Customer Reviews

Five Children and It (Puffin Classics)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

"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.

"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.