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The WaterBabies A Fairy Tale for a LandBaby Penguin Classics Charles Kingsley Richard D Beards Books

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The WaterBabies A Fairy Tale for a LandBaby Penguin Classics Charles Kingsley Richard D Beards Books

Ten year old Tom is a young chimney sweep who lives in a great town in the North country of England. He has never been taught to say his prayers or even heard of God and Christ except in cursing. He works for an abusive master named Mr. Grimes who drinks beer and smokes a pipe. One day, while cleaning chimneys in an upper-class house, he accidentally comes out in the room of a young girl named Ellie where a nurse accuses him of breaking in to steal. He runs away, falls into a river, and is transformed into a “water-baby,” as he is told by a caddisfly. There he begins his moral education under the major spiritual leaders of his new world such as the fairies Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby (a reference to the Golden Rule), Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid, and Mother Carey, as well as Ellie, who became a water-baby after he did.

In his final adventure, Tom must travel to the Other-end-of-Nowhere in an attempt to help Grimes, his old master, who is being punished for his misdeeds. Will Tom be successful? What will happen to him? Author Charles Kingsley was a minister, and even though he was an advocate of Christian Socialism and a supporter of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species, Water-Babies is a didactic moral fable that is thematically concerned with Christian redemption. Kingsley also includes satire about child labor and how England treats its poor. The children’s novel was written in 1862 and 1863 as a serial for Macmillan’s Magazine; it was first published in its entirety in 1863. In the style of Victorian-era novels, it expresses many of the common prejudices of that time period, with dismissive or insulting references to the poor, Americans, Jews, blacks, Catholics, and the Irish. The story was extremely popular in England, and was a mainstay of British children’s literature for many decades, but these views may have played a role in its gradual fall from popularity.

While the book was written for children, much of it will be best understood by adults. It abounds in references to faith (“The most wonderful and the strongest things in the world, you know, are just the things which no one can see”), Scripture quotations (“’We are fearfully and wonderfully made,’ said old David”), and the desire for heaven (“But we, I hope, shall go upward to a very different place”). One reader reviewer noted, “But do NOT buy the abridged version (Puffin). One thing that is taken out is Kingsley’s many sarcastic references to American democracy. The publishers have taken out the anti-American sentiment to sell more copies to Americans.” Evidently, my version is unabridged. Additionally, perhaps some of the other prejudicial items were removed to make it less offensive, and possibly some of the adult satire was omitted to make it more understandable for children. There is a lot of description with many side comments, so it does read rather slowly at times, but it is still interesting.


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The WaterBabies A Fairy Tale for a LandBaby Penguin Classics Charles Kingsley Richard D Beards Books Reviews

This book was a little bit strange for me. I had trouble getting into the fantasy but there are people who absolutely love this book. It started out just fine but there was just so much talk about the water and fantasy that I could only handle it in small doses. If you love fantasy, you will love this book.
I was given this book as a child and try as I would, I could not read it, so gave up. 60 years later I have just read it on my and loved it! And understood why I couldn't get on with it as a child. The book is very much a satire on all aspects of society of that time - social, political, legal - and this is quite lost on a child. I love his invented words and names, and appreciated the many references to real events and persons of both Kingsley's present day and past eras.

Must clarify on the question about violence violence at a child's fantasy level, much in the way that children love cartoons despite the beatings, clobberings, flattenings etc.
This seems to be a scan of a slightly abridged American edition a couple of decades later than the original, from which a number of the most beautiful passages have been left out, presumably on the grounds that they might confuse or bore the American reader.
The Water Babies by Charles Kingley, Illustrated by Warwick Goble. Dover Edition.

One of my favorites from my childhood. A lovely fable and fairy tale! Stunningly gorgeous illustrations! A hardworking boy, transformation into a water baby, good fairies, an entire undersea world - pure magic! A treat of a story that makes one WANT to be honest, trustworthy, courageous, determined, considerate, kind, caring, and good! The beauty and benefits of this story far outweigh its few flaws from a dated past.

Somewhat passé today in our politically correct society due to the complacent English prejudices (hopefully only from the era in which it was written) mentioned in it. Racial stereotyping was completely acceptable in children's books (and society as a whole) not just in England but everywhere and not that long ago.

The one bit that stuck with me was something to the effect ... If you ask Paddy (as a symbol for the entire Irish population!) a question and he lies in answer, don't get angry at him as he doesn't know any better. Egads. Hard to believe but sadly too believable. I'm Irish therefore I lie?? OMG!! But in fairness, in the beginning chapters of the book, the author did have the fairy godmother type take the form of a wholly admirable and beautiful Irish peasant woman to look out for and talk to our hero, Tom -)

As an Irish-American who has never experienced any anti-Irish prejudice, I thoroughly enjoyed this book both as a child and still love it as an adult. So don't let my prejudice comment stop you from reading the book. It's old, from another era, and the author had a well-meaning, kindly but unthinking and sometimes ridiculous victorian paternalistic attitude towards the Irish that I found at worst irksome but easily ignored. It snuck in here and there but was not the focus of the book. And he certainly was not rabidly anti-Irish as some from his era were. Actually, I got the feeling that the author was probably a bit forward thinking and more kindly inclined to the Irish for his time though still a product of his own upbringing and times.

I know that "politically correct" is often made fun of nowadays. I'm all for it in modern lit simply because - to our children- kindness, fairness, and equality will simply be taken for granted one day. And that would be a wonderful thing! But at the same time I would hate for any lit from the past to be white-washed or cleaned up simply to meet today's standards. It is part of a historical record. One day, racial stereotyping will simply be a ridiculous primitive practice from the past. Both kids and adults will enjoy wondering innocently how people could ever have been so silly! Re-writing classics or the past serves no one.

Overall, this is a sweet, wholesome, moral and still very appealing book which I would be happy to gift to any child or adult! It still has much to offer the modern reader.
Ten year old Tom is a young chimney sweep who lives in a great town in the North country of England. He has never been taught to say his prayers or even heard of God and Christ except in cursing. He works for an abusive master named Mr. Grimes who drinks beer and smokes a pipe. One day, while cleaning chimneys in an upper-class house, he accidentally comes out in the room of a young girl named Ellie where a nurse accuses him of breaking in to steal. He runs away, falls into a river, and is transformed into a “water-baby,” as he is told by a caddisfly. There he begins his moral education under the major spiritual leaders of his new world such as the fairies Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby (a reference to the Golden Rule), Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid, and Mother Carey, as well as Ellie, who became a water-baby after he did.

In his final adventure, Tom must travel to the Other-end-of-Nowhere in an attempt to help Grimes, his old master, who is being punished for his misdeeds. Will Tom be successful? What will happen to him? Author Charles Kingsley was a minister, and even though he was an advocate of Christian Socialism and a supporter of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species, Water-Babies is a didactic moral fable that is thematically concerned with Christian redemption. Kingsley also includes satire about child labor and how England treats its poor. The children’s novel was written in 1862 and 1863 as a serial for Macmillan’s Magazine; it was first published in its entirety in 1863. In the style of Victorian-era novels, it expresses many of the common prejudices of that time period, with dismissive or insulting references to the poor, Americans, Jews, blacks, Catholics, and the Irish. The story was extremely popular in England, and was a mainstay of British children’s literature for many decades, but these views may have played a role in its gradual fall from popularity.

While the book was written for children, much of it will be best understood by adults. It abounds in references to faith (“The most wonderful and the strongest things in the world, you know, are just the things which no one can see”), Scripture quotations (“’We are fearfully and wonderfully made,’ said old David”), and the desire for heaven (“But we, I hope, shall go upward to a very different place”). One reader reviewer noted, “But do NOT buy the abridged version (Puffin). One thing that is taken out is Kingsley’s many sarcastic references to American democracy. The publishers have taken out the anti-American sentiment to sell more copies to Americans.” Evidently, my version is unabridged. Additionally, perhaps some of the other prejudicial items were removed to make it less offensive, and possibly some of the adult satire was omitted to make it more understandable for children. There is a lot of description with many side comments, so it does read rather slowly at times, but it is still interesting.