The Water Babies

When young Tom, little chimney sweep, flees his sooty, dangerous toil and his cruel master, Grimes, he finds himself plunged into a land beneath the water "so out of the way the bad bogies can hardly find it out." There, Tom meets haughty dragonflies, makes friends with a slow-witted lobster, and dodges hungry otters. Eventually he meets the other water-babies and their clever rulers, Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid and Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby. Charles Kingsley's "fairy tale for a land baby" has ch...