The Water-Babies

After being chased from the home of an upper-class young girl called Ellie, chimney-sweep Tom falls asleep and tumbles 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 childrens books ever written, The Water-Babies, subtitled A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby, was originally intended as a satire in support of Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species, and explores many of the issues at the forefront of biologists minds at the time. First published as a complete novel in 1863, Charles Kingsleys 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 author and journalist Christina Hardyment.

Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collectors Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collectors Library are books to love and treasure.