Many years ago the King’s Dominion amusement park in Virginia had a ride called “The Lost World” This ride was basically a Disney style ride through a mythical underworld kingdom inhabited by gnomelike creatures called “Doozies”. The “Doozies” engaged in all kinds of improbable activities to help things grow. This reminded me of a book I read as a kid. Does anyone know the name of the book and the author?
Well, the description you gave reminds me of the Pierre Berton’s children’s book The Secret World Of Og. In the book (this is going from memory, as I haven’t read it since I was very young) some kids stumble into an underground world filled with little, green gnome-like creatures who can only say, “og.” These creatures steal things from the upperworld and sell them, I think, in their world in a market of sorts. The kids get in trouble in the world of Og, but I don’t recall exactly what or how they get out of it (I think it’s got something to do with their cat getting stolen).
It’s a very enchanting tale. It used to be pretty hard to find, but it was reprinted a few years ago. There was also a couple of cartoons based on the book.