Author(s): Charles Kingsley; J. M. Barrie; Jessie Willcox Smith; Mabel Lucie Attwell

Children's

The Water-Babies (1863) has claim to being the most peculiar book ever to achieve the status of a children's classic. The story follows Tom in his land-life as a climbing boy for a chimney sweep and in his after-life as a water-baby, where he gains redemption from selfishness as well as from drudgery. On top of this fantasy Kingsley grafts a series of digressions and comic asides, through which he comments on a range of contemporary issues.
This is the first edition to explore fully Kingsley's text, its variants, and its iconography, and to annotate the many references which enrich the story.

Second hand. In fine condition.

Presents as new.