Audiobook · read by volunteers
Water-Babies
Charles Kingsley (1819–1875)
Read by Cori Samuel · 17 chapters · 7 h 05
About the book
Tom is a little chimney-sweep, ragged, overworked and utterly unloved, until one day a flight from a grand house leads him to a river and an astonishing transformation. He becomes a water-baby, and finds himself in a new world beneath the stream, full of salmon, otters, lobsters, strange fairies and creatures who lecture him on nature, kindness and the consequences of doing wrong. Charles Kingsley’s fairy tale is part adventure, part satire and part sermon, mixing keen observation of the natural world with sharp comment on the Victorian society that sent children up chimneys. It is odd, inventive and often very funny, with songs, jokes and long digressions that no modern editor would allow. Cori Samuel reads all seventeen sections of the recording, over seven hours of listening. A strange and memorable classic, best enjoyed with patience and a sense of humour.
Introduction
Charles Kingsley was born in 1819 and died in 1875. He was an English clergyman, a novelist, a poet and a social reformer, with a deep interest in natural history and in the condition of the working poor. He held a university post and was a well-known public figure in Victorian England.
The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby, was first published in its entirety in 1863, after it had appeared in instalments in a magazine. It tells the story of a young chimney-sweep who plunges into a river and begins a journey through streams and rivers to the sea. The book was written at a time when children were still employed to climb chimneys, a practice that Kingsley wished to see ended, and the story reflects that campaigning spirit.
The Water-Babies is not a simple tale. It contains running jokes aimed at scientists, clergymen and politicians of Kingsley’s time, and it mixes fantasy with religious moralising. Some of the author’s opinions are very dated now, and a few passages express views about nations and peoples that modern listeners will find uncomfortable. Many readers nonetheless value the book for its imaginative power, its celebration of the living world and its compassion for the exploited child.
This recording runs for about seven hours across seventeen sections: eight chapters, each divided into two parts, and a short closing moral. It is read by LibriVox volunteer Cori Samuel. If you enjoy the more eccentric corners of Victorian children’s fiction, this will repay your attention, especially if you listen with an ear for its humour.
Public domain
Charles Kingsley died in 1875: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text