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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.
This is one of the best-loved family stories of all the classics. When Roberta, Peter and Phyillis’s father is arrested their life is turned upside down. The children move to the country and the railway that runs nearby becomes their greatest source of adventure. One day, they come up with a brilliant plan to make use of the friends they’ve made through the train to prove their father’s innocence and bring him back safely. Will it work? A book to treasure and return to again and again and features the complete and unabridged text. If you love a good story, then look no further. ~ Julia Eccleshare
This is one of the best-loved family stories of all the classics. When Roberta, Peter and Phyillis’s father is arrested their life is turned upside down. The children move to the country and the railway that runs nearby becomes their greatest source of adventure. One day, they come up with a brilliant plan to make use of the friends they’ve made through the train to prove their father’s innocence and bring him back safely. Will it work? A book to treasure and return to again and again and features the complete and unabridged text. If you love a good story, then look no further. ~ Julia Eccleshare
Magic and adventure are beautifully combined in this wonderful story about wishes and what ifs? Arriving at the White House for their holiday, Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and their baby brother set about looking for adventure by digging in the gravel pit. Unearthing a strange creature who tells them it is a Psammead who is able to give them one wish a day, the children find themselves in for some very exciting and magical surprises.
When the five children meet 'It' in the gravel pit their lives suddenly become a lot more interesting. This magical (but grumpy!) creature will grant them one wish per day, but as the children discover, you should always be very careful what you wish for ... This charming tale is the latest addition to the Oxford Children's Classics series from the author of The Railway Children.
Magic and adventure are beautifully combined in this wonderful story about wishes and what ifs? Arriving at the White House for their holiday, Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and their baby brother set about looking for adventure by digging in the gravel pit. Unearthing a strange creature who tells them it is a Psammead who is able to give them one wish a day, the children find themselves in for some very exciting and magical surprises. This edition is part of the Vintage Children's Classics series which is aimed at and shaped by 8-12 year olds, and the adults in their lives. It is a broad, affordable selection of books that will inspire a life-long love of reading; these stories that have secured a place in the hearts of thousands. They are all unabridged. To view all the Vintage Children's Classics titles click here. They are books to be given as gifts, and passed down the generations. In addition, story hungry children often don't want the adventure to end, so why not take a look at the fully interactive website - World of Stories - which contains lots of extra material - the backstory: with quizzes, activities and fascinating facts about the books and their authors.
This is one of the best-loved family stories of all the classics. When Roberta, Peter and Phyillis’s father is arrested their life is turned upside down. The children move to the country and the railway that runs nearby becomes their greatest source of adventure. One day, they come up with a brilliant plan to make use of the friends they’ve made through the train to prove their father’s innocence and bring him back safely. Will it work? (9+) This edition is part of the Vintage Children's Classics series which is aimed at and shaped by 8-12 year olds, and the adults in their lives. It is a broad, affordable selection of books that will inspire a life-long love of reading; these stories that have secured a place in the hearts of thousands. They are all unabridged. To view all the Vintage Children's Classics titles click here. They are books to be given as gifts, and passed down the generations. In addition, story hungry children often don't want the adventure to end, so why not take a look at the fully interactive website - World of Stories - which contains lots of extra material - the backstory: with quizzes, activities and fascinating facts about the books and their authors.
A sequel to Five Children and it that continues the magical adventures of siblings Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and their baby brother.
This is one of the best-loved family stories of all the classics. When Roberta, Peter and Phyillis’s father is arrested their life is turned upside down. The children move to the country and the railway that runs nearby becomes their greatest source of adventure. One day, they come up with a brilliant plan to make use of the friends they’ve made through the train to prove their father’s innocence and bring him back safely. Will it work? One of the best known classics in children's literature and a firm favourite of all the family. This wonderful addition to the Oxford Children's Classics range is a book to treasure and return to again and again and features the complete and unabridged text. If you love a good story, then look no further.
January 2010 Guest Editor Sophie Mckenzie on The Railway Children by Edith Nesbitt 'I loved reading as a child and remember getting totally absorbed in this book. I identified strongly with the main character - responsible, sensitive eldest child Roberta - and, ever since, have tried to create that sense of identification with the main characters in my own writing.'
Chosen by Quentin Blake. Magic and adventure are beautifully combined in this wonderful story about wishes and what ifs? Arriving at the White House for their holiday, Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and their baby brother set about looking for adventure by digging in the gravel pit. Unearthing a strange creature who tells them it is a Psammead who is able to give them one wish a day, the children find themselves in for some very exciting and magical surprises. Quentin Blake reveals his own love of the Psammead’ magic in his introduction while notes at the back offer ideas for activities round the story and a useful glossary.
Dora, Oswald, Dicky, Alice, Noel and Horace Octavius ( H.O. ) Bastable are desperate to help their widowed father to restore the family's fortunes after his business fails. Their moneymaking schemes, from digging for treasure in their South-London garden to becoming highwaymen on Blackheath, mainly lead to a good deal of trouble, until one adventure promises to change everything...
The sequel to Five Children and It follows the wondrous adventures of Robert, Jane, Cyril, Anthea, and The Lamb as they discover a clever phoenix and a magic carpet. The children find an egg in the carpet, which hatches into a talking Phoenix. The Phoenix explains that the carpet is a magic one that will grant them three wishes a day. The children are on a fantastic ride with the hopelessly vain but good-hearted phoenix and his flying carpet. They travel to a French castle, to a tropical island, foil a burglar, arrange a marriage, change people's disposition, and have to figure out how to get 199 Persian cats, 398 muskrats, a cow, and a policeman out of their house. Their charming adventures not only entertain but teach them, and the reader, a few gentle lessons. The Phoenix and the Carpet is a wonderful book for the young and the young at heart. The adventures are continued and concluded in the third book of the trilogy, The Story of the Amulet
FIVE CHILDREN AND IT The Five Children Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and Hilary the baby go to the country, they decide to go digging in a sand pit. There they find a furry creature with two horns on its head holding its eyes. The creature is the Psammead, a grumpy sand-fairy, the last of his kind, who grants a wish a day. Soon they find their wishes never seem to turn out right and often have unexpected consequences. The Five Children and IT offers a generous amount of fantasy, humor, and adventure, as the children are repeatedly subject to wishes gone comically wrong.
At the end of Five Children and It Robert, Anthea, Cyril, and Jane promised not to ask the Psammead for another wish as long as they lived, but expressed a half wish to see it again some time. The children are reunited with the Psammead in a London pet store; the Psammead can't grant their wishes anymore - not after the last adventure - but he does tell them where to find half of an amulet of great power. The ancient Amulet can grant them their heart's desire and journey through time. The children desire the return of their parents, and their magic adventures start over again with a journey through time to ancient Babylon, Egypt, and Atlantis. The trilogy of Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet and The Story of the Amulet.
FIVE CHILDREN AND IT The Five Children Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and Hilary the baby go to the country, they decide to go digging in a sand pit. There they find a furry creature with two horns on its head holding its eyes. The creature is the Psammead, a grumpy sand-fairy, the last of his kind, who grants a wish a day. Soon they find their wishes never seem to turn out right and often have unexpected consequences. The Five Children and IT offers a generous amount of fantasy, humor, and adventure, as the children are repeatedly subject to wishes gone comically wrong.
At the end of Five Children and It Robert, Anthea, Cyril, and Jane promised not to ask the Psammead for another wish as long as they lived, but expressed a half wish to see it again some time. The children are reunited with the Psammead in a London pet store; the Psammead can't grant their wishes anymore - not after the last adventure - but he does tell them where to find half of an amulet of great power. The ancient Amulet can grant them their heart's desire and journey through time. The children desire the return of their parents, and their magic adventures start over again with a journey through time to ancient Babylon, Egypt, and Atlantis. The trilogy of Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet and The Story of the Amulet.
The sequel to Five Children and It follows the wondrous adventures of Robert, Jane, Cyril, Anthea, and The Lamb as they discover a clever phoenix and a magic carpet. The children find an egg in the carpet, which hatches into a talking Phoenix. The Phoenix explains that the carpet is a magic one that will grant them three wishes a day. The children are on a fantastic ride with the hopelessly vain but good-hearted phoenix and his flying carpet. They travel to a French castle, to a tropical island, foil a burglar, arrange a marriage, change people's disposition, and have to figure out how to get 199 Persian cats, 398 muskrats, a cow, and a policeman out of their house. Their charming adventures not only entertain but teach them, and the reader, a few gentle lessons. The Phoenix and the Carpet is a wonderful book for the young and the young at heart. The adventures are continued and concluded in the third book of the trilogy, The Story of the Amulet
Five Children and It is a children's novel by English author E. Nesbit. It was originally published in 1902 in the Strand Magazine under the general title The Psammead, or the Gifts, with a segment appearing each month from April to December.
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