This was mysteriously missing from my shelves, so it got added to my Christmas wishlist and reread accordingly. Still wonderful even after 100 years; few people have ever written children as convincingly as Edith Nesbit (notably, btw, her children are seldom orphans, although the parents tend to be conveniently absent for whatever reason), who also throws in a little social of her own social conscience for the adults: "If grown-ups got hold of me," says the Psammead, "… they'd ask for a graduated income-tax, and old-age pensions, and manhood suffrage, and free secondary education and dull things like that, and get them and keep them, and the whole world would be turned topsy-turvy." ( )

Nesbit, E. (2004). Five Children and It. New York: Puffin Books.



9780140367355



Five children (thus the first part of the title of this book—although one of the five kids is a baby and is not involved in all of the events) leave their London home with their mother visit the countryside for a week. Within hours of their arrival they discover an ancient sand fairy living in a gravel-pit. The grumpy fairy grants the children one wish each day. The catch? The wishes only last one day and the kids never quite get what they expect.



While I liked the premise of the book, the actual execution was a little too preachy or didactic for me. I like my lessons to be subtle and reached gradually, instead of shark-shaped and biting me. Don’t get me wrong, I too believe the wee children of the Earth should enjoy being ugly, being aware that an abundance of coins are heavy, loving their whiney little baby brothers, planning ahead when they’re gifted with magical wings for the inevitable moment when those wings disappear, etc. I just like to feel I’m realizing these important lessons myself.



I still liked the narrator, who occasionally interrupted the narrative to speak in the first person and refer to aspects of the story (mmmm, metafiction).



I struggled with the way this book defined class. In similar fashion to Peter Pan, “poverty” means only having a few servants instead of many. Poor nineteenth century British kids. Life is pain.





Activities to do with the book:



If I were to use this book, it would probably be as a read aloud or individual recommendation. It would be especially good for a child who is addicted to fantasy, along with this book they could also explore the works of Lewis Carroll, J.R.R. Tolkien, L. Frank Baum and C.S. Lewis.

If a student needed to do a presentation or short paper based off of this book, they could research fairy lore.



Favorite Quotes:



“The house was three miles from the station, but before the dusty hired fly had rattled along for five minutes the children began to put their heads out of the carriage window and to say, ‘Aren’t we nearly there?’” (p. 1).



“For London is like prison for children, especially if their relations are not rich” (p. 2).



“I feel that I could go on and make this into a most interesting story about all the ordinary things you do yourself, you know—and you would believe every word of it; and when I told about the children’s being tiresome, as you are sometimes, your aunts would perhaps write in the margin of the story with a pencil, ‘How true!’ or ‘How like life!’ and you would see it and very likely be annoyed. So I will only tell you the really astonishing things that happened, and you may leave the book about quite safely, for no aunts and uncles either are likely to write ‘How true!’ on the edge of the story. Grown-up people find it very difficult to believe really wonderful things, unless they have what they call proof. But children will believe almost anything, and grown-ups know this. That is why they tell you that the earth is round like an orange, when you can see perfectly well that it is flat and lumpy; and why they say that the earth goes round the sun, when you can see for yourself any day that the sun gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night like a good sun as it is, and the earth knows its places, and lies as still as a mouse” (pp. 4-5).



“Almost everyone had Pterodactyl for breakfast in my time! Pterodactyls were something like crocodiles and something like birds—I believe they were very good grilled” (p. 14).

For more of my reviews, visit sjkessel.blogspot.com.

This classic child's fantasy, much in the style of C.S. Lewis, has all the elements of a truly delightful children's book. It is imaginiative, entralling, and easy to relate to. The children get into just the right amount of mischief to make them likable and believable. When five children find a sand fairy that grants wishes in an old gravel pit, their dull life gets turned upside-down. None of their wishes seem to be coming out quite as they intended, and all of the wishes get them into bundles of mischief. Luckily, their wishes expire at dusk, which got them out of many near-disasters. In one of my favorites, one of the children accidentally wishes that everyone would want their baby brother, so that they wouldn't have to look after him. The end up spending the day rescuing him from the adoring masses, and, if it wasn't for nightfall, he would be taken off by the gypsies. In another adventure, The children ask for wings and spend the day flying, and fall asleep ontop of a church. Night falls, and their wings are gone... In the end, each wish is a wild adventure and an important lesson learned.

This story is about five children and one fairy that was finded in sand. When the children dug a hole in the gravel-pit, they were very surprised at a Psammead.
I dont like this. ( )

Five Children And It is one of Nesbit's more famous stories. It's the only one I've read thus far, so I have no idea how it compares to her other books. I really enjoyed the characters and Nesbit's quirky humor.

Five siblings — Cyril, Robert, Anthea, Jane, and the Lamb (the baby) — go to spend the summer at a beach cottage. While attempting to dig a hole to China to ascertain whether or not the people there really do walk around upside down, the children uncover a Psammead (or "Sammyadd," as they call it) in the sand. A Psammead is an ancient creature that can grant wishes to children. This particular Psammead is very grumpy about giving wishes, and only grudgingly agrees to give the children a wish. This starts a whole string of adventures, during which the children learn the dangers of careless wishing.

Even the children's well-thought-out wishes somehow lead to disaster every time. It is, for instance, delightful to have wings, but it is less delightful to fall asleep on top of a church steeple and not wake up till after sundown with no wings and no way of getting down (the effects of the children's wishes end at sunset). It's the same when you wish for Red Indians to come and terrorize the house to make life more interesting, or when you wish your baby brother would grow up right away, or when you wish to be as beautiful as the day.

I think the Psammead knew exactly what he was doing when he granted the children's wishes. I'm not sure if he had an active interest in helping them learn to make better decisions, or if he was just plain spiteful and malicious because of how they pestered him. Perhaps it's a little of both.

The writing was quite good. It didn't take much for Nesbit to give the reader a good feel for each of the characters (even Martha), and her ability to get into the heads of children is still fresh and original. Nesbit was one of the first authors for children who didn't take a moralizing tone in her books. My copy has an afterword by Lloyd Alexander, and he says that the children's fiction genre owes Nesbit a huge debt. It's significant that her books are still very funny and fresh today, despite her countless imitators.

The book started off very funny indeed, but toward the middle it started to drag a bit, and then it ended rather abruptly. I guess that's what should be expected with an episodic storyline like this. Still, I can see why Nesbit is considered a classic author for children, and I'm looking forward to reading more of her books. Recommended. ( )