The story is told narrated by Black Beauty which was a surprise to me, and it really made a difference on the feel of the book. Black Beauty tells about his life from when he was a colt through his experiences with several owners, and meeting many other horses. I believe the overall purpose of the book is to apply Christian principles to all that we do, how we interact with each other, and especially how we interact with animals, who cannot speak for themselves. Kindness, mercy, empathy, forgiveness, there are so many wonderful lessons in this book. Even though it was written in 1877, the language is very easy, and young children (10+ yrs) can easily enjoy this book. There are some sad scenes with horses being ill treated so that might be a little hard, but I think it will teach children and adults to become better people