The Naming of Black Beauty — Victoria Parker

Horse Stories The Naming of Black Beauty book is a beautifully illustrated introduction to classic literature for kids ages 5-8.
Charming illustrations bring each of the four enchanting stories of bravery and adventure to life. The tales, including an extract from Anna Sewell's Black Beauty and Andrew Lang's The War Horse of Alexander, have been simply retold to encourage young readers.
Stories found in Horse Stories The Naming of Black Beauty book:
# Old Gunpowder and the Ghost by Washington Irving
# Pegasus, the Winged Horse by James Baldwin
# The Naming of Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
# The War Horse of Alexander by Andrew Lang
An extract from The Naming of Black Beauty:
Just then a horse's head looked over from the stall beyond, the ears were laid back, and the eye looked rather ill-tempered. This was a tall chestnut mare, with a long handsome neck. She looked across to me and said, "So it is you who has turned me out of my box, it is a very strange thing for a colt like you to come and turn a lady out of her own home."
"I beg your pardon," I said, "I have turned no one out, the man who brought me put me here, and I had nothing to do with it, and as to my being a colt, I am turned four years old and am a grown-up horse. I never had words yet with horse or mare and it is my wish to live in peace."
"Well," she said, "we shall see."
I said no more.