The last thing Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and their baby brother expect to find while digging in the sand is a Psammead?an ancient Sand-fairy! Having a Sand-fairy for a pet means having one wish granted each day. But the fivesome doesn?t realize all of the trouble that wishes can cause.
Five Children and It (Puffin Classics)
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About the Author
Edith Nesbit (1858 – 1924), was a mischievous, tomboyish child who grew up to be an unconventional adult. She and her husband were founder members of the socialist Fabian Society and their home became a centre for socialist and literary discussion. Their friends included some of the time’s greatest writers and thinkers, including George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells.
Everything about Edith showed her as a woman trying to break out of the mould demanded by English society at the time – she expressed her individuality through her clothes, hairstyle, lifestyle and her habit of speaking forcefully on almost any subject. She lived her socialism and late in life her charitable deeds brought her close to bankrupcy.
E. Nesbit – she always used the plain initial for her writing and was sometimes thought to be a man – started to write for children after years of successful writing for adult magazines. She was asked to write about her childhood but instead of facts chose to describe her happy girlhood in fiction. The result was books still read today, firm bestsellers for decades. She was brilliant at combining real-life situations with elements of fantasy and humour. Films –such as The Railway Children - have kept her stories in the public eye and her magical fantasies, including Five Children and It, continue to delight each new generation of children.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It was always a little strange to me as a boy that children in books always went to boarding school and always had nannies, cooks, and maids, but we just accepted that that was how people were in books. We realised that books were written before decimalisation, and just enjoyed the stories. I am delighted that the same is still true. I read this to my son over several nights, and while he did ask about the servants and "were they like slaves", this was more an additional facet, something he could enjoy and learn from, rather than something which inhibited his enjoyment. This story is of children who behave in much the same way as modern children would, leaving parental and adult supervision at the earliest opportunity, particularly if this involves getting into adventures and meeting magical creatures. The Psammead is an ancient Sand Fairy, and the children in the story are initially frightened of him, then grow to like him and respect his wisdom (even if he's a little cantankerous). The story follows the classic "what would you wish for if you had three wishes" formula, but is done with such style that each mini adventure that follows on is enjoyable, and a learning experience for the characters, rather than just being a list of examples of a smart-alec genie's deliberately obtuse interpretation of instructions.
I would say this book is suitable for children of seven to fourteen, and doesn't really require any explanation of old-fashioned terms, but there can be much gained from discussing them.
I would say this book is suitable for children of seven to fourteen, and doesn't really require any explanation of old-fashioned terms, but there can be much gained from discussing them.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I loved her books when I was a child in the sixties and I love to think that they have been around for over a hundred years and yet they are still wonderful stories that don't feel at all old-fashioned. The world they are set in is certainly different from ours, which adds to their interest, but the writing is immediate and there is nothing mannered or didactic that one might associate with books from Victorian times. A combination of lively, very real children, with sometimes a little magic thrown in and sometimes just the adventures children have when they're not too closely supervised, the books are fast-paced, humorous and adorably wholesome.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What I love about Nesbit's work is how fresh and vivid it is; how the lives and actions of the characters are immediately recognizable and human. Across nearly a century and vast distance of class and technology, these five children could be our own. Their curiosity, resolve, foolishness, excitement, fear, bickering, confusion, and happiness could be our own.
Well, I love that ... and Nesbit's sly and sharp wit.
Regarding the first review
<< the actual execution was a little too preachy or didactic for me. I like my lessons to be subtle...>>
I didn't find it preachy. Sure, the children had their wishes granted, and the results were, ahem, not what they expected. This is not preaching; it's just using a classic theme that has been the source of thousands of great stories for thousands of years, with a curious mix of modernization and satire.
<< I struggled with the way this book defined class..."poverty" means only having a few servants instead of many >>
Yes. The British gentry lived in splendid privilege, often without knowing it.
No. This does not disqualify from enjoyment any story whose characters are privileged British children.
Well, I love that ... and Nesbit's sly and sharp wit.
Regarding the first review
<< the actual execution was a little too preachy or didactic for me. I like my lessons to be subtle...>>
I didn't find it preachy. Sure, the children had their wishes granted, and the results were, ahem, not what they expected. This is not preaching; it's just using a classic theme that has been the source of thousands of great stories for thousands of years, with a curious mix of modernization and satire.
<< I struggled with the way this book defined class..."poverty" means only having a few servants instead of many >>
Yes. The British gentry lived in splendid privilege, often without knowing it.
No. This does not disqualify from enjoyment any story whose characters are privileged British children.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Five Children and It" is an AWESOME book!!!! The five children Cyril (nicknamed Squirrel), Anthea (nicknamed Panther), Robert (nicknamed Bobs), and Jane (nicknamed Pussy) are at a new house, right between a chalk quarry and a gravel pit that used to be a beach. When their parents are away, the five children go digging in the gravel pit with their spades. When the children are trying to dig a hole to Australia, Anthea finds a creature in the hole known as a Psammead or Sand-fairy that goes by the name of It. It has promised the five children to grant them one wish a day. The children wish all sorts of things from being beautiful as the day, to having wings, but sometimes their wishes can spin out of control. This is an excellent book by E. Nesbit, with a cover illustration by Quentin Blake (illustrator of the Rald Dahl books), illustrations within the book by H. R. Millar and book extras at the back of the book. I would recommend this fabulous book to anyone.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
"Be Careful what you Wish for!"
Four siblings in turn-of-the century England (and a two-year-old baby called the Lamb) make the discovery of an unusual creature in a sand pit: the Psammead, or Sand Fairy. Of course no adult would believe in it's existence or its super-magical ability to grant wishes--that is, one per day, which lasts (only) until sundown. While the children's parents are on a (conveniently) extended visit to an ailing relative, the kids are left in the care of Martha and the Cook at their new home in the Kent countryside.
Since the children have no experience asking for wishes, they naturally make ridiculous ones or even worse--accidental ones. The Psammead lives up to his part of the bargain, but as in darker, adult literature, the kids come to regret each of their wishes--learning wisdom and common sense too late to benefit them at critical moments. Wealth, Beauty, Wings, a live medieval castle and Native American Indians--somehow all five wishes turn out disastrously.
Now when Lady Chittenden's stolen jewels turn up in their mother's bedroom the children are hard pressed to find a creative and truthful resolution. This is a cute but quaint tale which will amuse younger readers or those who enjoy bedtime chapter books. The author can not resist interjecting a few humorous asides and, as a Fabian, insists on slipping in her views on social reform. All things considered it is a pleasant read, set in simpler, Edwardian times.
Four siblings in turn-of-the century England (and a two-year-old baby called the Lamb) make the discovery of an unusual creature in a sand pit: the Psammead, or Sand Fairy. Of course no adult would believe in it's existence or its super-magical ability to grant wishes--that is, one per day, which lasts (only) until sundown. While the children's parents are on a (conveniently) extended visit to an ailing relative, the kids are left in the care of Martha and the Cook at their new home in the Kent countryside.
Since the children have no experience asking for wishes, they naturally make ridiculous ones or even worse--accidental ones. The Psammead lives up to his part of the bargain, but as in darker, adult literature, the kids come to regret each of their wishes--learning wisdom and common sense too late to benefit them at critical moments. Wealth, Beauty, Wings, a live medieval castle and Native American Indians--somehow all five wishes turn out disastrously.
Now when Lady Chittenden's stolen jewels turn up in their mother's bedroom the children are hard pressed to find a creative and truthful resolution. This is a cute but quaint tale which will amuse younger readers or those who enjoy bedtime chapter books. The author can not resist interjecting a few humorous asides and, as a Fabian, insists on slipping in her views on social reform. All things considered it is a pleasant read, set in simpler, Edwardian times.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic
I am reading this childhood favorite to my 6 and 4 year old children. We are loving it. The language is old fashioned so I do have to explain a few words and phrases as we go. Read more
Published 29 days ago by Jonny/Mela
4.0 out of 5 stars
Loved this book!!!
Started reading this to my son who is 8 and my daughter who is 4 and we couldn't put it down. They begged for it. Acting it out, pretended to be the characters. Read more
Published 6 months ago by The Mastersons
4.0 out of 5 stars
good read, very different
Different kind of children's story, written in olde speak. A nice change from the usual. It's a break from the grown-up books I've been reading so I can go back to them and enjoy... Read more
Published 7 months ago by bluemoon5658
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful book and enjoyed by all my children
I began reading this aloud to my kindergartener and though my 10 year old scoffed at the title he was quickly drawn in to the tale. Read more
Published 16 months ago by S. Nash
