The Water-Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby (Macmillan Collector's Library) - Hardcover

Kingsley, Charles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1909621404 ISBN 13: 9781909621404

Publisher: Publishers Group Canada, 2016

Synopsis

Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully bound pocket-sized gift editions of much loved classic titles. Bound in real cloth, printed on high quality paper, and featuring ribbon markers and gilt edges, Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

After being chased from the upper-class home of a young girl called Ellie, chimney-sweep Tom falls asleep and falls into a river. There he is transformed into a 'water-baby' and his adventures truly begin. Beneath the surface, he enters a magical world full of strange and wonderful creatures, where he must prove his moral worth in order to earn what he truly desires.

One of the most unusual children's books ever written, The Water-Babies, subtitled 'A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby', was originally intended as a satire in support of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, and explores the issues at the forefront of biologists' minds at the time. First published as a complete novel in 1863, Charles Kingsley's classic tale also explores ideas about religion, the Victorian education system and the working conditions of children and the poor.

With glorious black and white illustrations by W. Heath Robinson and an introduction by Christina Hardyment.

About this title

About the Author:

Charles Kingsley was born in Holne, Devon, in 1819. He was educated at Bristol Grammar School and Helston Grammar School, before moving on to King's College London and the University of Cambridge. After graduating in 1842, he pursued a career in the clergy and in 1859 was appointed chaplain to Queen Victoria. The following year he was appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge, and became private tutor to the Prince of Wales in 1861.

Kingsley resigned from Cambridge in 1869 and between 1870 and 1873 was canon of Chester cathedral. He was appointed canon of Westminster cathedral in 1873 and remained there until his death in 1875.

Kingsley also wrote Westward Ho! (1855), for which the English town is named, a children's book about Greek mythology, The Heroes (1856), and several other historical novels.

About this edition

• Publisher: Publishers Group Canada
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1909621404
• ISBN 13: 9781909621404
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 160
• Illustrator: Robinson William Heath