- ISBN13: 9780060567040
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Beautiful Jim Key -- the one-time ugly duckling of a scrub colt who became one of the most beloved heroes of the turn of the century -- was adored not for his beauty and speed but rather for his remarkable abilities to read, write, spell, do mathematics, even debate politics. Trained with patience and kindness by one of the most renowned horse whisperers of his day -- former slave, Civil War veteran, and self-taught veterinarian Dr. William Key -- Jim performed in e... More >>
Beautiful Jim Key: The Lost History of the World's Smartest Horse
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I hate it when an author takes a perfectly good [true] story and ruins it with a lousy writing style filled with too much preaching and garbage that detracts from the story.
The parts about the horse himself and his intelligent abilities were great.
The rest of the book is not worth reading. I just skimmed over those parts.
It was an easy book to put down except when I was reading about the horse himself.
This story would be great had a different author done the writing.
This author, however, was a terrible choice for such a magnificent story.
Rating: 2 / 5
Beautiful Jim Key was a smart, smart horse, there is no doubt about it.
So was Clever Hans who was famous years later.
Hans was shown to be not a fraud or a con but a very clever horse who knew how to trick people into thinking he could do arithmetic and spell etc.
No one did that with Jim but it took a long time to figure out what was going on with Hans and I’m certain that if they had tried it with Jim they would have found the same thing.
This is a good account of things and it makes a nice story but in the end it’s just sloppy journalism.
Rating: 2 / 5
Beautiful Jim Key is a heart-warming story of a very smart, unusual horse which is impossible not to love. This book is for anyone who loves horses or animals in general. The story is well written and entertaining. An easy read with lots of good information about a little known phenomenon.
Rating: 5 / 5
Beautifully written. A tribute to all animals. A strong reminder not to take our beloved animals for granted and to treat them with love, patience, kindness and understanding everyday. Very interesting history intertwined in the story.
Rating: 5 / 5
Beautiful Jim Key was the smartest horse you’ve never heard of. The author’s extensive research uses first-hand accounts, including newspaper accounts, to trace the horse’s story–his mother’s rescue, his time spent inside his owner’s house, his public performances. Jim’s owner spent years teaching the horse to spell and read. This was the horse that helped launch the A.S.P.C.A. and helped people realize that animals have feelings and intelligence too.
A film of this story is supposedly in the works. But until then, read the book!
Rating: 5 / 5