Water Babies - Charles Kingsley

This is a beautifully written Victorian tale about a child chimney sweep. Charles Kingsley records for posterity, the terrible lives of these children. Most of us know the story of the Water Babies as a childrens story. It is only in reading it as an adult that I first became aware of what was exposed. This short novel has become a classic not just because of its story line. It is beautifully written and deserves to join the ranks of 'English Classics'. ...  Read the complete review

I have owned Water Babies for the best part of 40 years. I have it in small print and, even in my much younger days, I had no problem reading such books...I have always been an avid reader and owned a shelf of classics by the age of 8. However, I must have attempted more than 20 times to read Kingsley's tome but, somehow, I can't get beyond more than a few chapters. I have seen the part animated film and that was okay but I really find the book hard to read. Perhaps he intended it for children but I do not know of many children who have been able to understand it very well. I think it is only considered a children's book because it is ...  Read the complete review

I picked up an old copy of Charles Kingsley's classic 'The Water Babies' in a Save the Children Fund shop, quite appropriately. This is one of those books I should have read, I thought, and I opened it at a beautiful description of cool, clear water, so I bought it, for 10p. This is a Victorian book with a moral, but it defies classification. It is deservedly famous, really quite strange and wonderful. It made me think of showers and baths in quite a different way. It may have been about chimney sweeps and child labour over a century ago, but it is speaking out against cruelty for all time, and it is about development of character. We need some ...  Read the complete review