Water Babies/Peter Pan

Truly only for children (or adults) who are already readers with inquiring minds and imaginative, curious natures. The era, great detail and background of the book put me in mind of tales from Dickens. It makes a time-traveler of the reader. If books already transport you, this one will take you to wonderfully imaginative places. If you want today's 'politically correct' or simple easy reading, don't bother with WaterBabies. But for a window on another time and place (and a lovely bit of magic), this books's priceless. I tend to rate children's book solely on their entertainment value and how well they capture and retain interest. This book may not be for every child or adult but if you like fairy tales, underwater adventure, and stories where striving and good eventually triumph (yes, a happy ending :-) This is just lovely. I bought a facsimile of the first edition when I was a kid and recently bought the edition with Jesse Wilcox Smith simply for her illustrations. Children would probably enjoy the abridged (and less dense) edition better than the original but I'm sure it all depends on the child. And there are many illustrated copies by noted artists that can be bought used.Kingsley's Water-Babies was a childhood favorite, I read it to my son when he was of an age, and look forward to reading it and discussing it with grandchildren. As a child I was a bit shocked over the blatant condescension towards the Irish probably because as an Irish-American I had never come across such attitudes before. It was an eye-opener as to the views of the era but certainly more as an occasional background aside - not enough to detract from the overall magic of the book.

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.

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.

Kingsley's novel is brilliant--it's a fantastic and difficult read for both children and adults. But do NOT buy the abridged version (Puffin). One thing that is taken out is Kingsley's many sarcastic references to American democracy. The publishers have taken out the anti-American sentiment to sell more copies to Americans--this is, of course, a very American thing to do, and it's this sort of thing that led to Kingsley's satire in the first place. I would suggest that publishers stop mutilating books and start reading them. I certainly hope people will stop buying the abridged version.I note, by the way, that the anti-Irish sections are left untouched.Here are some passages--page numbers are to the excellent Oxford World's Classics version, ed. Brian Alderson (1995):"But he [Cousin Cramchild] was raised in a country where little boys are not expected to be respectful, because all of them are as good as the President." (85)"Being quite comfortable is a very good thing; but it does not make people good. Indeed, it sometimes makes them naughty, as it has made the people in America . . ." (115)" But they were true republicans, those hoodies, who do every one just what he likes, and make other people do so too; so that, for any freedom of speech, thought, or action, which is allowed among them, they might as well be American citizens of the new school." (141)"So she packs them [the sperm whales] away in a great pond by themselves at the South Pole, two hundred and sixty-three miles south-east of Mount Erebus, the great volcano in the ice; and there they butt each other with their ugly noses, day and night from year's end to year's end. And if they think that sport--why, so do their American cousins." (147)There are others.

[A warning--there is no unabridged version of "Water Babies" now in print. The Puffin notes that it is abridged, but the Wonder Book with the beautiful Wilcox-Smith illustrations does not state that it is abridged, but it is. Check university libraries for 1898 or so versions illustrated by "Linley Sambourne."] "The Water Babies" first published in 1863 is a classic mid-Victorian fairy tale that also reveals some of the preoccupations and anxieties of Victorian culture including sanitary health reform (hence the emphasis on cleanliness); Christian socialism (that is social reform based on Christian teachings); child labor and child abuse; and primary education. The dark side of Victorian culture is also revealed in this tale--especially in the original unabridged versions. Here we see a philosophy of social Darwinism that leads easily to notions of white supremacy as well as much anti-Irish sentiment--this at a time when Ireland had still not recovered from the horrific "Great Famine" of 1845-1852. There is also a sub-text of anxiety about adolescent male sexuality--of young men needing to maintain sexualy purity before marriage--again, the emphasis on Tom purifying and cleansing himself. Although written for children, it is a rather difficult text whose language does not invite the young reader in in the way that the Oz books or the Alice books do. I think its real use is as a document of mid-Victorian culture and is best read in the context of other "social problem" or "condition-of-England" novels such as Kingsley's "Alton Locke" or Dickens's "Hard Times."