The Water Babies

By Charles Kingsley

Book Overview

"The Water Babies" is a captivating Victorian fairy tale that follows the extraordinary journey of Tom, a young chimney sweep escaping a life of hardship and soot. After falling into a river, Tom undergoes a miraculous transformation into a tiny underwater creature known as a water-baby. In this magical aquatic realm, he encounters a variety of mystical beings and animals, embarking on a series of adventures that serve as a profound moral and spiritual education.

Written by Charles Kingsley, this classic work of children's literature blends whimsical fantasy with sharp social commentary. It addresses themes of redemption, self-improvement, and the Victorian fascination with natural history. Through Tom's encounters with figures like Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby and Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid, the narrative explores the importance of kindness, discipline, and personal growth. "The Water Babies" remains a landmark of the Golden Age of Children's Literature, celebrated for its imaginative scope and its enduring message about the transformative power of the human spirit and the wonders of the natural world.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you may see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1025375785
• ISBN13: 9781025375786
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Tradd Street Press
• Length: 292 Pages
• Weight: 0.91 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.2" x 0.6" x 6.1"

Customer Reviews

Water Babies' illustrations

The Water-Babies is a lovely story and has been reissued many times with different artists but I didn't know when I ordered this that this one didn't have much in the way of illustrations so I wasn't that pleased with it. If you're looking for the story with wonderful illustrations, this one isn't it.

A wonderful fairy tale

I enjoyed the story as a child and just recently finished reading it again and it still enchants me. I do suggest that the book be read to a child as a bed time story so it can enjoyed to its fullest over a period of time and when the child has a question the story teller can stop and discuss the child's questions and concerns.

The Water Babies

This book was a wonderful novel to read. It showed how little kids were treated durning this time period. Once the faries found Tom his life changed forever. The author explained how he started out as little boy and saying bad words to how he changed and in to a understanding boy. The book is a wonderful read because it shows what happens to others who don't know what it's like. Not all of this is true because it is a fairy tale. The author's one quote that stayed with me the most is "You're not supposed to belive all of this because it's a fairy tale even if you do believe. This is a powerful story and should be read to little children. It will show them that being bad is not the way to go. If kids learn tpo be nice when they are young then it can stop hatred and people being mean in future years.

British Fairy Tale: Ahead Of Its Time

The Water Babies is an excellent example of British Literature that should be promoted just as much as the works of Lewis Caroll or Dickens. Charles Kingsley's work was banned for quite a while. There is no question that this cleverly written fairy tale has a lot of hidden information to explore. Makes one wonder if one can still be an Anglican minister and promote evolution? Perhaps, one can. Mr. Kingsley has other wonderful works to explore and in addition, there is his niece, Mary Kingsley who wrote on Africa.

It will finally be reprinted!

I read Kingsley's The Water Babies in 1976 when I received a very old copy of it as a gift. I have always loved babies and this book delighted me. It is both sad and wonderful. Read it as soon as it is released -- you won't be wasting time.