Water Babies by Charles Kingsley
I used to have a step-father who was addicted to those Time Life book series. You know, like “The Wild West” where a new book comes every month (return within 30 days for a complete refund). The first books would be OK: Heroes of the Wild West, Villains of the Wild West. But eventually they’d start getting desperate: Stage Coaches of the Wild West, Schoolhouses of the Wild West. I guess when you’ve got a captive audience, you keep pushing the crap out.
All of which is a long way of saying that Water Babies, which is one of the books in my Juvenile Classics series, is a piece of crap. I never read that one as a kid and I’m glad I didn’t waste my time. It’s not funny, not interesting, has much too moral a tone that’s not at all well hidden, and is just generally stupid and pointless. Sure, it’s for kids but kids have brains too. Plus it’s written in such a smug “dear little reader” tone that any self-respecting kid would puke. Save yourself the trouble of reading it and if you subscribe to any kids-book-of-the-month plans, “cancel at any time” before this one shows up in your mailbox.