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Black Beauty Audiobook
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Written nearly a century and a half ago, this book was the first major animal story in children’s literature, although the author had intended it for adults.
Anna Sewell had been crippled at a young age but could still drive a horse-drawn carriage. She often drove her father to the station to go to work and later picked him up to bring him home. During those times, she saw there was often inhumane treatment of horses and was inspired to write about it in order, as she said, “To induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses.” She spent the last seven years of her life writing her only novel, Black Beauty, told in first-person narration by Black Beauty himself.
As we all know, horses can’t write or tell their life story. Therefore, as narrator, John Rayburn says he speaks as the horse, telling the story of the horse as you are invited to listen to the tale of a courageous animal.
And don’t miss Rayburn’s historic reenactment of four World Series Classics … 1945 Cubs-Tigers, 1946 Cardinals-Red Sox, and 1956 Yankees-Brooklyn Dodgers.
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About Anna Sewell
Anna Sewell (1820–1878) was born in England. A knee injury at fourteen left her disabled, but she rode and drove horses very well. She began learning about horses early in life, spending many hours driving her father to and from the station from which he commuted to work. Her dependence on horse-drawn transportation fostered her respect of horses. She wrote her one book, Black Beauty, in her fifties, and it was published in 1877 just five months before she died. Although it is now considered a children’s classic, she originally wrote it for those who worked with horses. She said “a special aim [was] to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses.” The book has had a tremendous impact in creating a new wave of humane thinking towards animals.
About John Rayburn
John Rayburn (1927–2024) was a veteran of sixty-two years in broadcasting. He served as a news and sports anchor and show host, and his television newscast achieved the largest share-of-audience figures of any major-market television newscast in the nation. He was a member of the Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame. His network credits include reports and/or appearances on The Today Show, Huntley-Brinkley News, Walter Cronkite News, NBC Monitor, NBC News on the Hour, and others. He recorded dozens of books for the National Library Service and narrated innumerable radio and television recordings.