Hammock Tracks Home School: Black Beauty Unit Study

We start each morning with reading time. The kids migrate to the living room in their pajamas, find a blanket and munch on a morning snack while I read. It is a great time and we are enjoying it more and more as the months of this tradition pass. Recently, we finished "Black Beauty" by Anna Sewell, and even though I had watched the movie when I was younger, I don't remember ever reading the book.

The kids were moved as they heard the story of Black Beauty growing up in Victorian England, and how his life changed from one of ease, hard work, almost death and then ease, once again.

As I read the story I was constantly questioning who Anna Sewell was. What made her so sensitive to the plight of the horse during this era? Was it her misfortune as a teen that resulted in injury, making it nearly impossible for her to walk? "Black Beauty" is all that she is famous for, but I suspect she was a very unique and special woman.

Here are a few links that I used to study this literature, the art of bit and spur making, the history of the horse, Victorian Britain and Anna Sewell.

Free Copy of Black Beauty