Black Beauty / The Call of the Wild

by Anna Sewell, E. Raymond Kinstler (Illustrator), Jack London

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Childrens

430 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Anna Sewell was an English novelist who wrote the 1877 novel Black Beauty, her only published work. It is considered one of the top ten best-selling novels for children, although the author intended it for adults. Sewell died only five months after the publication of Black Beauty, but long enough to see her only novel become a success.

Reviews

[Sarah Dunmire]

Black Beauty was really enjoyable! A good perspective on caring for horses and what it means about you as a human when you do or don’t take an animal’s safety, comfort, and happiness into consideration. Also makes you think about whether it’s right to use horses for work or not. Call of the Wild is intense and sad.

[Erin Reilly-Sanders]

Despite its reputation as a classic, I doubt that I would recommend Black Beauty any more. At first I was amazed, in a bad way, by the viewpoint. Written from the horse

[Envy]

I really liked both of these stories. I liked hearing from Black Beauty's perspective of his life and what he went through, though it was definitely really sad at times. I think that Call of the Wild was my favourite of the two, though, I really enjoyed hearing Buck's transformation (regression?) to his wild instincts buried deep down, while also struggling with his more domesticated side.

[Erin]

I only read The Call of the Wild. I wish there would have been more detail on what the Yukon territory was like during the Gold Rush, even though it wasn't the book's primary purpose. Quick read, unspectacular.

[P.S. Winn]

Wow, double fun,you have got to grab this one. The companions books are both great stories and if you are an animal lover, even better.

[Tasha]

Jan 2015. We only read Call of the Wild this time.