“Where we saw people who loved their neighbors, and were kind to man and beast, we might know that was God’s mark.” —Anna Sewell, Black Beauty

Anna Sewell’s 1877 classic, Black Beauty, is considered to be one of the foremost works in animal welfare literature and a leading work in the children’s pony book genre. Narrated by the horse himself, the book follows his trials and tribulations as he passes from one owner to another and experiences the full spectrum of human treatment—from the knowledgeable and kind to the ignorant and cruel.