This children's fantasy novel is set on a fictional, hard-to-reach island somewhere on planet Earth. The island is host to a colony of children, a wicked witch, the crew of the Flying Dutchman, and the titular snergs—as well as unicorns, tigers, bears, ghouls, and dragons that live in the woods. The story follows Sylvia and Joe on an adventure gone wrong once they're taken captive by an ogre, Golithos, and the aforementioned wicked witch: Mother Meldrum. Gorbo the Snerg and Baldry, a court jester, must come to their aid. Published in Britain in 1927, the novel was originally written for the author's young children and follows in the footsteps of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan and Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. It is widely believed the snergs served as inspiration for J. R. R. Tolkien's hobbits.