Anna Sewell old Lammas Quaker meeting house. Anna Sewell Anna Sewell (; 30 March 1820 – 25 April 1878) was an English novelist. She is well known as the author of the 1877 novel "Black Beauty," one of the top ten best selling novels for children ever created. Sewell was born on 30 March 1820 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, into a devoutly Quaker family. Her father was Isaac Phillip Sewell (1793–1879), and her mother, Mary Wright Sewell (1798–1884), was a successful author of children's books. She had one sibling, a younger brother named Philip. The children were largely educated at home by
Helen Sewell of the Little Dipper and Other Fairy Tales", written by Susanne Langer, and she continued to illustrate throughout her life, including some works for adults. Sewell was the first illustrator of the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1932 to 1943), replaced by Garth Williams in 1953 and subsequent editions. She died on February 24, 1957, in New York City. Helen Sewell Helen Sewell (June 27, 1896 – February 24, 1957) was an American illustrator and writer of children's books. She was a runner-up for the 1955 Caldecott Medal as illustrator of "The Thanksgiving Story" by Alice Dalgliesh and