Other editions of book The Water Babies

This original classic illustrated children tale is reprinted for the new generation to love from the great Writer, Charles Kingsley. Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was an English priest of the Church of England, university professor, historian and novelist, particularly associated with the West Country and northeast Hampshire. Kingsley's interest in history is shown in several of his writings, including The Heroes (1856), a children's book about Greek mythology, and several historical novels, of which the best known are Hypatia (1853), Hereward the Wake (1865) and Westward Ho! (1855). He was sympathetic to the idea of evolution and was one of the first to praise Charles Darwin's book On the Origin of Species. He had been sent an advance review copy and in his response of 18 November 1859 (four days before the book went on sale) stated that he had "long since, from watching the crossing of domesticated animals and plants, learn to disbelieve the dogma of the permanence of species." Darwin added an edited version of Kingsley's closing remarks to the next edition of his book, stating that "A celebrated author and divine has written to me that 'he has gradually learn to see that it is just as noble a conception of the Deity to believe that He created a few original forms capable of self-development into other and needful forms, as to believe that He required a fresh act of creation to supply the voids caused by the action of His laws'." When a heated dispute lasting three years developed over human evolution, Kingsley gently satirized the debate as the Great Hippocampus Question. His concern for social reform is illustrated in his great classic, The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby (1863) (which won a Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1963) a kind of fairytale about a boy chimney sweep, which retained its popularity well into the 20th century. Furthermore in The Water-Babies he developed in this literary form something of a purgatory, which runs counter to his "Anti-Roman" theology. The story also mentions the main protagonists in the scientific debate over human origins, rearranging his earlier satire as the "great hippopotamus test". Kingsley was influenced by Frederick Denison Maurice, and was close to many Victorian thinkers and writers, for example the great Scottish writer George MacDonald. As a novelist his chief power lay in his descriptive faculties. The descriptions of South American scenery in Westward Ho!, of the Egyptian desert in Hypatia, of the North Devon scenery in Two Years Ago, are brilliant; and the American scenery is even more vividly and more truthfully described when he had seen it only by the eye of his imagination than in his work At Last, which was written after he had visited the tropics. His sympathy with children taught him how to secure their interests. His version of the old Greek stories entitled The Heroes, and Water-babies and Madam How and Lady Why, in which he deals with popular natural history, take high rank among books for children. Kingsley also wrote poetry and political articles, as well as several volumes of sermons. His argument, in print, with John Henry Newman, accusing him of untruthfulness and deceit, prompted the latter to write his Apologia Pro Vita Sua. He also wrote a preface to the 1859 edition of Henry Brooke's book The Fool of Quality in which he defends their shared belief in universal salvation. Kingsley coined the term pteridomania in his 1855 book Glaucus, or the Wonders of the Shore.

Once upon a time there was a little chimney-sweep, and his name was Tom. That is a short name, and you have heard it before, so you will not have much trouble in remembering it. He lived in a great town in the North country, where there were plenty of chimneys to sweep, and plenty of money for Tom to earn and his master to spend. He could not read nor write, and did not care to do either; and he never washed himself, for there was no water up the court where he lived. He had never been taught to say his prayers. He never had heard of God, or of Christ, except in words which you never have heard, and which it would have been well if he had never heard. He cried half his time, and laughed the other half. He cried when he had to climb the dark flues, rubbing his poor knees and elbows raw; and when the soot got into his eyes, which it did every day in the week; and when his master beat him, which he did every day in the week; and when he had not enough to eat, which happened every day in the week likewise. And he laughed the other half of the day, when he was tossing halfpennies with the other boys, or playing leap-frog over the posts, or bowling stones at the horses' legs as they trotted by, which last was excellent fun, when there was a wall at hand behind which to hide. As for chimney-sweeping, and being hungry, and being beaten, he took all that for the way of the world, like the rain and snow and thunder, and stood manfully with his back to it till it was over, as his old donkey did to a hail-storm; and then shook his ears and was as jolly as ever; and thought of the fine times coming, when he would be a man, and a master sweep, and sit in the public-house with a quart of beer and a long pipe, and play cards for silver money, and wear velveteens and ankle-jacks, and keep a white bull-dog with one gray ear, and carry her puppies in his pocket, just like a man. And he would have apprentices, one, two, three, if he could. How he would bully them, and knock

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Bernard Cribbins reads Charles Kingsley's much-loved tale about a little chimney-sweep who is turned into a water baby. Tom the chimney-sweep has a hard life. He is beaten by his master, the cruel Mr Grimes, and forced to climb up dark flues where he bruises his knees and elbows and gets soot in his eyes. He is always hungry, for there is never enough to eat, and always dirty, as there is nowhere for him to wash. One day, he is so tired from sweeping flues that he comes down the wrong chimney and lands in the bedroom of a beautiful young girl, where he is mistaken for a thief and runs away. He falls asleep near a river - and when he wakes up, the fairies have transformed him into a water-baby. He loves his new life swimming in the stream and having adventures, but he has no one to play with. So he sets off on a journey to the sea, to find the other water babies.

This delightful text comprises the delightful children’s novel written by Charles Kingsley, accompanied by a wonderful selection of some of his most famous poems. The Water Babies is a timeless children’s classic, detailing the surprising story of Tom, a chimney sweep, who, after being chased out of the house of an upper-class girl named Ellie, falls into a river and transforms into a ‘water baby’- an insect that sheds its skin. Although mainly a fantastic story of Tom’s moral education, The Water Babies is underpinned by themes such as the treatment of the poor and Christian teachings, as well as containing satirical leanings in support of Darwin’s The Origins of Species. A deserving addition to any bookshelf and a wonderful story to be read to children, The Water Babies remains a favourite of discerning parents and sleepy children to this day. First published in its entirety in 1863, this scarce text is republished now with an introductory biography of the author. Charles Kingsley was a university professor, priest of the Church of England, novelist and historian.

Originally written as a children’s story, The Water-Babies follows the adventure of a young boy named Tom. Tom finds himself drowning and is then transformed into a water-baby. As Tom journeys through the river, he is challenged to prove that he is a moral creature. If he completes one final task, Tom can become human and his reward will be to become a great man of science. Does Tom complete the final task and become human or will he remain in the water forever? Charles Kingsley filled many roles in his lifetime. Kingsley started as a simple rector in a church, but later became the chaplain to Queen Victoria and private tutor for the Prince of Wales. Kingsley devoted his life to bring about social reform through his actions, committees, and his novels. Kingsley worked with many famous individuals to influence the world around him including Thomas Carlyle, Charles Dickens, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and his friend, Charles Darwin. His last years were spent serving as a canon for Westminster Abbey. Kingsley died in 1875 and is buried in St. Mary’s of Eversley.