The Water -Babies

Charles Kingsley author Brian Alderson editor Robert Douglas-Fairhurst editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Oxford University Press

Published:10th Jul '14

Should be back in stock very soon

The Water -Babies cover

'this is all a fairy tale...and, therefore, you are not to believe a word of it, even if it is true' The Water-Babies (1863) is one of the strangest and most powerful children's stories ever written. In describing the underwater adventures of Tom, a chimney-sweeper's boy who is transformed into a water-baby after he drowns, Charles Kingsley combined comic fantasy and moral fable to extraordinary effect. Tom's encounters with friendly fish, curious lobsters, and characters such as Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby are both an exciting fairy tale and a crash course in evolutionary theory. They also reflect the quirky imagination of one of the great Victorian eccentrics. Tom's adventures are constantly interrupted by Kingsley's sideswipes at contemporary issues such as child labour and the British education system, and they offer a rich satiric take on the great scientific debates of the day. This edition reprints the original complete version of the story, and includes a lively introduction, detailed explanatory notes, and an appendix that reprints Kingsley's first attempt to describe the mysterious creatures that live under the sea.

This new OUP edition has splendid notes, which should guide you through the abstruse references if you want them too. Theres also a learned introduction for those who like a bit of background information. * Harriet Devine, Shiny New Books *

ISBN: 9780199685455

Dimensions: 196mm x 129mm x 14mm

Weight: 208g

288 pages