Black Beauty: The Graphic Novel - Softcover

Anna Sewell

Softcover

ISBN 10: 014240408X ISBN 13: 9780142404089

Publisher: Puffin Books, 2005

Synopsis

The Graphic Novelization of a Classic Tale!

A handsome and sweet-tempered horse, Black Beauty is strong and spirited. His mother warns him that there are bad, cruel men in the world, but Black Beauty sees none of it in his fine, happy home. Until the day when he is sold, when his life changes immeasurably and he finally sees the truth in his mother's words. As he moves from master to master, Beauty's adventures will captivate readers, and June Brigman's wonderful illustrations will capture their imaginations.

About this title

About the Author

Anna Sewell was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, on March 30, 1820. Brought up in a strict Quaker family, Anna developed a strong interest in horses as a young girl. But a crippling bone disease and a fall in 1834 left her an invalid for most of her life. By her mid-thirties she was severely lame and could only get around in a pony cart, and characteristically she would never use a whip on the animal. In 1871, she was told she had eighteen months to live, and by the end of that year, she had begun her book, Black Beauty, hoping it might make people a little kinder to their faithful horses. Although she was seriously ill, she lived long enough to finish her book and see it published in 1877. On April 25, 1878, she died at her home in Old Catton near Norwich, England. Black Beauty, an enormous success from its first appearance, was soon adopted by the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and used to improve the conditions of horses everywhere.

Reviews

Grade 4-6–This adaptation of the 19th-century classic is faithful to the original story, in which Black Beauty recounts his experiences with both kind and cruel owners. The novel's episodic structure translates easily to graphic format, but the frequent moral lessons and antiquated language may make some readers squirm. The artwork is detailed and realistic but lacks a distinctive style; the layout is similarly functional. Black Beauty's success even in libraries with a popular graphic-novel collection is not assured, since it is likely to become lost among the trendier manga titles. Purchase where the original novel circulates, or where the same can be said for graphic-novel adaptations of the classics.–Lisa Goldstein, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

This graphic novel adapts the classic children's story of a horse whose gentle nature triumphs over abuse and misfortune. Anna Sewell's original remains beloved to preteen girls in particular, not just for the adventures Black Beauty goes through, but also for Sewell's lyrical descriptions of a past era. Husband-and-wife team Brigman and Richardson do a wonderful job illustrating that period, with b&w drawings that pop off the page and give readers an excellent sense of place as well as time. Unfortunately hamstrung by having to shorten a story that spans many years, they have had to cut all of Sewell's descriptions and most of her transitions, leaving short, choppy chapters that represent information rather than tell a story. Sewell originally wrote the story to expose mistreatment of animals in her society, and the cuts leave the adaptation sounding a bit preachy and repetitive. The spirit of the author's brave horse still comes through, as Black Beauty describes his different masters and the other horses he meets in his life. This should be a hit with horse lovers still too young for the original.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gr. 4-6. Sewell's classic Victorian tale is retold in this graphic-novel version, which preserves the syntax and vocabulary of the original text. With Black Beauty's various experiences--making and losing horse and human friends, serving as a carriage horse, being rescued from a stable fire, and more--reduced to chapters of two to three illustrated pages, there's scarcely time for the reader to absorb one set of difficulties before the next arises, which seems a suitably postmodern way to view Victorian plotting. The scenes and shadowing fit the mid-nineteenth-century English setting, and the various horses are lively and easy to distinguish as they bound, strain, and browse their way through assorted plot twists. As in other books in the Puffin Graphics series, a lengthy afterword tells about the story's translation into graphic format, accompanied by samples of the art as it was being developed. Even with that nod to the form, however, this will probably find its most appreciative audience among horse lovers rather than graphic-novel enthusiasts. Francisca Goldsmith
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 014240408X
• ISBN 13: 9780142404089
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176