Young Reading: Series Two. A captivating retelling of Anna Sewell’s classic novel. 64 pages in
length this level is for children whose confidence in reading is
developing well. Anything up to 2500 words, these stories use varied
sentence lengths, more complex sentence structure and more challenging
vocabulary. Mostly broken up by chapters, subjects include classic
tales, myths and legends, mystery stories and non-fiction.
Black Beauty (retold by Mary Sebag-Montefiore) Synopsis
A poignant and moving retelling of Anna Sewell's classic novel, which follows the story of Black Beauty - the brave and noble horse that overcomes danger and cruelty to eventually find a loving home. It is illustrated by Alan Marks. Young readers will like this edition. This series is designed to encourage independent reading.
Anna Sewell was born on March 30th 1820, in Norfolk in England and was crippled while still very young. As such, she spent much time on horse-drawn carriages that allowed her some freedom of movement, and she developed as a result a great concern for the proper treatment of animals. Sewell's mother was a successful writer for children and Sewell spent time editing the texts and becoming acquainted with writing.
Sewell wrote only one book: the famous and enduringly popular Black Beauty (1877). She lived as an invalid for most of her existence, and Black Beauty - the tale of a mistreated horse with a happy ending - was written entirely in the last decade of her life when she was confined to her house. The story came from the horse's mouth, literally, as the horse spoke of extremes of joy and suffering. It was perhaps this humanising of the beast that made it such as success both as a book and as a catalyst for change in people's attitudes towards animals.
