Animals · Drama
Black Beauty
A horse tells the story of his life, from a happy meadow to the busy streets of London.
Five levels, about 80 languages
- A2ElementaryShort sentences and everyday words.
- B1IntermediateYou follow clear stories about familiar things.
- B2Upper intermediateLonger sentences, richer vocabulary.
- C1AdvancedClose to the original, lightly condensed.
- C2ProficientThe complete novel.
One purchase is one book, in one language, at one level: $4.99. Another level of a book you own is $1.99. Editions nobody has asked for yet are written on request: chapter 1 in a few minutes, the rest while you read. How the levels work.
About the book
The autobiography of a horse
Black Beauty begins his life in a pleasant meadow with a pond and shady trees, where his mother teaches him to be gentle and to work well. He grows into a handsome black horse with one white foot and a white star on his forehead, and is sold to a kind family at Birtwick Park, where he meets the proud mare Ginger and the merry pony Merrylegs. Over the years he passes through many hands, kind and cruel, in the country and on the streets of London. Anna Sewell wrote the book, her only novel, to plead for kinder treatment of horses, and published it in 1877, a few months before she died.
Why it works for learners
Beauty tells his story in the first person, in short chapters of plain, honest language. Each chapter is a small episode with a clear lesson: a storm, a fire, a night ride for the doctor, a new master. The vocabulary is practical and repeats constantly: horse, stable, carriage, road, rider, whip, rein, groom, cab. Because the narrator is a horse, he describes people’s actions very simply and judges them by their kindness, which makes motives easy to follow.
Which level to start at
A2 is ideal. The story is gentle, and the episodes are short. B1 keeps more of Sewell’s arguments against cruelty, from the tight bearing rein to overwork. At C1 and C2 the Victorian English is still clear and direct. Save the horse and carriage words you meet to your Words list; they come back again and again.
Read next
- The Call of the Wild, a dog’s hard life in the far north
- White Fang, another animal shaped by its masters
- Heidi, another gentle classic for a first novel