Name: Spreading the Feast Gathering
Start: 2025-07-11T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-07-12T23:59:59-05:00
Location: LaGrange, KY

Tagged: books, reading, Water Babies

This topic has 5 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 17 years ago by Sonya Shafer.

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

Author
Posts
May 26, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Misty
Participant
Has anyone read Water Babies by JM Barrie? I just started looking at it 1st page and do not like some of the language… or what is pictured…
Does it get better and is it worth the read? It is a long book I want to be sure I am using my summer reading to a good cause with this one.
Thanks Misty
May 26, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Sonya Shafer
Moderator
My daughter has read it. Here are her thoughts:
It’s OK; it’s not my favorite. I don’t consider it a “classic” classic book. There’s not a whole lot of plot to it. It’s sort of a strange fairy tale with a lot of moralizing, but it does have some fun parts. I think the language problem stops after he turns into a water baby, but I don’t remember for sure. Story Summary: After a series of mischievous adventures, Tom falls into the water and turns into a water baby. (I think he drowns, actually, and that’s how he turns into a “water baby.” It’s been a while since I read it.) The rest of the story is about his adventures as a water baby. It’s not nature-oriented, as in learning about life in the water; it’s more fantasy type.
Hope this helps!
May 26, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Bookworm
Participant
OK. My son very strongly disliked this one. I tried to start it, couldn’t get into it, and haven’t required it for anyone else, although it’s still on my shelf. It was not our cup of tea. 🙂
Michelle D
May 26, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Misty
Participant
Thanks ladies, I think this one will have to get passed on.
Misty
May 27, 2008 at 12:48 am
Christie
Member
Wait! Before you decide to not give it a try….you might want to consider the original version that Charlotte Mason recommended by Charles Kingsley. It is wonderful and my kids loved it! We listened to it on tapes from our library….and it was a lot of fun listening to on the long hot summer days!
Hope that may help you with your decision! It’s funny, I never knew J.M. Barrie had a version of that book!
May 27, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Sonya Shafer
Moderator
Oh! Now this is interesting. We just checked our copy of Water Babies and it is by Charles Kingsley. It’s in a two-volumes-in-one-book along with Peter Pan by Barrie. So I was mentally making the connection between Barrie and Water Babies. But nope, it’s by Kingsley. Evidently Barrie doesn’t have a version. Thanks, Christie, for setting that straight!