Water Babies by Charles Kingsley

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Water Babies by Charles Kingsley

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Part of World's Classics series

Summary

Written in 1863, this fantasy rapidly achieved the status of a children's classic. This paperback edition includes notes which explore fully Kingsley's original text, its variants and iconography. The many references which enrich the story are annotated.

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Water Babies by Charles Kingsley

The Water-Babies (1863) has claim to being the most peculiar book ever to achieve the status of a children's classic. The story follows Tom in his land-life as a climbing boy for a chimney sweep and in his after-life as a water-baby, where he gains redemption from selfishness as well as from drudgery. On to this fantasy Kingsley grafts a series of digressions and comic asides, through which he comments on a range of contemporary issues. Kingsley ostensibly wrote The Water-Babies for his infant son, but its erratic flights of fancy are liable to take it beyond the immediate comprehension of adults and children alike. Often seen as an attack on the exploitation of child labour, it is rather a heterogeneous commentary on Kingsley's life and times. He writes with vibrant and humorous symbolism, fierce satire, and uninhibited imagination. This is the first edition to explore fully Kingsley's text, its variants, and its iconography, and to annotate the many references which enrich the story. This book is intended for students of children's literature, Victorian literature, from first-year undergraduate upwards.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9780192822383
ISBN 10 0192822381
Title Water Babies
Author Charles Kingsley
Series World's Classics
Condition Unavailable
Binding type Paperback
Publisher Oxford University Press
Year published 1995-01-01
Number of pages 266
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note Unavailable