Purple bandReady now · Open and print today

Under the Waves

Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne · Episode 3 of 6

Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea was first published in 1870. This episode is the third of six, retold for the youngest readers. Professor Aronnax is a prisoner aboard Captain Nemo's submarine, the Nautilus, but Nemo shows him wonders no scientist has ever seen: a ship powered by electricity, windows that open onto the ocean, and a walk on the sea floor in a diving suit. Aronnax sees an underwater forest, a giant sea-spider, and sharks that nearly catch him. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. Verne wrote this story to imagine what the deep ocean might hold, and to ask: what is freedom, and what is its cost?

Band

Purple · Pre-readers and first readersTypical starting range: ages 4–5

Length

short · about 364 words in 5 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, Jules Verne

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (6 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Colouring page
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.

Report a concern about this reader · What’s in a HummingRead reader