Always be good, so people will love you. Always work hard and do your best. These were the words of Black Beautys mother to her son when the two horses lived with Farmer Grey. But when Black Beauty got older, this was sometimes very difficult for him. Not everybody was as kind as Farmer Grey.

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. 'We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words.' When his beloved owners are forced to sell him, Black Beauty leaves his life as a young, care-free colt behind him and embarks on a working life of misery. Cruelly treated by his new masters, Anna Sewell rails against animal mistreatment in this poignant tale of a horse whose spirit can not be broken.

‘Always be good, so people will love you. Always work hard and do your best’. These were the words of Black Beauty’s mother to her son when the two horses lived with Farmer Grey. But when Black Beauty got older, this was sometimes very difficult for him. Not everybody was as kind as Farmer Grey.

«This is a new edition of this popular «Young Reading» title re-issued with a hardback cover and the audio CD inserted into a wallet inside the back cover, making the book and CD easy to store together. «Black Beauty» is the classic story of the adventures of a beautiful horse. «The Young Reading» series is developed with experts at Roehampton University to help young readers grow in confidence and ability. The new packaging allows potential purchasers to view the inside of the book.»

The Oxford Bookworms Library provides superb reading and student / teacher support for the classroom, and is also highly recommended for schools running Extensive Reading Programmes, offering the right range of books that encourage students to read for pleasure. When Black Beauty is trained to carry a rider on his back, or to pull a carriage behind him, he finds it hard at first. But he is lucky — his first home is a good one, where his owners are kind people, who would never be cruel to a horse. But in the nineteenth century many people were cruel to their horses, whipping them and beating them, and using them like machines until they dropped dead. Black Beauty soon finds this out, and as he describes his life, he has many terrible stories to tell.

Black Beauty had a fine, soft black coat, one white foot and a silver star on his forehead. This tale tells of the horse's adventures and the disappointments and joys that surround him.