The Water-Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby

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.

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.

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 explores the issues at the forefront of biologists' minds at the time, as well as 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, the Macmillan Collector's Library edition of this classic tale is a beautifully bound, pocket-sized gift for the book lover.

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