Once upon a time, there were three little kittens named Mittens, Tom Kitten, and Moppet. They had beautiful fur coats and spent their days tumbling on the porch and playing in the dirt.

One day, their mother-Mrs. Tabitha Twitchit-was expecting friends for tea. She brought the kittens inside to wash them and dress them before her guests arrived.

First, she scrubbed their faces (this one is Moppet).

Then she brushed their fur (this one is Mittens).

Then she combed their tails and whiskers (this is Tom Kitten). Tom kept trying to scratch the comb.

Mrs. Tabitha dressed Moppet and Mittens in clean little dresses and lace collars. Then she pulled some stiff, fancy clothes out of an old dresser for Tom.

Tom Kitten was quite chubby and had grown; several buttons snapped off immediately. His mother sighed and sewed them back on.

When the three kittens were ready, Mrs. Tabitha made a mistake and sent them out into the garden while she made hot buttered toast.
“Now keep your clothes clean, children! Walk on your back legs. Stay away from the muddy ash pit, Sally Henny-Penny, the pigpen, and those Puddle-Ducks!“

Moppet and Mittens wobbled down the garden path. Soon they tripped over their dresses and fell on their faces. When they stood up, they were covered in grass stains!
“Let's climb the rocks and sit on the garden wall,“ Moppet suggested.

They turned their dresses backward so they could move better and jumped up; Moppet’s white lace collar fell down into the road.

Tom Kitten couldn't jump at all while trying to walk on his back legs in pants. He struggled up the rocks bit by bit, crushing the ferns and losing buttons left and right.

He was a mess by the time he reached the top of the wall. Moppet and Mittens tried to fix his clothes, but his hat fell off and his last buttons snapped.

While they were struggling, they heard a pit-pat-paddle-pat! The three Puddle-Ducks came marching down the road in single file, doing their rhythmic waddle-pit-pat-paddle-pat! pit-pat-waddle-pat!

They stopped and stood in a row, staring up at the kittens with wide, surprised eyes.

Then the two female ducks, Rebeccah and Jemima Puddle-Duck, picked up the hat and the lace collar and put them on.

Mittens laughed so hard she fell off the wall. Moppet and Tom climbed down after her; the dresses and the rest of Tom's clothes fell off on the way down.
“Mr. Drake Puddle-Duck!“ Moppet called. “Come and help us dress him! Come and button Tom up!“

Mr. Drake Puddle-Duck waddled over in a slow, sideways way and picked up the various items.

But he put them on himself! They fit him even worse than they fit Tom Kitten.
“It's a lovely morning!“ said Mr. Drake Puddle-Duck.

Then he, Jemima, and Rebeccah Puddle-Duck set off up the road, keeping in step-pit-pat, paddle-pat! pit-pat, waddle-pat!

Then Tabitha Twitchit came down to the garden and found her kittens on the wall with no clothes on.

She pulled them off the wall, hurried them along, and took them back to the house.

She sent them upstairs; and I’m sorry to say she told her friends they were in bed with a cold, which wasn't true.

Quite the opposite; they weren't in bed at all.

Instead, there were very strange noises coming from upstairs, which ruined the quiet mood of the tea party.
And I think one day I’ll have to write a longer book to tell you more about Tom Kitten!

As for the Puddle-Ducks-they went into a pond. The clothes fell right off because there were no buttons left to hold them together.

And Mr. Drake Puddle-Duck, Jemima, and Rebeccah have been looking for them ever since.