Other editions of book The Water-Babies Illustrated

Charles Kingsley was an English writer and priest. Kingsley’s works for children, a fairy-tale The Water-Babies (1863) in particular, are considered to be the first works in the children’s fantasy genre. On the one side, the novel is a didactic fairy-tale typical of the Victorian era, and on the other side, it is part satire in support of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species. The main character of the book is Tom, a young chimney sweep who, after being chased out of the house and encountering an upper-class girl named Ellie, drowns in a river and transforms into a "water-baby". In the underwater world, Tom has a lot of adventures that help him come through a long way of moral development.

The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby is a children's novel by the Reverend Charles Kingsley. Written in 1862-1863 as a serial for Macmillan's Magazine, it was first published in its entirety in 1863. The book was extremely popular during its day, and was a mainstay of children's literature through the 1920s.The protagonist is Tom, a young chimney sweep, who falls into a river after encountering an upper-class girl named Ellie and being chased out of her house. There he dies and is transformed into a "water baby", as he is told by a caddis fly — an insect that sheds its skin — and begins his moral education. The story is thematically concerned with Christian redemption, though Kingsley also uses the book to argue that England treats its poor badly, and to question child labour, among other themes.

A beautifully packaged 150th-anniversary gift edition of a classic favoriteWhen Tom, a young chimney sweep, falls into a river and drowns, he is transformed from a 12-year-old boy who has known nothing but brutality and poverty into a "water-baby." In an underwater world surrounded by fairies, insects, and water nymphs, he soon discovers a new life of adventure and excitement.

A classic since its first publication in 1863, The Water-Babies is the story of a little chimney sweep named Tom and his magical adventures beneath the waves. The ill-treated Tom flees his dangerous toil and his cruel master, Grimes. When he jumps into a cool stream to clean the soot off himself, he becomes a water baby, cleaner and happier than he has ever been, in a hidden fairy world. There, Tom meets haughty dragonflies, makes friends with a slow-witted lobster, and dodges hungry otters. Eventually, he meets the other water-babies and their clever rulers, Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid and Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby. After a long and arduous quest to the Other-end-of-Nowhere, young Tom achieves his heart's desire.

This anthology is a thorough introduction to classic literature for those who have not yet experienced these literary masterworks. For those who have known and loved these works in the past, this is an invitation to reunite with old friends in a fresh new format. From Shakespeare’s finesse to Oscar Wilde’s wit, this unique collection brings together works as diverse and influential as The Pilgrim’s Progress and Othello. As an anthology that invites readers to immerse themselves in the masterpieces of the literary giants, it is must-have addition to any library.

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The Water Babies: Illustrated By Charles Kingsley. On the surface, Charles Kingsley's 'The Water Babies' appears to be a traditional fairy tale complete with fairies, sea-beasts and talking animals. The villains are the neglectful masters, violent schoolteachers and ignorant parents, who create a darkening world of terror from which, the hero Tom must escape by turning into a water baby. However, upon entering a new world of underwater mystery, Tom must re-visit aspects of the human world in new magical forms, in order to correct his own weaknesses and become truly 'clean'. Kingsley's novel is a heavily symbolic and didactic text that conveys horror to the Victorian evils represented through surprising methods of fairytale fiction.