|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
|
Product Description
Review
"A new and unabridged edition of The Water-Babies is an unlooked-for pleasure. Everyone who has an interest in the exuberant, eclectic, ecological, and erotic aspects of Victorian literature should know this book. When combined with the definitive illustrations by Linley Sambourne and a wealth of explanatory notes, appendices, and other critical tools, this edition becomes indispensable. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Richard Kelly and to Broadview Press for editing and re-issuing this delightful and important work of Victorian children's literature." (Naomi Wood )
"This is a long overdue, thoroughly detailed, and informative edition of Kingsley's classic Victorian children's tale. Though The Water-Babies has had great popular success since first publication, especially in the UK, it has frequently been read in abbreviated versions with many of Kingsley's often lengthy asides on politics, religion, education, and other pressing topics of the day omitted. This Broadview edition, following closely the first book text of 1863, includes all of Kingsley's fascinating diversions. The work is greatly enhanced by Professor Kelly's many scholarly appendices and numerous instructive annotations on the text. The result is an excellent edition that renders this intriguing classic much more amenable to the modern reader." (Brendan A. Rapple ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
"This is a long overdue, thoroughly detailed, and informative edition of Kingsley's classic Victorian children's tale. Though The Water-Babies has had great popular success since first publication, especially in the UK, it has frequently been read in abbreviated versions with many of Kingsley's often lengthy asides on politics, religion, education, and other pressing topics of the day omitted. This Broadview edition, following closely the first book text of 1863, includes all of Kingsley's fascinating diversions. The work is greatly enhanced by Professor Kelly's many scholarly appendices and numerous instructive annotations on the text. The result is an excellent edition that renders this intriguing classic much more amenable to the modern reader." (Brendan A. Rapple ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Book Description
When Tom, an ill-treated little chimney-sweep, jumps into a clear, cool stream to clean himself something magical happens; he is turned into a tiny water baby by the fairies. He enters a strange, magical underwater world, and travels beyond the world's end to the other end-of-nowhere, getting into all sorts of scrapes and encountering creatures beautiful and frightening along the way. He also learns many important lessons - it is a voyage of discovery that Tom will never forget.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
Once upon a time there was a little chimney-sweep, and his name was Tom. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Once upon a time there was a little chimney-sweep, and his name was Tom. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Do NOT buy this abridged version!,
By Paul B. "Critic" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Puffin Classics Water Babies (Paperback)
Kingsley's novel is brilliant--it's a fantastic and difficult read for both children and adults. 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--this is, of course, a very American thing to do, and it's this sort of thing that led to Kingsley's satire in the first place. I would suggest that publishers stop mutilating books and start reading them. I certainly hope people will stop buying the abridged version.I note, by the way, that the anti-Irish sections are left untouched. Here are some passages--page numbers are to the excellent Oxford World's Classics version, ed. Brian Alderson (1995): "But he [Cousin Cramchild] was raised in a country where little boys are not expected to be respectful, because all of them are as good as the President." (85) "Being quite comfortable is a very good thing; but it does not make people good. Indeed, it sometimes makes them naughty, as it has made the people in America . . ." (115) " But they were true republicans, those hoodies, who do every one just what he likes, and make other people do so too; so that, for any freedom of speech, thought, or action, which is allowed among them, they might as well be American citizens of the new school." (141) "So she packs them [the sperm whales] away in a great pond by themselves at the South Pole, two hundred and sixty-three miles south-east of Mount Erebus, the great volcano in the ice; and there they butt each other with their ugly noses, day and night from year's end to year's end. And if they think that sport--why, so do their American cousins." (147) There are others.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic mid-Victorian fairy tale,
By catjudd@umiami.ir.miami.edu (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews
This review is from: THE WATER BABIES (Hardcover)
[A warning--there is no unabridged version of "Water Babies" now in print. The Puffin notes that it is abridged, but the Wonder Book with the beautiful Wilcox-Smith illustrations does not state that it is abridged, but it is. Check university libraries for 1898 or so versions illustrated by "Linley Sambourne."] "The Water Babies" first published in 1863 is a classic mid-Victorian fairy tale that also reveals some of the preoccupations and anxieties of Victorian culture including sanitary health reform (hence the emphasis on cleanliness); Christian socialism (that is social reform based on Christian teachings); child labor and child abuse; and primary education. The dark side of Victorian culture is also revealed in this tale--especially in the original unabridged versions. Here we see a philosophy of social Darwinism that leads easily to notions of white supremacy as well as much anti-Irish sentiment--this at a time when Ireland had still not recovered from the horrific "Great Famine" of 1845-1852. There is also a sub-text of anxiety about adolescent male sexuality--of young men needing to maintain sexualy purity before marriage--again, the emphasis on Tom purifying and cleansing himself. Although written for children, it is a rather difficult text whose language does not invite the young reader in in the way that the Oz books or the Alice books do. I think its real use is as a document of mid-Victorian culture and is best read in the context of other "social problem" or "condition-of-England" novels such as Kingsley's "Alton Locke" or Dickens's "Hard Times."
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Water Babies + 1 parent + 1 child = a permanent memory,
This review is from: The Water-Babies; A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby (Hardcover)
The Water Babies is a timeless fairy tale that will enthrall parent and child alike. This story has nurtured our family for four generations. I have bought more copies on-line and found that the 1923 edition has the best illustrations. This is not a widely known novel but for those who have read it, it is a classic.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
