Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
this book is a classic of Victorian children's fiction. the characters are typified to a hitting-you-over-the-head-with-a-mallet degree (e.g. Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneto) but the story of the young hero, who escapes a cruel and uncaring world, literally shedding his skin (which is mistaken for his body and buried by his employer in a macabre twist) and being reborn as a waterbaby, is truly magical and delights as much now as it did when I was a child.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Water Babies is a wonderful, beautifully descriptive Victorian tale but; it's not Disney and concerns itself with issues that may longer be seen as suitable for young children today. Tom, the little chimney sweep, is regularly beaten, starved and forced to climb ancient flues where his eyes become full of stinging soot and his feet, knees and hands are rubbed raw. He's brutalised by his owner/employer and his idea of fun is flinging rocks at the legs of working horses and dreaming of the day he has his own group of tiny sweeps to bully and abuse. Tom's a small boy but he's already stealing lead from the church roof, drinking beer and is no stranger to the magistrate. Kingsley writes not with sympathy but with acceptance; this was the life for many poor children during his era and their lives were brutal. There's a strong Christian message throughout the Water Babies and it's packed with "morality and obedience". Rescue only happens for Tom when he runs from his master, becomes seriously ill and wanders alone into the river where he's taken by the spirits and becomes a Water Baby. If you haven't read Victorian literature before then you might find the langauge and pace difficult but try to stick with it. Water Babies is a classic, some of Kingsley's descriptive prose is just gorgeous and it's possibly one of my favourite stories of all time.
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I know the Water Babies is supposed to be a children's book but I thought I would revisit it after having an abridged version with pictures when I was a child. The average 21st century child would find this preachy and verbose in the extreme. Kinglsley bangs on about the existence of God for several pages at one point and this would drive the child of today screaming from the room. There are several other diatribes on various virtues too. It is interesting as an historical document and a window in to the attitudes of the Victorian age. I obtained it free of charge for my Kindle but I was beginning to think I had been ripped off.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Waterbabies
I had heard of this book many times but never read it. I decided to download it to my Kindle as it was free, but I love it! Read more
Published 26 days ago by independentwoman
It's ok
Thanks to Kindle, I am reading a lot of free 'classic literature' lately, which I probably never would have if I had to go out and pay £7 for it or borrow from a library. Read more
Published 2 months ago by sliced pig
Old English usage
I remember the Water Babies of old, but I must have read a children's version in trying to recapture an idyllic childhood!! Read more
Published 6 months ago by Malcolm
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Those that wish to be clean, clean they will be; and those that wish to be foul, foul they will be. Remember.
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The most wonderful and the strongest things in the world, you know, are just the things which no one can see.
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There must be fairies; for this is a fairy tale: and how can one have a fairy tale if there are no fairies?
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