(4) K-3 Retold by Ruth Brown. Illustrated by Ruth Brown. Brown's greatly abridged retelling of Sewell's tale maintains the horse's famous first-person narration and the major events of his life, but the deep emotional tug of the original book is lessened. The power of this edition comes through its pictures. Richly detailed illustrations showcase the lush country of Black Beauty's youth, dark stormy nights, and the cold reality of London.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(4) 4-6 Oxford Children's Classics series. These budget-priced unabridged volumes, compact and sturdily bound with glossy-finished covers, have pleasant but bland pink- (Garden) and purple- (Beauty) heavy cover illustrations and a uniform design. A short "about the author" is included in each. Review covers these Oxford Children's Classics titles: The Secret Garden and Black Beauty.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) 4-6 Charming Classics series. Each of these "deluxe editions" of classic novels are packaged with a gimmicky necklace (thus the "charm" in the series title). For collections, the value of these unabridged hardcovers is the inexpensive price.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Scott McKowen. The classic horse story is presented in an unabridged format. Each chapter begins with a small scratchboard drawing; unfortunately, the same handful of illustrations is recycled throughout, giving the volume a generic presentation. The book, which includes a ribbon bookmark, ends with a list of open-ended questions ("Would it have been as powerful a story if it was told from the human point of view?").

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) 4-6 Kingfisher Classics series. Illustrated by Ian Andrew. This classic tale of a horse's life in Victorian England is reprinted complete and unabridged on sturdy pages with generous type size. Andrew's black-and-white sketches add accents here and there, but lack sufficient detail to contribute much to the narrative. A note about the author concludes the book.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by William Geldart. The story of Black Beauty is presented here unabridged, supplemented by color drawings and heavily captioned archival reproductions. The drawings are bland, and the captions are occasionally irrelevant or intrusive, but the historical art helpfully shows the bearing rein and other tack and equipages referred to in the text.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: December, 1999