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 children's books ever written, 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 many of 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.

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 Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

This book is part of a book series called Macmillan Collectors Library .

There are 296 pages in this book. This book was published 2016 by Pan Macmillan .

Kingsley resigned from Cambridge in 1869 and between 1870 and 1873 was canon of Chester cathedral. He was appointed canon of Westminster cathedral in 1873 and remained there until his death in 1875. Christina Hardyment spent her childhood reading avidly, playing bloodthirsty games in a tangled wilderness behind her parents' house, and sailing a Merlin Rocket on the Thames. She now sails a Windsurfer Regatta and crews on bigger boats when given the chance. She read History at Newham College, Cambridge, and lives in Oxford. She is married to Tom Griffith, a private press printer. They have four children.