a pond of clear water in it. Some shady trees leaned over it, and rushes and water-lilies grew at the deep end.
#BlackBeauty #AnnaSewell #firstline #openingline #book #books #bookshelf #bookshelves #bookshelfie #bookshelfies #shelfie #shelfies #bookstack #bookstacks #stack #stacks #Classics #Fiction #Childrens #Animals #YoungAdult #Horses #HistoricalFiction #Adventure 💜💜💜

I finally made it through this miserable slog of a book. For all of the important messages it tries to convey to young readers, I‘m sure there are better books, stories, and documentaries that would engage with young people more about the humane treatment of animals. In this volume, Sewell is just too brutally redundant with her points and I didn‘t really need to read a book that was 95% about an animal being tortured.

5✨ Why did I not read this book sooner! I love a good horse book and this classic is amazing. I like that the horse is the narrator of the story and he goes through a lot of ups and downs that a horse in this era may go through. My copy is also gorgeous with gold edges, beautiful illustrations, and just all around amazing.

#OminousOctober Prompt: “Black” #Scarathon #TeamSlaughter @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Clwojick

First book finished for #trappedonanisland. Sad to report this was not a homerun for me. I never was one of those little girls that wanted a pony or was into horses, so maybe that's why. Also didn't much care for the narrator with this one. It sounded like an elderly lady, and she just didn't portray the character well.

#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

@aperfectmjk - here are the books that washed up on the shore with you!! These are all books I've enjoyed, although for entirely different reasons haha Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on at least one of them!!!

#TrappedonanIsland

#ILoveHorsesDay 🐎 #JulyJam 🪷🌱🌹

#BookNerd 🤓💙📚

1. I‘ve read a few.
2. Old school choice!
#two4tuesday

#OnThisDay in 1820 English author Anna Sewell was born. She only published one novel, intended for adult readers, but that one story engaged the minds of countless children. It's full title was "Black Beauty, his grooms and companions; the autobiography of a horse, 'Translated from the original equine by Anna Sewell.'" One of the ten top selling novels for children of all time, Sewell never got to see its success. #HistoryGetsLIT

My troubles are all over, and I am at home; and often before I am quite awake, I fancy I am still in the orchard at Birtwick, standing with my old friends under the apple trees.
#BlackBeauty #AnnaSewell #lastline #closingline #book #books #bookshelf #bookshelves #bookshelfie #bookshelfies #shelfie #shelfies #bookstack #bookstacks #stack #stacks #bookstore #bookshop #bookshopper #bookshopping #booksale #Classics #Fiction #Childrens #Animals 🧡🧡🧡

Jan 26 #BeginsWith Black I read this as a teen, many many years ago. My favorite classic ever @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#beginswith #black @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
Google reminded me of this awesome book!

This pretty little edition of Black Beauty was given to me as a gift. I loved The Black Stallion as a child but could never get through BB or National Velvet. I bailed a few times on this one too and finally switched to audio to finish it. Much easier to believe in a horse that spoke such proper English that way! Definitely little to uplift your spirit. Much of it was just a bummer. It‘s a classic but not for me. 3⭐️s

#currentlyreading with my daughter (10 yo)—isn‘t this a beautiful edition?

#ForTheLoveOfBookmarks #Advertising

Here are a few - I should probably skim through the rest of the prompts, so I don‘t use up all my bookmarks in one go!

Clockwise from bottom left - British Red Cross, The good Immigrant/Unbound, a British Library maps exhibition, Schloss Neuschwanstein, Wordery x2, a performance of Black Beauty at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh and something that I‘m fairly sure has come from Newfoundland Tourist board.

Thank you @TheSpineView and @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm for the tag! 😁 and thank you @Eggs for always having fun questions.

1. My events would probably be Baby Jessica falling down the well, and the murder of James Byrd, Jr. in Jasper, TX. Knowing that hate like that existed so close to my hometown opened my eyes to a lot of injustices I never noticed before.

2. Library 📚

3. The tagged book, Little Women, and Winnie the Pooh. 💚

I was amazed about all of the little life lessons mixed in among these pages. There was a lot to think about. Many people would say this is a cute children's book, but I think adults need to read it as well. It is a beautiful classic for everyone to cherish.

"If we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt."

My reading spot for today. A storm is supposed to roll through in an hour, but I am already starting to hear some thunder.
I am hoping to be able to finish the tagged book today.

Starting this gorgeous book while on vacation at my grandma's house. I must say, I am so jealous of how beautiful this book is.

I read this for a book club and wondered why I‘d never read it as a child. #horse #curiouscovers

Friday update! I enjoyed my iced coffee while watching Harry Potter, then I took a walk in the neighborhood, then I prevailed on my hubby to make me a grilled cheese sandwich for my dinner. 😎

#Curiouscovers #Horse
@Eggs & @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
Been a long time, but I remember loving it as a kid.🖤

#curiouscovers
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs
Day 4: Horse
You wouldn't believe how hard it was to find a horse in my books lol I have pegasus', lions & dragons. (You wouldn't believe how many) So I went online & got Black Beauty, a book I don't own but I read it in high school. 🖤🐴

In love with this book. I m reading this for the first time thanks to @TheBookHippie #childrenclassicread2021 must read for both kids and adults.

This was one of my favourite books when I was younger.
And reading it while I'm older, its still a brilliant book.
I love the writing style with the P.O.V coming from black beauty. You feel like you're watching his life unfold from the side lines. While reading I was transported to 19th century England, and while it's just a story, its horrible to know the horrors that some horses went through.
This book will always remain one of my favourites.

I'm so glad I read this for #ChildrensClassicRead2021. For some reason I long thought this was a cute but cheesy tale about a horse horsing about, but the book was much darker & more thoughtful than that. Sewell clearly wrote this as a stark reminder of animal abuse & the severe treatment of horses in almost all aspects of society: farming, transportation, sport. The perspective of the horse worked so well & Beauty's "voice" was just perfect.

Thanks to @TheBookHippie and our #ChildrensClassicRead2021, I finally read Black Beauty for the first time. Not at all what I expected! It‘s powerful & heart wrenching. My respect & love for these beautiful and misunderstood animals have grown even stronger. Now I want to read more about Sewell after learning about these 2 bios on her.🤔
@PurpleyPumpkin @batsy @GingerAntics @curiouserandcurioser @amber_ldsmom @ravenlee @IndoorDame @Butterfinger

This is such a sweet story. I quite enjoyed it. I read most of it, but finished the last bit on audio. The audiobook is so good, I want to go back and listen to the whole thing if I have enough time before it‘s due. I can see how this book made people start considering animal welfare. It‘s heartbreaking in the middle, but the happy ending, coming full circle, really made this story for me.

This month‘s pick for the #ChildrensClassicRead2021 was a winner! I did a combo read, both audio and print, and I really enjoyed it. This is a reread for me, and it won‘t be my last. I love the POV of this book, even though some parts were upsetting. But, the end was quite satisfying. 4/5⭐️

"It is because people think ONLY about their own business, and won't trouble themselves to stand up for the oppressed, nor being the wrong-doer to light."

Anna Sewell knew to stand up for mistreatment.

This book was as amazing now as it was when I was 10.

#ChildrensClassicChallenge @TheBookHippie

#AwesomeApril book 7 @Andrew65

It‘s not even close to Wednesday, but whatever....

1. I was born in Massachusetts.
2. I live in Vermont after having spent time in Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina, Arizona, and California.
3. A brother who is 10 years older and a sister who is 5 years older. Apparently I‘m the black sheep of the family.
4. Black Beauty. It was the only book for me. I loved it and reread it often.

#wondrouswednesday

I have to have this copy in my library.

#ChildrensClassicsChallenge @TheBookHippie

What right have they to torment and disfigure God's creatures?

I remember a neighbor would dock her kittens' tails and how it bothered me. I did get my Zoe from her, but I told her to leave the tail alone.

It's been 30 so years. I could have even used Black Beauty when I would fuss at her.

#ChildrensClassicsChallenge @TheBookHippie