i recently finished reading black beauty by anna sewell, an 1877 novel written from the perspective of a horse. a preachy, moralistic book, it was written with the intentions of getting readers to care about the welfare of horses, and to treat them with more kindness. 

while this is often described as a children’s classic, it wasn’t written with the intention of becoming one, and indeed there are things within the book that may be too morbid for young children. i attempted to read this as a child and gave up in the first few pages, and i’m glad i read it in full for the first time now, because i feel i can fully appreciate it. 

i wasn’t expecting to like this as much as i did, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and i wouldn’t mind rereading it in the future. there were so many quotes i loved in this—some of which i’ve included pictures of. while this classic is short and simplistic, it works. i like horses now which i suppose is what anna sewell was going for! 

“now, i say that with cruelty and oppression it is everybody’s business to interfere when they see it.”