The Water Babies

By: Charles Kingsley

Narrated by: Bernard Cribbins

Bernard Cribbins reads Charles Kingsley's much-loved tale about a little chimney-sweep who is turned into a water baby. Tom the chimney-sweep has a hard life. He is beaten by his master, the cruel Mr Grimes, and forced to climb up dark flues where he bruises his knees and elbows and gets soot in his eyes. He is always hungry, for there is never enough to eat, and always dirty, as there is nowhere for him to wash. One day, he is so tired from sweeping flues that he comes down the wrong chimney and lands in the bedroom of a beautiful young girl, where he is mistaken for a thief and runs away. He falls asleep near a river - and when he wakes up, the fairies have transformed him into a water-baby. He loves his new life swimming in the stream and having adventures, but he has no one to play with. So he sets off on a journey to the sea, to find the other water babies.

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Great story

I really enjoyed this story. And it was well read by the reader who brought life to the characters.

perfect

Exactly what I'm looking for in an abridged version - give me the story, and none of the flowery ye olde English.

Bernard Cribbins is perfect. I felt like a child sitting cross-legged on the carpet looking up at Mr Cribbins as he read aloud to the class.