Black Beauty is the only novel Anna Sewell ever wrote and the first major animal story in children’s literature. Sewell’s story raises questions about animal welfare and asks people to be kind and sympathetic to their horses and animals in general.
The well-bred Black Beauty is an ideal horse—obedient, willing, intelligent, and courageous. Although brought up by kind masters, he faces hardships under his successive cruel owners. Eventually, when he is no longer fit to be a cab-horse he is sold to a kind master which is his final home. This classic has gone a long way in ensuring that horses meet better treatment.