
The Water-Babies
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Narrated by:
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Simon Vance
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By:
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Charles Kingsley
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.
Public Domain (P)1998 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...




















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Simon Vance gives his usual accurate, clear, and appealing reading, and I really liked his cockney (?) Tom, though there are a couple places where he repeats lines, and one moment of static.
The Water-Babies is a strange book. I can't imagine today's children being able to enjoy much of it. It has difficult vocabulary, quotations from great writers, references to Greek mythology and famous scientists, paradoxical concepts about reality, truth, and imagination, repeated addresses to the male reader ("my little man"), and satires of Victorian education, fashion, science, poverty, and class. And the novel is intensely moral, at times didactically so, closer in spirit to the work of George MacDonald than to that of Lewis Carroll. Perhaps children would not respond to Kingsley's message that to become a good adult, we must learn to do what we do not like, as in helping a person who has harmed us, and to avoid doing what we like, or else we will be beasts. And I dislike his message that our souls make our bodies.
And yet a love for language and for the world and all its creatures shines through the novel, by turns humorously, beautifully, or movingly. Although he was an Anglican priest, Kingsley does not overtly push his Christianity and rather shares his enthusiasm for evolution (applied moralistically to shape how species and individuals change according to their souls and actions). And he wants parents and educators to respect children and wants children to treat everything with curiosity and kindness.
If you're interested in Victorian children's literature, you should listen to The Water-Babies. But be prepared to rewind a lot or, once you finish, to listen to it again or to read the free online text. It's unique and worth the effort.
Moral Evolution in a Strange Delightful Fairy Tale
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Old-Timey Childrens Story Brilliantly Narrated
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Wonderful classic for children and adults
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Classic fairy tale
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Not Lewis Carroll but Delightful
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It is as engaging for an adult as it is for a child and should be a must read. “But will you believe me?” 😏
The narrator, Simon Vance, nothing more I can state there that hasn’t been said of him by thousands of other posters. He is amazing, well read and well spoken. Seems to me when you hear him that he finds a little piece of him in every story he chooses to take on the reading of.
Have ‘read 100’s of books on audible and enjoyed 99.99% of them but haven’t till now felt compelled to write a review. I hope I convince least one person young or old to read or listen to Water Babies.
One Lesson for old and and one for the young
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One grand, sweet song." Charles Kingsley
Must Read for all Children (& their Adults)
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So sweet
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