Hedgehog Laundresses

At the moment I am mostly interested in the  English tradition of nonsense tales, verse, song and illustration.  I want to find out more about it.  I have found a book which looks good on Amazon (it's on my wish list, hint, hint)  I have never read Lewis Carroll, but I love modern nonsense artists like Ivor Cutler, and I would include David Shrigley and The Interesting Thoughts of Edward Monckton.
Last year at the Treacle Market I found Beatrix Potter's long book, The Fairy Caravan.  I had read it from the library when I was a kid, and had been looking for it again.  I had seen a rare edition in Scrivener's bookshop, but wanted a copy to read, so didn't want to spend that kind of money, then finally saw it at the Treacle Market, where everything you want turns up in the end.
Reading the first sentence...In the Land of Green Ginger there is a town called Marmalade, which is inhabited exclusively by guinea-pigs... I had a revelation.  Beatrix Potter belongs in the great English tradition of nonsense writers!  We are so used to the idea of Beatrix Potter-ness; hedgehog laundresses, cat shopkeepers, etc we don't see them for what they are; we just see them as Beatrix Potter pictures.  When in fact when she wrote them, they were nonsense!

A Very Good Book

If you get a chance, read it.  Anyway, I've got to go, it's haircut day at Aimo's House again.