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Title: The Water-Babies (Children's Library) by Charles Kingsley, Jessie Willcox Smith ISBN: 0-681-00647-1 Publisher: Longmeadow Press Pub. Date: 01 December, 1994 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.58 (12 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Do NOT buy this abridged version!
Comment: 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.
Rating: 3
Summary: A Book of Its Time
Comment: Interesting that an original version of this book is extremely hard to come by. The abridged version, as mentioned by another reader/reviewer, omits crucial references to the racist and anti-Irish underpinnings of this "fairy tale." The book was basically written as a critique of anti-slavery, anti-abolitionist sentiments stirring in Britain regarding it's colonies, which were still - after the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 - encouraging the slavery and mistreatment of black people. Read the book, but tell the children the truth, please.
Rating: 5
Summary: READ the book, steer clear of the movie
Comment: 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.
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Title: The Princess and the Goblin (Puffin Classics - The Essential Collection) by George MacDonald, Arthur Hughes ISBN: 0140367462 Publisher: Puffin Books Pub. Date: 01 March, 1997 List Price(USD): $3.99 |
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Title:The Water Babies ASIN: B00007GZR9 Publisher: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pub. Date: 04 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $13.46 |
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Title: At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald ISBN: 0812567129 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 1998 List Price(USD): $3.99 |
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Title: The Railway Children (Puffin Classics) by E. Nesbit, C. E. Brock, E Nesbit ISBN: 0140366717 Publisher: Puffin Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 1994 List Price(USD): $3.99 |
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Title: Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling ISBN: 0812504690 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 1992 List Price(USD): $2.99 |
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