"The loveliest fairy in the world;
and her name is Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby."
Charles Kingsley remembered from The Water Babies.
and her name is Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby."
Charles Kingsley remembered from The Water Babies.
The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale is a children's novel with big adult themes written by the Reverend Charles Kingsley. Initially he wrote it as a serial for a magazine, it was first published in its entirety in 1863. The book was extremely popular during its day, and continues to be a mainstay in children's literature courses.
In the style of Victorian-era novels, The Water-Babies is a moral fable. The protagonist Tom, a young chimney sweep, falls into a river after encountering an upper-class girl named Ellie and being chased out of her house. There he dies and is transformed into a "water baby", and begins his moral education. The story is largely concerned with Christian redemption, though Kingsley also used the book as a platform to argue that England treated its poor badly, and to question enforced child labor, among other themes of the times.
Have you read it? It's been a long time since I picked it up and escaped into this fairy tale, but for some reason I was thinking about it today...... maybe because I spoke with Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby who knows a thing or two about how to love the unlovely. I'm grateful to work with her everyday.
In the style of Victorian-era novels, The Water-Babies is a moral fable. The protagonist Tom, a young chimney sweep, falls into a river after encountering an upper-class girl named Ellie and being chased out of her house. There he dies and is transformed into a "water baby", and begins his moral education. The story is largely concerned with Christian redemption, though Kingsley also used the book as a platform to argue that England treated its poor badly, and to question enforced child labor, among other themes of the times.
Have you read it? It's been a long time since I picked it up and escaped into this fairy tale, but for some reason I was thinking about it today...... maybe because I spoke with Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby who knows a thing or two about how to love the unlovely. I'm grateful to work with her everyday.
3 comments:
I have never read the whole book, and I probably should. Parts of the story were contained in some childhood compendia I had, and the ilistrations were lovely. That is what I remember.
I havent read it either but I will check it out.
I've never read it either and I am an English Major! I've read tons of stuff from that era but have never had to read that one. I am going to have to search that one out.
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