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The Psammead Trilogy #1
Five Children and It
'Don't you know a sand-fairy when you see one?'
I dare say you have often thought about what you would do if you were granted three wishes. The five children - Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and their baby brother - had often talked about it but when they are faced with the grumpy sand-fairy they find it difficult to make up their minds. And that is just the beginning of their dilemmas. As they discover, there is nothing quite like a wish for getting you into terrible trouble.
BACKSTORY: Learn about what it was like to be a child in 1902 and try some fun activities!
276 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1902
1262 people are currently reading
19244 people want to read
About the author
E. Nesbit
1,036 books999 followers
Edith Nesbit
(married name Edith Bland; 15 August 1858 – 4 May 1924) was an English author and poet; she published her books for children under the name of E. Nesbit.
She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later connected to the Labour Party.
Edith Nesbit was born in Kennington, Surrey, the daughter of agricultural chemist and schoolmaster John Collis Nesbit. The death of her father when she was four and the continuing ill health of her sister meant that Nesbit had a transitory childhood, her family moving across Europe in search of healthy climates only to return to England for financial reasons. Nesbit therefore spent her childhood attaining an education from whatever sources were available—local grammars, the occasional boarding school but mainly through reading.
At 17 her family finally settled in London and aged 19, Nesbit met Hubert Bland, a political activist and writer. They became lovers and when Nesbit found she was pregnant they became engaged, marrying in April 1880. After this scandalous (for Victorian society) beginning, the marriage would be an unconventional one. Initially, the couple lived separately—Nesbit with her family and Bland with his mother and her live-in companion Maggie Doran.
Initially, Edith Nesbit books were novels meant for adults, including The Prophet's Mantle (1885) and The Marden Mystery (1896) about the early days of the socialist movement. Written under the pen name of her third child 'Fabian Bland', these books were not successful. Nesbit generated an income for the family by lecturing around the country on socialism and through her journalism (she was editor of the Fabian Society's journal, Today).
In 1899 she had published The Adventures of the Treasure Seekers to great acclaim.
She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later connected to the Labour Party.
Edith Nesbit was born in Kennington, Surrey, the daughter of agricultural chemist and schoolmaster John Collis Nesbit. The death of her father when she was four and the continuing ill health of her sister meant that Nesbit had a transitory childhood, her family moving across Europe in search of healthy climates only to return to England for financial reasons. Nesbit therefore spent her childhood attaining an education from whatever sources were available—local grammars, the occasional boarding school but mainly through reading.
At 17 her family finally settled in London and aged 19, Nesbit met Hubert Bland, a political activist and writer. They became lovers and when Nesbit found she was pregnant they became engaged, marrying in April 1880. After this scandalous (for Victorian society) beginning, the marriage would be an unconventional one. Initially, the couple lived separately—Nesbit with her family and Bland with his mother and her live-in companion Maggie Doran.
Initially, Edith Nesbit books were novels meant for adults, including The Prophet's Mantle (1885) and The Marden Mystery (1896) about the early days of the socialist movement. Written under the pen name of her third child 'Fabian Bland', these books were not successful. Nesbit generated an income for the family by lecturing around the country on socialism and through her journalism (she was editor of the Fabian Society's journal, Today).
In 1899 she had published The Adventures of the Treasure Seekers to great acclaim.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,649 reviews
February 11, 2017
I read Five Children and It with the Women’s Classic Literature Enthusiasts group and enjoyed it immensely. If you like Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and its series' mates by Betty MacDonald, you will like Five Children and It. The ideal child reader of this book is between second and fifth grade, with a fondness for historical fiction or British classics. (For comparison, this is substantially easier reading then C.S. Lewis’ fiction.) The ideal adult reader is anyone who enjoys classic children’s novels and/or Edwardian literature.
Five Children and It was published in 1902 and is the first novel in Nesbit’s Psammead trilogy, which consists of Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904), and The Story of the Amulet(1906). In Five Children and It, a group of siblings (Anthea, Robert, Cyril, Jane, and a baby who is referred to as the Lamb) find the Psammead in a sand quarry near their home in the English countryside. The Psammead is a sand fairy able to grant wishes. This classic takes us to Edwardian England, where horses and buggies were the most common form of transportation, and servants looked after the children.
*If you are spoiler-averse, you may want to stop reading further.*
The most successful aspects of Five Children and It were the world-building, the authentic relationships between and amongst the children, and Nesbit's writing style. I could relate to the children and their emotions. They were described and interacted in a way that fit their ages and I found them to be differentiated in age-appropriate manners. Nesbit’s writing style struck just the right tone for me, between communicating a moral and having fun. The morals weren’t overblown or eye-rolling. The vocabulary didn't strike me as dumbed-down for children, but it also was not as flowery and ornate as Frances Hodgson Burnett's contemporaneously written works and was a style I found highly appealing.
For 75% of the book, the adventures worked for me, and my pre-6th-grade self would have adored this book because it doesn't talk down to children and is sufficiently complex to appeal to adults. The sexist and racist elements (one chapter involves gypsies) grated on me but were tolerable, if Nesbit’s handling is appropriately appreciated as progressive in the context of her 1902 peers, until I encountered "Scalps" (it describes an adventure populated by “red Indians”) which made me want to take a shower. YMMV. The last story involving the mother and stolen (or magically relocated) jewelry was unsuccessful for me, and I am not certain why - although I suspect that the mother's involvement in the story makes it less of an adventure and more of a problem to be solved; less charming and imaginative and more dire.
As with the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle series, the chapters of Five Children and It read like a series of only-lightly-connected short stories, some of which were more successful than others. It was great fun, though, a super-quick read (6 hours perhaps?) and I recommend it to anyone who reads the description and is intrigued, or who is a fan of Edwardian classics.
Background on the author: E. Nesbit was born in Kennington, Surrey in 1858. The death of her father when she was four years old and the continuing ill health of her sister meant that Nesbit had a childhood absent focused adult attention, and frequent moves. Her family moved across Europe in search of healthy climates for her sister, only to return to England for financial reasons. Growing up, she lived in France, Spain and Germany in addition to various locations in Great Britain. Her education came from a combination of periods in local elementary/grammar schools and the occasional boarding school but predominately through reading. Nesbit wanted to be known as a poet and in her teens had a poem published. This gave her greater confidence to write more, both for adults and children, but it is for her 60+ children's books (including those on which she collaborated with other authors) she is best known. She distinguished herself from other writers of her time by writing about children as they were, and rewriting conventional adventure stories to present them with female characters in lead roles.
Her friends included HG Wells and George Bernard Shaw. She also was a political activist and a follower of William Morris and she and her husband Hubert Bland were among the founders of the Fabian Society, a socialist organization later affiliated to the Labour Party. Nesbit was an active lecturer and prolific writer on socialism during the 1880s.
Interesting links and articles (which may, necessarily, include spoilers):
http://www.foliosociety.com/author/ed... (biography)
https://lit4334goldenage.wordpress.co...
http://muse.jhu.edu/article/271157
Five Children and It was published in 1902 and is the first novel in Nesbit’s Psammead trilogy, which consists of Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904), and The Story of the Amulet(1906). In Five Children and It, a group of siblings (Anthea, Robert, Cyril, Jane, and a baby who is referred to as the Lamb) find the Psammead in a sand quarry near their home in the English countryside. The Psammead is a sand fairy able to grant wishes. This classic takes us to Edwardian England, where horses and buggies were the most common form of transportation, and servants looked after the children.
*If you are spoiler-averse, you may want to stop reading further.*
The most successful aspects of Five Children and It were the world-building, the authentic relationships between and amongst the children, and Nesbit's writing style. I could relate to the children and their emotions. They were described and interacted in a way that fit their ages and I found them to be differentiated in age-appropriate manners. Nesbit’s writing style struck just the right tone for me, between communicating a moral and having fun. The morals weren’t overblown or eye-rolling. The vocabulary didn't strike me as dumbed-down for children, but it also was not as flowery and ornate as Frances Hodgson Burnett's contemporaneously written works and was a style I found highly appealing.
For 75% of the book, the adventures worked for me, and my pre-6th-grade self would have adored this book because it doesn't talk down to children and is sufficiently complex to appeal to adults. The sexist and racist elements (one chapter involves gypsies) grated on me but were tolerable, if Nesbit’s handling is appropriately appreciated as progressive in the context of her 1902 peers, until I encountered "Scalps" (it describes an adventure populated by “red Indians”) which made me want to take a shower. YMMV. The last story involving the mother and stolen (or magically relocated) jewelry was unsuccessful for me, and I am not certain why - although I suspect that the mother's involvement in the story makes it less of an adventure and more of a problem to be solved; less charming and imaginative and more dire.
As with the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle series, the chapters of Five Children and It read like a series of only-lightly-connected short stories, some of which were more successful than others. It was great fun, though, a super-quick read (6 hours perhaps?) and I recommend it to anyone who reads the description and is intrigued, or who is a fan of Edwardian classics.
Background on the author: E. Nesbit was born in Kennington, Surrey in 1858. The death of her father when she was four years old and the continuing ill health of her sister meant that Nesbit had a childhood absent focused adult attention, and frequent moves. Her family moved across Europe in search of healthy climates for her sister, only to return to England for financial reasons. Growing up, she lived in France, Spain and Germany in addition to various locations in Great Britain. Her education came from a combination of periods in local elementary/grammar schools and the occasional boarding school but predominately through reading. Nesbit wanted to be known as a poet and in her teens had a poem published. This gave her greater confidence to write more, both for adults and children, but it is for her 60+ children's books (including those on which she collaborated with other authors) she is best known. She distinguished herself from other writers of her time by writing about children as they were, and rewriting conventional adventure stories to present them with female characters in lead roles.
Her friends included HG Wells and George Bernard Shaw. She also was a political activist and a follower of William Morris and she and her husband Hubert Bland were among the founders of the Fabian Society, a socialist organization later affiliated to the Labour Party. Nesbit was an active lecturer and prolific writer on socialism during the 1880s.
Interesting links and articles (which may, necessarily, include spoilers):
http://www.foliosociety.com/author/ed... (biography)
https://lit4334goldenage.wordpress.co...
http://muse.jhu.edu/article/271157
Read
December 8, 2017Although only written a couple of years earlier this was quite a different world to The Railway Children. It is a very simple kind of children's story. The parents are got rid of – not by sending the children away to school, nor by having them eaten by an escaped hippo from the zoo, but by the rather quaint expedient of having them go away on business.
Living in the Kent countryside between a chalk quarry and a gravel pit the gaggle of five children dig up a magical creature (the 'It' of the title) which grants them one wish per day that lasts until sunset. Each chapter then recounts the adventures that each day's one wish causes them. All the wishes and the adventures that follow bear out the maxim “be careful what you wish for”. Structurally it is as simple as could be, unlike the later book there are no flashes of the mother becoming a writer, being on the breadline, or political deviancy in Russia.
All the same it had me laughing in the mornings while waiting for my train, not laughing as in the blurbs on the back of comic novels that say things like 'uproariously funny' even though at most you suffer from one involuntary upward twist of the lips, but instead actually laughing were the face crinkles and you flash your teeth in a friendly manner. Most of this was probably because of the naivety of the children, who get taught to be sour and suspicious, particularly because of their inability to express their wishes in an optimal manner, so that they get exactly what they asked for instead of what they wanted. In a sequel they ought to all grow up to become contract lawyers.
There are interesting flashes of empire – one of the boys hopes to grow up to plunder Africa so he can give piles of jewels to his mum . But these are children expressing a child's perspective on the world, adults don't make any comment on empire, instead they are frightened of burglary and forged coins.
Some of the wishes come out of the children's reading and this gives a tortuous twist to the question of the child's perspective, because when they wish that their home is a castle besieged by hostile knights, or that they have blood-curdling adventures with red Indians what they get is a magical reconstruction of their memories of their reading - so the 'medieval' knights speak in the bizarre kind of English used in late Victorian children's books and wear so odd a mixture of arms and armour as to make a Hollywood film look almost like a textbook example of historical accuracy. The Indians come off even worse, apparently the poor children had been reading the Leather-stocking Tales . Perhaps not so much a case of being careful what you wish for but of the need to be careful of what you read.
Unfortunately the claim is made in the book that firewood cannot be found in the whole of Kent. This is a lie, there are loads of old pallets to be had lying around, and if you know where to look, old kitchen units too.
In a wider perspective the book is interesting in that the children are responsible. First for causing problems through their unwise, or incautious wishes. Secondly for resolving those problems through the application of brainpower and persuasion. The adults are unaware of the problems that the children confront, and would in any case be incapable of solving them as the children can - in this there is a strong thematic link to The Railway Children, there the mother may earn the money but it is the children and their actions that eventually lead to the resolution of a resolutely non-magical crisis.
Living in the Kent countryside between a chalk quarry and a gravel pit the gaggle of five children dig up a magical creature (the 'It' of the title) which grants them one wish per day that lasts until sunset. Each chapter then recounts the adventures that each day's one wish causes them. All the wishes and the adventures that follow bear out the maxim “be careful what you wish for”. Structurally it is as simple as could be, unlike the later book there are no flashes of the mother becoming a writer, being on the breadline, or political deviancy in Russia.
All the same it had me laughing in the mornings while waiting for my train, not laughing as in the blurbs on the back of comic novels that say things like 'uproariously funny' even though at most you suffer from one involuntary upward twist of the lips, but instead actually laughing were the face crinkles and you flash your teeth in a friendly manner. Most of this was probably because of the naivety of the children, who get taught to be sour and suspicious, particularly because of their inability to express their wishes in an optimal manner, so that they get exactly what they asked for instead of what they wanted. In a sequel they ought to all grow up to become contract lawyers.
There are interesting flashes of empire – one of the boys hopes to grow up to plunder Africa so he can give piles of jewels to his mum . But these are children expressing a child's perspective on the world, adults don't make any comment on empire, instead they are frightened of burglary and forged coins.
Some of the wishes come out of the children's reading and this gives a tortuous twist to the question of the child's perspective, because when they wish that their home is a castle besieged by hostile knights, or that they have blood-curdling adventures with red Indians what they get is a magical reconstruction of their memories of their reading - so the 'medieval' knights speak in the bizarre kind of English used in late Victorian children's books and wear so odd a mixture of arms and armour as to make a Hollywood film look almost like a textbook example of historical accuracy. The Indians come off even worse, apparently the poor children had been reading the Leather-stocking Tales . Perhaps not so much a case of being careful what you wish for but of the need to be careful of what you read.
Unfortunately the claim is made in the book that firewood cannot be found in the whole of Kent. This is a lie, there are loads of old pallets to be had lying around, and if you know where to look, old kitchen units too.
In a wider perspective the book is interesting in that the children are responsible. First for causing problems through their unwise, or incautious wishes. Secondly for resolving those problems through the application of brainpower and persuasion. The adults are unaware of the problems that the children confront, and would in any case be incapable of solving them as the children can - in this there is a strong thematic link to The Railway Children, there the mother may earn the money but it is the children and their actions that eventually lead to the resolution of a resolutely non-magical crisis.
April 25, 2010
Somehow I missed reading Five Children and It when I was a child myself, so when I saw a copy at a yard sale I had to buy it. It only cost 10p, and the little girl who sold it to me looked rather like an E. Nesbit heroine, very serious, with huge dark eyes. The plot is a variant on "be careful what you wish for", one of her favourite themes. Some of the episodes are excellent, and it's full of delightful asides. But the construction is rather loose, and the ending is weak. I think she was dissatisfied with it and rewrote it a few years later as
The Enchanted Castle
, to my mind her clear masterpiece.
So, if you're as much of an E. Nesbit fan as I am, I definitely recommend reading this book. If you like classic children's novels and aren't familiar with her work, skip straight to Castle. You won't be disappointed.
So, if you're as much of an E. Nesbit fan as I am, I definitely recommend reading this book. If you like classic children's novels and aren't familiar with her work, skip straight to Castle. You won't be disappointed.
June 26, 2024
The story's moral is a timeless reminder that
what you wish for might not always bring the happiness you expect.
☆ (1 star)
Author could have gotten that through without the racism and the stereotypes. On top of the kids not being judgemental and insufferable. And yes, I know when the damn book was written.
Updated review**
☆ (1 star)
Author could have gotten that through without the racism and the stereotypes. On top of the kids not being judgemental and insufferable. And yes, I know when the damn book was written.
Updated review**
August 1, 2008
Nesbit is the great-grandma of pretty nearly all the children's fantasy books we love, the first author to write really wittily for kids and without condescending to them, and the originator of the basic structure that carries on through C.S. Lewis and Edward Eager and even in a way Jo Rowling: four children, usually siblings or cousins but sometimes friends, stumble on a magical something that leads them into a series of fantastic adventures and important discoveries (gently conveyed) about the big issues of life. Her books have a lovely period feel, not unlike the opening pages of Alice in Wonderland, tempered by Nesbit's practical sensibility about the real world and her sardonic sense of humor, which makes the books a very enjoyable read for adults as well as great read-alouds.
In this story, written in 1902, the magical something is a Psammead, a grumpy Persian sand fairy that looks something like a large tubby rodent with eyes on the end of stalks. The Psammead is compelled to grant its finders one wish per day, which the children are initially thrilled about, but they soon discover that wishes are chancy things and the Psammead perversely literal in granting them, with often unlooked for and unideal consequences. There are two sequels, THE PHOENIX AND THE CARPET, written in 1904 and my personal favorite (I always hear John Gielgud's voice coming out of the Phoenix) and THE STORY OF THE AMULET (1906).
Theatre folks may be interested to know that Nesbit was Noel Coward's favorite writer; there was a copy of THE ENCHANTED CASTLE on his bedside table at Firefly when he died. "Her books," he wrote, "have meant a very great deal to me, not only when I was a little boy of nine and onwards, but right up to the present day. I have re-read them each at least twenty times....She had an economy of phrase, and an unequalled talent for evoking hot summer days in the English countryside." His favorites? FIVE CHILDREN AND IT, THE PHOENIX AND THE CARPET, THE HOUSE OF ARDEN, THE ENCHANTED CASTLE, THE WONDERFUL GARDEN, and the Bastable series.
The Brits did a film adaptation in 2004, somewhat different to the book in the way the story gets launched, with Freddie Highmore leading the juvenile cast, and Tara Fitzgerald, Alex Jennings, Zoe Wanamaker and Kenneth Branagh as the adults. In a stroke of total casting genius, the voice of the Psammead is provided by Eddie Izzard.
In this story, written in 1902, the magical something is a Psammead, a grumpy Persian sand fairy that looks something like a large tubby rodent with eyes on the end of stalks. The Psammead is compelled to grant its finders one wish per day, which the children are initially thrilled about, but they soon discover that wishes are chancy things and the Psammead perversely literal in granting them, with often unlooked for and unideal consequences. There are two sequels, THE PHOENIX AND THE CARPET, written in 1904 and my personal favorite (I always hear John Gielgud's voice coming out of the Phoenix) and THE STORY OF THE AMULET (1906).
Theatre folks may be interested to know that Nesbit was Noel Coward's favorite writer; there was a copy of THE ENCHANTED CASTLE on his bedside table at Firefly when he died. "Her books," he wrote, "have meant a very great deal to me, not only when I was a little boy of nine and onwards, but right up to the present day. I have re-read them each at least twenty times....She had an economy of phrase, and an unequalled talent for evoking hot summer days in the English countryside." His favorites? FIVE CHILDREN AND IT, THE PHOENIX AND THE CARPET, THE HOUSE OF ARDEN, THE ENCHANTED CASTLE, THE WONDERFUL GARDEN, and the Bastable series.
The Brits did a film adaptation in 2004, somewhat different to the book in the way the story gets launched, with Freddie Highmore leading the juvenile cast, and Tara Fitzgerald, Alex Jennings, Zoe Wanamaker and Kenneth Branagh as the adults. In a stroke of total casting genius, the voice of the Psammead is provided by Eddie Izzard.
October 14, 2025
I’m on a roll this year! I am pretty stingy with my five star ratings so to give yet another six stars is something!
This easily wins six stars.
The premise and execution are positively clever. The children find a sand fairy, and when they learn that it grants wishes, they kind of make one on the spot without putting much thought into it. And the wish goes comically awry. In fact, all the wishes do, and the poor children feel that the sandy fairy does it on purpose.
It’s truly hard to say which chapter is the best! The one about wishing for gold? Or the chapter where they’re stuck indoors all day? Or how about when their baby brother turns grown-up? It’s pure comedic perfection that will have the entire family in stitches!
Nesbit is a marvelous story-teller - I adore her writing style. C. S. Lewis did too, and one can tell he fashions his writing after hers.
In addition to this book being highly entertaining, there’s some valuable moral lessons imbedded into the story.
Add this to your home library and read it at your earliest convenience. It will make for an awesome read-aloud!
You’re welcome. ☺️
Ages: 9 months - 132 years
Content Considerations: the word idiot is used several times. Shut up is said.
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This easily wins six stars.
The premise and execution are positively clever. The children find a sand fairy, and when they learn that it grants wishes, they kind of make one on the spot without putting much thought into it. And the wish goes comically awry. In fact, all the wishes do, and the poor children feel that the sandy fairy does it on purpose.
It’s truly hard to say which chapter is the best! The one about wishing for gold? Or the chapter where they’re stuck indoors all day? Or how about when their baby brother turns grown-up? It’s pure comedic perfection that will have the entire family in stitches!
Nesbit is a marvelous story-teller - I adore her writing style. C. S. Lewis did too, and one can tell he fashions his writing after hers.
In addition to this book being highly entertaining, there’s some valuable moral lessons imbedded into the story.
Add this to your home library and read it at your earliest convenience. It will make for an awesome read-aloud!
You’re welcome. ☺️
Ages: 9 months - 132 years
Content Considerations: the word idiot is used several times. Shut up is said.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide Content Considerations, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
If you’re considering a book or looking for a new title to read, check out my highly categorized shelves, read my reviews and Friend or Follow me to spiff up your feed with clean, wholesome, living books.
I have an Instagram account that’s pretty bookishly unique too!
August 16, 2023
Five Children and It was a fantasy children's story published by Edith Nesbit in 1902. Clearly, a classic with moral and educational themes for children about wishes and avarice. The five children are left alone with a house full of servants while their parents must take care of one of the grandparents due to sudden illness.
While playing near a quarry, the children find a Psammead or what amounts to a genie that offers them collectively one wish per day. Obviously, this leads the children into daily escapades that require a sense of self-reflection, and a daily acquisition of wisdom.
The novel is whimsical and cute, with an innocent perspective as to what constitutes wealth and its acquisition. A classic due to my three criteria of paradigm defining, exceptionalism, and longevity. I like to consider myself a hardcore horror fan, but occasionally it's good to read other things. Here, I thoroughly enjoyed this children's fantasy book.
While playing near a quarry, the children find a Psammead or what amounts to a genie that offers them collectively one wish per day. Obviously, this leads the children into daily escapades that require a sense of self-reflection, and a daily acquisition of wisdom.
The novel is whimsical and cute, with an innocent perspective as to what constitutes wealth and its acquisition. A classic due to my three criteria of paradigm defining, exceptionalism, and longevity. I like to consider myself a hardcore horror fan, but occasionally it's good to read other things. Here, I thoroughly enjoyed this children's fantasy book.
November 15, 2018
This was a rather pleasant trip down memory lane for me, as I distinctly remember rushing home from school in order to watch the TV adaptation of this book. Unfortunately though, I didn't enjoy this as much as I had anticipated.
I can understand why this book is a children's classic. It is different, imaginative, and really, let's be honest, who wouldn't want to casually find a sand fairy?
This book lacked something for me. Something that I cannot quite put my finger on, but it has definitely resulted in me not relating to, nor caring about the children, plus, I'm half considering not carrying on with the series.
I can understand why this book is a children's classic. It is different, imaginative, and really, let's be honest, who wouldn't want to casually find a sand fairy?
This book lacked something for me. Something that I cannot quite put my finger on, but it has definitely resulted in me not relating to, nor caring about the children, plus, I'm half considering not carrying on with the series.
August 2, 2015
I loved this book as a child, and read it over and over. The idea of having a wish every day is so appealing, but then seeing how it goes hilariously wrong day after day is great, too. I read this aloud to my kids (July 2015), and though my 10yo liked it, my 6yo was less engaged. I found myself having to stop and explain things here and there, because it's both old-fashioned and British. I think it's easier to read to yourself, you can SEE how the name Anthea becomes Panther becomes Panty in baby talk, but when someone reads to you that Anthea says, "Come to own Panty!" to the baby, it just sounds weird.
Still, a fun book, at least in my opinion!
Still, a fun book, at least in my opinion!
July 10, 2017
This is a perfectly delightful story of the misadventures of five siblings who are granted a daily wish by a prehistoric creature who lives in the sandpit near their home. One of the eleven chapters would, by modern standards, be deemed racist. However, this fault might be overlooked when the reader considers the date of publication and could be used as a teachable moment if reading with a child. All in all, this entertaining tale elicited many chuckles and the occasional loud guffaw! The most fun I've had since reading The Red Blazer Girls books earlier this year.
February 22, 2024
420/1001 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
“Grown-up people find it very difficult to believe really wonderful things, unless they have what they call proof.”
“Grown-up people find it very difficult to believe really wonderful things, unless they have what they call proof.”
March 8, 2021
A classic tale of wishes (especially those that are endless) never quite being as wonderful as you think.
(4) 🌟🌟🌟🌟
(4) 🌟🌟🌟🌟
June 11, 2019
Ladies and gentlemen 3,5 I will try something, which until now had never done to write three reviews in one day. Unfortunately I could not get to write three reviews on the same day, because I was helping my boss with the proceedings, and do not regret me pass it to me as a child:-).
I liked this book, being Edith Nesbit was to be expected, and as I said I was thinking about putting 4 stars, but there have been several factors, which have prevented me from it. In the first place is that I think the best will be required, and certainly Edith Nesbit has talent, for much more. This story I liked a lot, but not as much as "treasure hunters" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... & from_search = true or their tales of dragons https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...
Firstly, I believe that it should explain the reason why I read this book. Months ago in April, I read that book of the "history of fantasy" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... & from_search = true
written by Silvia Pato https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
, and edited by Nowtilus publishing, despite his anti-Christian bias, and feminist is a book that I liked, and I recommend, despite their unfairest prejudice. In that book spoke of Edith Nesbit (I already knew the "five guys, and that" in part because Goodreads, recommended it to me and my conversations with the Professor Manuel Alfonseca https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...) ). I discovered thanks to "the brief history of the fantasy" to "five guys and that" was based on a Japanese anime, which I saw in the tve1 when small Shamed was the magic Elf, which I loved. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samed, _el_duende_magico However, it seems to be that there were differences, which we will be examining.
First thing, I must say this book. It is that I really enjoyed the Edition, which has made the editorial El Paseo. I must say, that I will continue to this editorial with enormous interest. It was a success by the editorial El Paseo rescue the original drawings.
The beginning, perhaps a little weaker than expected, but very well are the following chapters, which are among the best that has been written in children's literature, if Edith Nesbit had maintained that pace during the entire novel, no doubt you would have put the five stars to the book. Those pages reminded me of the best moments of "golden age" Kenneth Grahame https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... and the William of Richmal Crompton https://www.goodreads.com/series/4328... (the William, will always be a kid's version of the great P.G. Wodehouse https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... that sometimes even manages to overcome it), but going back to "five children and that" one of the biggest attractions of the book is without a doubt the moral and ethical tone of the book. Aside from that the five children in this case three children (one a baby) and two girls live incredible adventures. We will see how Nesbit encouraged against greed (remember, that these stories Edith Nesbit wrote them for his son, as did Kenneth Grahame, James Mathew Barrie https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... )
for protégés, James A.A. Milne https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
or the own J.R.R. Tolkien https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Sometimes we will be touched considerably. At least in some chapter I felt deeply moved. Also despite being a novel halfway between realism and fantasy all in one of the stories, because except, that sometime the wishes are lengthened into two chapters, but usually every wish is a chapter. With all Nesbit in one of wishes you will use a resource, which will be then used in many novels of fantasy, science fiction uy. I do not say that, should the users of Goodreads, who read this book find out for itself. One of the positive things about this wonderful book is the number of writers who quote and Nesbit refers to them as to Rudyard Kipling https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... or the own Anstey, the author of "vice versa a lesson for parents" https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... in fact the author herself in the final chapter tells us, F. Anstey book inspired her to end https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7... "The brass bottle". In this story a genius ask which desires does not perform them well, and up to the end just getting his master in the bottle, and replacing him, getting rid of the problem by, someone asked him, wish this had not happened. Nesbit also speaks a story of medieval adventures of Ralph de Courcy, but I have not managed to find. With all the Knight Sir Wulfric de Talbot left me a great mark. Now we are going to talk about the crux issue why they have not given him four stars? We all know that Psamead, or that is a fairy of sand, which is leading in the hole since prehistoric times, I think, to tell the story to his son Nesbit was very strict with the chronology, by what we will see many anachronisms. I doubt that the primitive men asked him to Psamead Ictiosaurios, and other types of lizards. Nor does it seem very credible, that the Psamead tell the story of the son of the Assyrian king, when it was buried in prehistory. How did it know if it was buried? Another thing is that the Psamead says, that wishes only last a day, but has the power, so the maid Martha does not know (and that lasts forever), and also manage to make the Psamead to grant them the desire before ordering it. How it is possible that you have so much power, for one thing, and then so little for other? Another thing that infuriates me is that children in particular to Anthea Panther You'll want to, but the Psamead is somewhat obnoxious, and since then I do not know the reader, but certainly I do not fell I well. It is the more sullen and surly with what I found. I also wonder if Robert has no part of reason to say, if the Psamead is an evil fairy. What says you Father Brown Flambeau in "Sins of the Saradine Prince" when he said that they wrote fairytale know more than that you, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... or when he says that he didn't say that it was wrong to enter into the Kingdom of fairies, but always had danger in it. That's the pay, none of the wishes granted to boys goes well. This is the difference that I have with Nesbit. Why is so generous to the boys of "The treasure seekers" and instead is hard with these poor guys? In my opinion we learn hard lessons of life. If the Psamead as they appreciate not want to, or not it can grant wishes, should have said from the beginning, although of course, but there would be no novel. Yet I suspect, that Nesbit was Socialist Fabiana (with all the story we must recognize, that makes no apology for socialism, or tries to inoculate the reader. Only lightly in "The railway children" is also a good novel). I think, it kind of "Treasure hunters", because they are poor, and instead of these not is it mercy, because they need to go. We talked about my friend Alfonseca, and I of this circumstance, and said that left-wing writers such as Aldous Huxley, and Arthur C. Clarke always felt preference for Buddhism. I believe that Nesbit is something good, that I learn to be happy with what we have, but, although the Psamead says, that they are not asking well wishes. My impression is that you except the final wishes. I think Nesbit is wrong in one thing and it's not bad to want things, provided that what is asked is good. I think about my favorite series Doraemon The Gadget Cat from the future. Inventions are not bad, but the way that Nobita, Suneo and Giant employ them. . I told a joke to my friend Alfonseca and said no I wanted you, because we'll do it for you. My friend told me, that one of the stories, that delves more into the subject of how dangerous that is ask certain desires is the story of the "hand of the monkey" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8... . Not a big fan of the Simpsons I am lately, but don't miss out on the fun Halloween, that made this story of W.W. Jacobs. I believe that the screenwriter had even worse bad grapes, that own Jacobs. The same thing happens, I think with the desires. The last wishes are a both absurd, and are not as good as the middle. Although there is one very funny that Nesbit get call and call to the Hilary Maur W. baby lamb three ways and the uses of comic and hilarious way with much wit. In short, it is a very good book, but a little bit, has lacked to overcome that line that separates the good from the great. All in all, a very entertaining reading.
............................................................................................................................................................................
Damas y caballeros voy a intentar algo, que hasta el momento nunca había hecho escribir tres críticas en un día. Desgraciadamente no pude conseguir escribir tres críticas el mismo día, porque estuve ayudando a mi Jefe con las Actas, y no me arrepiento me lo pase como un niño :-).
Este libro me ha gustado mucho (mi nota es de 3,5) siendo Edith Nesbit era de esperar, y como dije estuve pensando ponerle 4 estrellas, pero ha habido varios factores, que me lo han impedido. En primer lugar es que yo pienso que a los mejores hay que exigirles, y ciertamente Edith Nesbit tiene talento, para mucho más. Esta historia me ha gustado muchísimo, pero no tanto como “Buscadores de tesoros” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... o sus cuentos de dragones https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...
En primer lugar, creo, que debería explicar el motivo por el que leí este libro. Hace meses en abril, leí ese libro de la “Historia de la fantasía” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... escrito por Silvia Pato https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... , y editado por la editorial Nowtilus, pese a su sesgo anticristiano, y feminista es un libro que me gustó mucho, y que, recomiendo, pese a sus injustísimos prejuicios. En ese libro se hablaba de Edith Nesbit (yo, ya conocía los “Cinco chicos, y eso” en parte porque me lo recomendó Goodreads, y por mis conversaciones con el Profesor Manuel Alfonseca https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... ). Descubrí gracias a “La breve historia de la fantasía” que “Cinco chicos y eso” estaba basado en un anime japonés, que yo veía en la tve1 cuando era pequeño Shamed el Duende mágico, que me encantaba. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samed,_... Con todo, parece ser, que había diferencias, que iremos examinando.
Lo primero, que debo decir de este libro. Es que me ha gustado mucho la edición, que ha hecho la editorial El Paseo. Debo decir, que seguiré a esta editorial con enorme interés. Fue un acierto por parte de la editorial El Paseo rescatar los dibujos originales.
El comienzo, quizá sea un poco más flojo de lo esperado, pero están muy bien los siguientes capítulos, que están entre lo mejor, que se ha escrito en literatura infantil, si Edith Nesbit hubiera mantenido ese ritmo durante toda la novela, sin duda le habría puesto las cinco estrellas al libro. Esas páginas me recordaron a los mejores momentos de “La edad dorada” de Kenneth Grahame https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... y los Guillermos de Richmal Crompton https://www.goodreads.com/series/4328... (Los Guillermos, siempre serán una versión infantil del gran P.G. Wodehouse https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... que a veces incluso llega a superarlo), pero volviendo a “Cinco niños y eso” uno de los mayores atractivos del libro es sin duda el tono moral, y ético del libro. Al margen de que los cinco niños en este caso tres niños (uno un bebe) y dos chicas vivan unas aventuras increíbles. Veremos cómo Nesbit les alienta contrala codicia (cabe recordar, que estos cuentos Edith Nesbit los escribía para su hijo, como lo hicieron Kenneth Grahame, James Mathew Barrie https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... para sus protegidos, James A.A. Milne https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... o el propio J.R.R. Tolkien https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... ) Algunos momentos nos enternecerán considerablemente. Yo por lo menos en algún capítulo me sentí hondamente conmovido. También pese a ser una novela a medio camino entre el realismo y la fantasía con todo en una de las historias, porque salvo, que en algún momento los deseos se alargan en dos capítulos, pero generalmente cada deseo es un capítulo. Con todo Nesbit en uno de los deseos usará un recurso, que luego será utilizada en muchas novelas de fantasía, uy ciencia ficción. No digo cual eso, deberán los usuarios de Goodreads, que lean este libro descubrirlo por sí mismo. Otra de las cosas positivas de este maravilloso libro es la cantidad de escritores a los que cita y a los que Nesbit hace referencia como a Rudyard Kipling https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... o el propio Anstey el autor de “Viceversa una lección para padres” https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... de hecho la propia autora en el capítulo final nos dice, que libro de F. Anstey la inspiró, para el final https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7... “The brass bottle” . En este relato un genio al que le piden deseos no los realiza bien, y encima al final acaba metiendo a su amo en la botella, y sustituyéndole, librándose del problema haciendo, que alguien le pidiese, desearía que esto no hubiera ocurrido. También Nesbit habla de un relato de aventuras medievales de Ralph de Courcy, pero no lo he conseguido encontrar. Con todo me dejó una gran impronta el caballero Sir Wulfric de Talbot.
Ahora vamos a hablar del quid de la cuestión de ¿Por qué no le he dado las cuatro estrellas? Todos sabemos que Psamead, o el Eso es un hada de arena, que se supone, que lleva en el agujero desde la prehistoria, yo creo, que al contarle el relato a su hijo Nesbit no fue muy rigurosa con la cronología, por lo que veremos muchos anacronismos. Dudo que los hombres primitivos le pidieran al Psamead Ictiosaurios, y otros tipos de saurios. Tampoco me parece muy creíble, que el Psamead cuente la historia del hijo del Rey Asirio, cuando se enterró en la prehistoria. ¿Cómo lo supo si estaba enterrado? Otra cosa es que el Psamead dice, que los deseos sólo duran un día, pero tiene el poder, para que la criada Martha no se entera (y eso dura para siempre), y también se las arreglan para que el Psamead les conceda el deseo antes de pedirlo. ¿Cómo es posible que tenga tanto poder, para una cosa, y luego tan poco para otras? Otra cosa, que me enfurece es que a los niños en especial a Anthea la pantera le gustará, pero el Psamead es un tanto odioso, y desde luego no sé al lector, pero desde luego a mí no me cayó bien. Es lo más huraño, y arisco con lo que me he encontrado. Además yo me pregunto si Robert no tiene parte de razón al decir, si el Psamead es un hada maléfica. Lo que le apunta el Padre Brown a Flambeau en “Los pecados del Príncipe Saradine” cuando decía que los que escribían de cuentos de hadas sabían más de eso que usted, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... o cuando dice que no dijo que fuera malo entrar en el reino de las hadas, sino que siempre había peligro en ello. Esa es la paga, que ninguno de los deseos concedidos a los chicos sale bien. Esta es la diferencia, que yo tengo con Nesbit. ¿Por qué es tan generosa con los chicos de “Los buscadores de tesoros” y en cambio es tan dura con estos pobres chicos? En mi opinión les hace aprender de forma muy dura las lecciones de la vida. Si el Psamead como se apreciará no quiere, o no puede conceder deseos, debería haberlo dicho desde el principio, aunque claro, sino no habría novela. Con todo yo sospecho, que Nesbit que era socialista Fabiana (con todo el relato hay que reconocer, que no hace apología del socialismo, ni trata de inocularlo al lector. Sólo ligeramente en “Los chicos del ferrocarril” que también es una buena novela). Yo, creo, que se apiada de los “Buscadores de tesoros”, porque son pobres, y en cambio de estos no se apiada tanto, porque pasan necesidad. Estuvimos hablando mi amigo Alfonseca, y yo de esta circunstancia, y me dijo que escritores de izquierdas como Aldous Huxley, y Arthur C. Clarke siempre sintieron preferencias por el budismo. Yo, creo, que Nesbit trata algo bueno, de que aprendamos a ser felices con lo que tenemos, pero, aunque el Psamead dice, que no están pidiendo bien los deseos. Mi impresión es que salvo los deseos finales. Yo, creo, que Nesbit se equivoca en una cosa y es que no es malo desear cosas, siempre que lo que se pide sea bueno. Pienso en mi serie favorita Doraemon The Gadget Cat from the future. Los inventos no son malos, sino la forma en que los emplean Nobita, Suneo, y Gigante. Yo le conté un chiste a mi amigo Alfonseca y le dije no deseé usted, ya lo haremos nosotros por usted. Mi amigo me dijo, que uno de los relatos, que ahonda más en el tema de lo peligroso que es pedir ciertos deseos es el relato de la “Mano del mono” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8... . No soy últimamente un gran fan de los Simpsons, pero no se pierdan el divertido Halloween, que hicieron de ese relato de W.W. Jacobs. Yo creo, que el guionista aún tenía peor mala uva, que el propio Jacobs.
Lo mismo pasa creo, yo con los deseos. Los últimos deseos son un tanto absurdos, y no son tan buenos como los del medio. Aunque hay uno muy divertido en el que Nesbit consigue denominar y llamar al bebe corderito de tres maneras diferentes Hilary Maur W. y la emplea de forma cómica, e hilarante con mucho ingenio.
En resumen, es un libro muy bueno, pero le ha faltado un poquitín, para superar esa línea que separa lo bueno de lo grandioso. Con todo, una lectura muy entretenida.
I liked this book, being Edith Nesbit was to be expected, and as I said I was thinking about putting 4 stars, but there have been several factors, which have prevented me from it. In the first place is that I think the best will be required, and certainly Edith Nesbit has talent, for much more. This story I liked a lot, but not as much as "treasure hunters" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... & from_search = true or their tales of dragons https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...
Firstly, I believe that it should explain the reason why I read this book. Months ago in April, I read that book of the "history of fantasy" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... & from_search = true
written by Silvia Pato https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
, and edited by Nowtilus publishing, despite his anti-Christian bias, and feminist is a book that I liked, and I recommend, despite their unfairest prejudice. In that book spoke of Edith Nesbit (I already knew the "five guys, and that" in part because Goodreads, recommended it to me and my conversations with the Professor Manuel Alfonseca https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...) ). I discovered thanks to "the brief history of the fantasy" to "five guys and that" was based on a Japanese anime, which I saw in the tve1 when small Shamed was the magic Elf, which I loved. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samed, _el_duende_magico However, it seems to be that there were differences, which we will be examining.
First thing, I must say this book. It is that I really enjoyed the Edition, which has made the editorial El Paseo. I must say, that I will continue to this editorial with enormous interest. It was a success by the editorial El Paseo rescue the original drawings.
The beginning, perhaps a little weaker than expected, but very well are the following chapters, which are among the best that has been written in children's literature, if Edith Nesbit had maintained that pace during the entire novel, no doubt you would have put the five stars to the book. Those pages reminded me of the best moments of "golden age" Kenneth Grahame https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... and the William of Richmal Crompton https://www.goodreads.com/series/4328... (the William, will always be a kid's version of the great P.G. Wodehouse https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... that sometimes even manages to overcome it), but going back to "five children and that" one of the biggest attractions of the book is without a doubt the moral and ethical tone of the book. Aside from that the five children in this case three children (one a baby) and two girls live incredible adventures. We will see how Nesbit encouraged against greed (remember, that these stories Edith Nesbit wrote them for his son, as did Kenneth Grahame, James Mathew Barrie https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... )
for protégés, James A.A. Milne https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
or the own J.R.R. Tolkien https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Sometimes we will be touched considerably. At least in some chapter I felt deeply moved. Also despite being a novel halfway between realism and fantasy all in one of the stories, because except, that sometime the wishes are lengthened into two chapters, but usually every wish is a chapter. With all Nesbit in one of wishes you will use a resource, which will be then used in many novels of fantasy, science fiction uy. I do not say that, should the users of Goodreads, who read this book find out for itself. One of the positive things about this wonderful book is the number of writers who quote and Nesbit refers to them as to Rudyard Kipling https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... or the own Anstey, the author of "vice versa a lesson for parents" https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... in fact the author herself in the final chapter tells us, F. Anstey book inspired her to end https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7... "The brass bottle". In this story a genius ask which desires does not perform them well, and up to the end just getting his master in the bottle, and replacing him, getting rid of the problem by, someone asked him, wish this had not happened. Nesbit also speaks a story of medieval adventures of Ralph de Courcy, but I have not managed to find. With all the Knight Sir Wulfric de Talbot left me a great mark. Now we are going to talk about the crux issue why they have not given him four stars? We all know that Psamead, or that is a fairy of sand, which is leading in the hole since prehistoric times, I think, to tell the story to his son Nesbit was very strict with the chronology, by what we will see many anachronisms. I doubt that the primitive men asked him to Psamead Ictiosaurios, and other types of lizards. Nor does it seem very credible, that the Psamead tell the story of the son of the Assyrian king, when it was buried in prehistory. How did it know if it was buried? Another thing is that the Psamead says, that wishes only last a day, but has the power, so the maid Martha does not know (and that lasts forever), and also manage to make the Psamead to grant them the desire before ordering it. How it is possible that you have so much power, for one thing, and then so little for other? Another thing that infuriates me is that children in particular to Anthea Panther You'll want to, but the Psamead is somewhat obnoxious, and since then I do not know the reader, but certainly I do not fell I well. It is the more sullen and surly with what I found. I also wonder if Robert has no part of reason to say, if the Psamead is an evil fairy. What says you Father Brown Flambeau in "Sins of the Saradine Prince" when he said that they wrote fairytale know more than that you, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... or when he says that he didn't say that it was wrong to enter into the Kingdom of fairies, but always had danger in it. That's the pay, none of the wishes granted to boys goes well. This is the difference that I have with Nesbit. Why is so generous to the boys of "The treasure seekers" and instead is hard with these poor guys? In my opinion we learn hard lessons of life. If the Psamead as they appreciate not want to, or not it can grant wishes, should have said from the beginning, although of course, but there would be no novel. Yet I suspect, that Nesbit was Socialist Fabiana (with all the story we must recognize, that makes no apology for socialism, or tries to inoculate the reader. Only lightly in "The railway children" is also a good novel). I think, it kind of "Treasure hunters", because they are poor, and instead of these not is it mercy, because they need to go. We talked about my friend Alfonseca, and I of this circumstance, and said that left-wing writers such as Aldous Huxley, and Arthur C. Clarke always felt preference for Buddhism. I believe that Nesbit is something good, that I learn to be happy with what we have, but, although the Psamead says, that they are not asking well wishes. My impression is that you except the final wishes. I think Nesbit is wrong in one thing and it's not bad to want things, provided that what is asked is good. I think about my favorite series Doraemon The Gadget Cat from the future. Inventions are not bad, but the way that Nobita, Suneo and Giant employ them. . I told a joke to my friend Alfonseca and said no I wanted you, because we'll do it for you. My friend told me, that one of the stories, that delves more into the subject of how dangerous that is ask certain desires is the story of the "hand of the monkey" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8... . Not a big fan of the Simpsons I am lately, but don't miss out on the fun Halloween, that made this story of W.W. Jacobs. I believe that the screenwriter had even worse bad grapes, that own Jacobs. The same thing happens, I think with the desires. The last wishes are a both absurd, and are not as good as the middle. Although there is one very funny that Nesbit get call and call to the Hilary Maur W. baby lamb three ways and the uses of comic and hilarious way with much wit. In short, it is a very good book, but a little bit, has lacked to overcome that line that separates the good from the great. All in all, a very entertaining reading.
............................................................................................................................................................................
Damas y caballeros voy a intentar algo, que hasta el momento nunca había hecho escribir tres críticas en un día. Desgraciadamente no pude conseguir escribir tres críticas el mismo día, porque estuve ayudando a mi Jefe con las Actas, y no me arrepiento me lo pase como un niño :-).
Este libro me ha gustado mucho (mi nota es de 3,5) siendo Edith Nesbit era de esperar, y como dije estuve pensando ponerle 4 estrellas, pero ha habido varios factores, que me lo han impedido. En primer lugar es que yo pienso que a los mejores hay que exigirles, y ciertamente Edith Nesbit tiene talento, para mucho más. Esta historia me ha gustado muchísimo, pero no tanto como “Buscadores de tesoros” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... o sus cuentos de dragones https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...
En primer lugar, creo, que debería explicar el motivo por el que leí este libro. Hace meses en abril, leí ese libro de la “Historia de la fantasía” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... escrito por Silvia Pato https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... , y editado por la editorial Nowtilus, pese a su sesgo anticristiano, y feminista es un libro que me gustó mucho, y que, recomiendo, pese a sus injustísimos prejuicios. En ese libro se hablaba de Edith Nesbit (yo, ya conocía los “Cinco chicos, y eso” en parte porque me lo recomendó Goodreads, y por mis conversaciones con el Profesor Manuel Alfonseca https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... ). Descubrí gracias a “La breve historia de la fantasía” que “Cinco chicos y eso” estaba basado en un anime japonés, que yo veía en la tve1 cuando era pequeño Shamed el Duende mágico, que me encantaba. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samed,_... Con todo, parece ser, que había diferencias, que iremos examinando.
Lo primero, que debo decir de este libro. Es que me ha gustado mucho la edición, que ha hecho la editorial El Paseo. Debo decir, que seguiré a esta editorial con enorme interés. Fue un acierto por parte de la editorial El Paseo rescatar los dibujos originales.
El comienzo, quizá sea un poco más flojo de lo esperado, pero están muy bien los siguientes capítulos, que están entre lo mejor, que se ha escrito en literatura infantil, si Edith Nesbit hubiera mantenido ese ritmo durante toda la novela, sin duda le habría puesto las cinco estrellas al libro. Esas páginas me recordaron a los mejores momentos de “La edad dorada” de Kenneth Grahame https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... y los Guillermos de Richmal Crompton https://www.goodreads.com/series/4328... (Los Guillermos, siempre serán una versión infantil del gran P.G. Wodehouse https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... que a veces incluso llega a superarlo), pero volviendo a “Cinco niños y eso” uno de los mayores atractivos del libro es sin duda el tono moral, y ético del libro. Al margen de que los cinco niños en este caso tres niños (uno un bebe) y dos chicas vivan unas aventuras increíbles. Veremos cómo Nesbit les alienta contrala codicia (cabe recordar, que estos cuentos Edith Nesbit los escribía para su hijo, como lo hicieron Kenneth Grahame, James Mathew Barrie https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... para sus protegidos, James A.A. Milne https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... o el propio J.R.R. Tolkien https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... ) Algunos momentos nos enternecerán considerablemente. Yo por lo menos en algún capítulo me sentí hondamente conmovido. También pese a ser una novela a medio camino entre el realismo y la fantasía con todo en una de las historias, porque salvo, que en algún momento los deseos se alargan en dos capítulos, pero generalmente cada deseo es un capítulo. Con todo Nesbit en uno de los deseos usará un recurso, que luego será utilizada en muchas novelas de fantasía, uy ciencia ficción. No digo cual eso, deberán los usuarios de Goodreads, que lean este libro descubrirlo por sí mismo. Otra de las cosas positivas de este maravilloso libro es la cantidad de escritores a los que cita y a los que Nesbit hace referencia como a Rudyard Kipling https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... o el propio Anstey el autor de “Viceversa una lección para padres” https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... de hecho la propia autora en el capítulo final nos dice, que libro de F. Anstey la inspiró, para el final https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7... “The brass bottle” . En este relato un genio al que le piden deseos no los realiza bien, y encima al final acaba metiendo a su amo en la botella, y sustituyéndole, librándose del problema haciendo, que alguien le pidiese, desearía que esto no hubiera ocurrido. También Nesbit habla de un relato de aventuras medievales de Ralph de Courcy, pero no lo he conseguido encontrar. Con todo me dejó una gran impronta el caballero Sir Wulfric de Talbot.
Ahora vamos a hablar del quid de la cuestión de ¿Por qué no le he dado las cuatro estrellas? Todos sabemos que Psamead, o el Eso es un hada de arena, que se supone, que lleva en el agujero desde la prehistoria, yo creo, que al contarle el relato a su hijo Nesbit no fue muy rigurosa con la cronología, por lo que veremos muchos anacronismos. Dudo que los hombres primitivos le pidieran al Psamead Ictiosaurios, y otros tipos de saurios. Tampoco me parece muy creíble, que el Psamead cuente la historia del hijo del Rey Asirio, cuando se enterró en la prehistoria. ¿Cómo lo supo si estaba enterrado? Otra cosa es que el Psamead dice, que los deseos sólo duran un día, pero tiene el poder, para que la criada Martha no se entera (y eso dura para siempre), y también se las arreglan para que el Psamead les conceda el deseo antes de pedirlo. ¿Cómo es posible que tenga tanto poder, para una cosa, y luego tan poco para otras? Otra cosa, que me enfurece es que a los niños en especial a Anthea la pantera le gustará, pero el Psamead es un tanto odioso, y desde luego no sé al lector, pero desde luego a mí no me cayó bien. Es lo más huraño, y arisco con lo que me he encontrado. Además yo me pregunto si Robert no tiene parte de razón al decir, si el Psamead es un hada maléfica. Lo que le apunta el Padre Brown a Flambeau en “Los pecados del Príncipe Saradine” cuando decía que los que escribían de cuentos de hadas sabían más de eso que usted, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... o cuando dice que no dijo que fuera malo entrar en el reino de las hadas, sino que siempre había peligro en ello. Esa es la paga, que ninguno de los deseos concedidos a los chicos sale bien. Esta es la diferencia, que yo tengo con Nesbit. ¿Por qué es tan generosa con los chicos de “Los buscadores de tesoros” y en cambio es tan dura con estos pobres chicos? En mi opinión les hace aprender de forma muy dura las lecciones de la vida. Si el Psamead como se apreciará no quiere, o no puede conceder deseos, debería haberlo dicho desde el principio, aunque claro, sino no habría novela. Con todo yo sospecho, que Nesbit que era socialista Fabiana (con todo el relato hay que reconocer, que no hace apología del socialismo, ni trata de inocularlo al lector. Sólo ligeramente en “Los chicos del ferrocarril” que también es una buena novela). Yo, creo, que se apiada de los “Buscadores de tesoros”, porque son pobres, y en cambio de estos no se apiada tanto, porque pasan necesidad. Estuvimos hablando mi amigo Alfonseca, y yo de esta circunstancia, y me dijo que escritores de izquierdas como Aldous Huxley, y Arthur C. Clarke siempre sintieron preferencias por el budismo. Yo, creo, que Nesbit trata algo bueno, de que aprendamos a ser felices con lo que tenemos, pero, aunque el Psamead dice, que no están pidiendo bien los deseos. Mi impresión es que salvo los deseos finales. Yo, creo, que Nesbit se equivoca en una cosa y es que no es malo desear cosas, siempre que lo que se pide sea bueno. Pienso en mi serie favorita Doraemon The Gadget Cat from the future. Los inventos no son malos, sino la forma en que los emplean Nobita, Suneo, y Gigante. Yo le conté un chiste a mi amigo Alfonseca y le dije no deseé usted, ya lo haremos nosotros por usted. Mi amigo me dijo, que uno de los relatos, que ahonda más en el tema de lo peligroso que es pedir ciertos deseos es el relato de la “Mano del mono” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8... . No soy últimamente un gran fan de los Simpsons, pero no se pierdan el divertido Halloween, que hicieron de ese relato de W.W. Jacobs. Yo creo, que el guionista aún tenía peor mala uva, que el propio Jacobs.
Lo mismo pasa creo, yo con los deseos. Los últimos deseos son un tanto absurdos, y no son tan buenos como los del medio. Aunque hay uno muy divertido en el que Nesbit consigue denominar y llamar al bebe corderito de tres maneras diferentes Hilary Maur W. y la emplea de forma cómica, e hilarante con mucho ingenio.
En resumen, es un libro muy bueno, pero le ha faltado un poquitín, para superar esa línea que separa lo bueno de lo grandioso. Con todo, una lectura muy entretenida.
March 14, 2020
I have chosen this rating because this book was really good and exciting
I really liked Anthea and the sand-fairy.
I would recommend this book for rebels and children with a big imagination!
I really liked Anthea and the sand-fairy.
I would recommend this book for rebels and children with a big imagination!
May 31, 2023
I really enjoyed reading this children's classic from 1902. I loved all five of the children even though they were very naughty and they got into such high jinks yet somehow they always managed to solve their mistakes and their problems. However, my favorite character is the Psammead who was very sarcastic and always granted the wishes of the children in unexpected ways! However, one thing that I hated about the Psammead is that he didn't grant the wish of women's suffrage. I also did not enjoy the racism in the book either but I understand that it was common at the time that the story was written in. However, I did enjoy the rest of the novel which is why it got such a high rating.
February 9, 2012
This novel was written in 1902. The author Edith Nesbit tells the story of five children (obviously) who come across a psammead, a sand fairy, while playing in a deserted gravel pit. This is one of the earliest examples of children left on their own who then have great adventures. Tha family goes to a house in the country on holiday when their father is called back to work and their mother leaves them to take care of her own sick mother. The children are basically on their own, minimally supervised by the help.
I loved the story. The children have uncovered a fairy who must now grant their wishes. He agrees to grant one wish a day, and informs them that the results last only 'til sunset. Of course, the children choose foolishly and then spend the rest of the day trying to survive the resulting situation. It's fun to imagine what one might wish for in their situation.
As I mentioned, the book was written on 1902. I was surprised to read the following: You know, grown up people often say they do not like to punish you, and that they only do it for your own good, and that it hurts them as much as it hurts you. I thought for sure my parents' generation thought that up ! Nesbit's writing is clever. I enjoyed the names. They call the baby "the lamb" because when he was learning to talk all he said was baaaa. The boy Cyril is called Squirrel by his sibs and Anthea is known as Panther. The five children are loosely based on her own children combined with children her husband had with his two mistresses! One of the mistresses lived with them. The other, along with her child, lived with Nesbit's mother. Nesbit was known for her lack of conformity to the day's mores and could be seen as eccentric.
Robert, one of the children, tells his siblings, "Oh, I'll be a soldier when I grow up--- you just see if I don't. I won't go into the Civil Service, whatever anyone says." For some reason, I just love that !
I loved the story. The children have uncovered a fairy who must now grant their wishes. He agrees to grant one wish a day, and informs them that the results last only 'til sunset. Of course, the children choose foolishly and then spend the rest of the day trying to survive the resulting situation. It's fun to imagine what one might wish for in their situation.
As I mentioned, the book was written on 1902. I was surprised to read the following: You know, grown up people often say they do not like to punish you, and that they only do it for your own good, and that it hurts them as much as it hurts you. I thought for sure my parents' generation thought that up ! Nesbit's writing is clever. I enjoyed the names. They call the baby "the lamb" because when he was learning to talk all he said was baaaa. The boy Cyril is called Squirrel by his sibs and Anthea is known as Panther. The five children are loosely based on her own children combined with children her husband had with his two mistresses! One of the mistresses lived with them. The other, along with her child, lived with Nesbit's mother. Nesbit was known for her lack of conformity to the day's mores and could be seen as eccentric.
Robert, one of the children, tells his siblings, "Oh, I'll be a soldier when I grow up--- you just see if I don't. I won't go into the Civil Service, whatever anyone says." For some reason, I just love that !
July 20, 2023
"It" here refers to a sand fairy, or Psammead that the five children discover while in the country. The Psammead is an irritable character but has the ability to grant wishes. How the children interact with it and take daily wishes from it which never really turn out as planned forms the crux of the story.
Though the writing is obviously dated, this is still an enjoyable book. It teaches kids how wishes aren't always what they seem like. A very nice book, and easily the best in the series. This is one book that children even today will enjoy. Rating: 3.75/5
PS: There's a movie by the same name. Don't go for it. It has just the bare facts in common with the book. The story is quite different and is pretty average. The book is way better.
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Though the writing is obviously dated, this is still an enjoyable book. It teaches kids how wishes aren't always what they seem like. A very nice book, and easily the best in the series. This is one book that children even today will enjoy. Rating: 3.75/5
PS: There's a movie by the same name. Don't go for it. It has just the bare facts in common with the book. The story is quite different and is pretty average. The book is way better.
********************************************
Join me on the Facebook group, " Readers Forever! ", for more reviews and other book-related discussions and fun.
December 25, 2012
Five children practically left on this own in a English countryside. This book was published in 1902, almost 50 years before C. S. Lewis wrote his The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
However, the similarity ends there. The story of Five Children and It does not bring you to a magical world at the back of a wardrobe. Rather, what the five children, Robert, Anthea, Cyril, Jane, and their baby brother, the Lamb find is a Psammead or a sand fairy has gotten buried in the sand since the Stone Age. The five children are digging the sand thinking that they will be able to see the other side of the earth particularly the Australian children. Funny, but this thought also came in my mind as a small boy when I learned in school that the earth is round and so I dug and dug in our backyard using a small gardening bolo. I wished to see the other side of the world but I was afraid that the earth would collapse if I succeed.
It's just an okay book for me. Nothing really extraordinary.
However, the similarity ends there. The story of Five Children and It does not bring you to a magical world at the back of a wardrobe. Rather, what the five children, Robert, Anthea, Cyril, Jane, and their baby brother, the Lamb find is a Psammead or a sand fairy has gotten buried in the sand since the Stone Age. The five children are digging the sand thinking that they will be able to see the other side of the earth particularly the Australian children. Funny, but this thought also came in my mind as a small boy when I learned in school that the earth is round and so I dug and dug in our backyard using a small gardening bolo. I wished to see the other side of the world but I was afraid that the earth would collapse if I succeed.
2004 film adaptation directed by John Stephenson"Be careful what you wish for" is the main lesson that children can derive from this book. The reason for this is that Psammead has the ability to grant children's wishes. However, during the stone age, most wishes were about food so the bones turned to stones (fossilized). Now, things are different because the five children's wishes are not food or food related and for each wish they learn a lesson because of the consequences resulting from it. So, the finding of the Psammead and its ability to grant wishes become like a big frame story and each wish becomes a small independent story. The ending feels like an afterthought, thus, weak. It is like E. Nesbit felt like the book was becoming too long for comfort.
It's just an okay book for me. Nothing really extraordinary.
March 4, 2018
This book was a blast! It was such a fun story. I loved the narrator's personality. I loved the very British sense of humor. I loved how the morals to the story weren't shoved down our throats like some children's stories. I wish that I would have been forced to read this in school at some point, instead of some of the other crappier ones they make you read. I would have loved it so much as a kid. This was great!
January 9, 2016
This mini review is part of a blogpost talking about three children's classics.
I chose Five Children and It as my last classic of the year because it was my book club's January pick because most of us also wanted to read Kate Saunders' Five Children on the Western Front . Like Little Women (although I think it's more intentional in Five Children and It), each chapter is like a short story about the group of siblings who each make a wish that the Psammead (a sand fairy) grants, with often chaotic and hilarious results. Although short stories will never be my favourite, it worked quite well in this sense because each chapter was a new day, but of course I still preferred some to others. I connected with E. Nesbit's writing straight away – this is the first book by her that I've read – and I found the dialogue witty and charming. Be careful what you wish for! I'm looking forward to also reading The Railway Children and The Story of the Treasure Seekers .
I chose Five Children and It as my last classic of the year because it was my book club's January pick because most of us also wanted to read Kate Saunders' Five Children on the Western Front . Like Little Women (although I think it's more intentional in Five Children and It), each chapter is like a short story about the group of siblings who each make a wish that the Psammead (a sand fairy) grants, with often chaotic and hilarious results. Although short stories will never be my favourite, it worked quite well in this sense because each chapter was a new day, but of course I still preferred some to others. I connected with E. Nesbit's writing straight away – this is the first book by her that I've read – and I found the dialogue witty and charming. Be careful what you wish for! I'm looking forward to also reading The Railway Children and The Story of the Treasure Seekers .
October 26, 2012
This is an age-old fable tale of "be careful what you wish for," told in a way that is entirely suitable for children to read or have read to them. I would suggest the appropriate audience age would be 6-11 or 12. It is not heavy reading and only about 2 hours long (audiobook), but it is an entertaining tale even some adults might enjoy. I think books of this sort appeal to children, or the adult who remembers childhood, because the main characters are children themselves. The way the story children think about things and deal with problems seems entirely reasonable, the ending is satisfactory and events are not at all frightening.
In this story, there are hints that there are other tales to be told about this family of children. I have not read them, but found that those following books are called "The Phoenix and the Carpet" and "The Story of the Amulet". I found an article written by Gore Vidal for the New York Review of Books in 1964, that gives more information about her writings, enough to pique interest in finding more of her books to read as well as a list of her books in print at that time. I got my copy of this audiobook from my local library, and also got a Kindle ebook version from Amazon. The ebook includes illustrations that add to the enjoyment of the story.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archi...
In this story, there are hints that there are other tales to be told about this family of children. I have not read them, but found that those following books are called "The Phoenix and the Carpet" and "The Story of the Amulet". I found an article written by Gore Vidal for the New York Review of Books in 1964, that gives more information about her writings, enough to pique interest in finding more of her books to read as well as a list of her books in print at that time. I got my copy of this audiobook from my local library, and also got a Kindle ebook version from Amazon. The ebook includes illustrations that add to the enjoyment of the story.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archi...
February 16, 2025
My son has been reading this to our granddaughter, aged 8, who is loving it, and I decided to read it again for the first time since I too was a child. I loved all of Edith Nesbit's books in that long ago, but I'd forgotten a lot of the detail of the stories, just remembered the glow of reading them. I guess books that have become classics have done so for a good reason - I was amazed at how original, witty and inventive this book is, and I laughed out loud quite a lot while reading it. Obviously, since it was written some 123 years ago, there are antiquated attitudes which wouldn't be okay today, but I'm pretty sure Edith Nesbit, with her socialist views, would be up there today with our best and most right on, socially engaged writers.
Looking forward now to re-reading all of the canon!
Looking forward now to re-reading all of the canon!
May 15, 2012
It was one of my favorites when I was little. I'm surprised and sad... I don't like it at all now. Don't hate it either, but... The children are forcibly cute, neither intelligent nor sensitive (especially towards their inferiors; the adventure with the baker's boy was simply odious), there is a lot of really STUPID (as in, unnecessary and excessive even for the period the book was written) sexism, and there is quite a big dose of preaching, and also xenophobia... really sad.
I may try the next book in the series, just out of sentiment.
I may try the next book in the series, just out of sentiment.
September 12, 2013
Ever read a book that you know is supposed to be funny, but you didn't find it so? I chuckled once in awhile but for the most part I got tired of the children's adventures that inevitably went wrong. Nesbit does a nice job capturing the nature of these children. They are loyal to each other and squabble at the same time. Maybe it is because I'm an adult. Maybe I've read too many genie-in-a-bottle stories and its become clichéd for me. Or maybe the adult narrator with comments on being a child didn't charm me. Or maybe the lack of internal changes as the children keep making the same mistakes over and over got tedious. Yes, they learn to be careful for what they wish for in the end, but I don't think they gained any long-lasting wisdom. Or maybe I'm just exhausted from a ridiculously busy work week. Written around 1900, readers might find the stereotypes of Indians and servants offensive. Many have talked about the charm of Nesbit's books, but this one felt tarnished.
Five children are at a summer house outside London being watched by servants because their parents have been called away on urgent business. Mostly unsupervised, the children explore a gravel pit and uncover a Sand-fairy that will grant them a wish a day. They wish for beauty, money, wings, etc. Each wish materializes in an unexpected way resulting in missed meals and misunderstandings with adults. While the siblings quarrel quite a bit they also stick up for each other. They have a code of honor so that even when they steal some food they leave a note explaining why and that they didn't take any pudding. That was an instance where I should have laughed but didn't think it that funny. While there is plenty of imaginative play going on, I couldn't slip into the magic of the story. It is based in the real world and perhaps that explains why - I wanted an escape from the real world. There is no world building and it is basically the magic of the wishes that only the five can see and the adults can't. I kept waiting for more to happen and when it didn't I felt let down.
Sometimes the children accidentally make wishes that created some tangled situations, such as when they wish everyone would love the baby more than anyone else resulting in every person that saw their baby brother trying to kidnap him. The gypsies in that episode are stereotyped too which drained the humor out of the scene for me. The children make wishes that deal with wealth, looks, or fantasies like flying or sword fighting, but nothing comes out right. Honest, I really wanted to like the book. But I couldn't. Uff da!
Five children are at a summer house outside London being watched by servants because their parents have been called away on urgent business. Mostly unsupervised, the children explore a gravel pit and uncover a Sand-fairy that will grant them a wish a day. They wish for beauty, money, wings, etc. Each wish materializes in an unexpected way resulting in missed meals and misunderstandings with adults. While the siblings quarrel quite a bit they also stick up for each other. They have a code of honor so that even when they steal some food they leave a note explaining why and that they didn't take any pudding. That was an instance where I should have laughed but didn't think it that funny. While there is plenty of imaginative play going on, I couldn't slip into the magic of the story. It is based in the real world and perhaps that explains why - I wanted an escape from the real world. There is no world building and it is basically the magic of the wishes that only the five can see and the adults can't. I kept waiting for more to happen and when it didn't I felt let down.
Sometimes the children accidentally make wishes that created some tangled situations, such as when they wish everyone would love the baby more than anyone else resulting in every person that saw their baby brother trying to kidnap him. The gypsies in that episode are stereotyped too which drained the humor out of the scene for me. The children make wishes that deal with wealth, looks, or fantasies like flying or sword fighting, but nothing comes out right. Honest, I really wanted to like the book. But I couldn't. Uff da!
November 11, 2013
4.5 stars
Originally posted at FanLit:
Five Children and It combines eleven stories that Edith Nesbit wrote about five siblings who discovered a wish-granting fairy called The Psammead in the sandlot of the house they recently moved into. The stories were originally serialized in shorter form in Strand Magazine in 1900. The first story (the first chapter of the novel) tells how the children moved from London to Kent, explored their new house and yard, and found the Psammead. He grumpily agrees to grant the children a daily wish that will end at sundown.
Each chapter tells the story of a single day, how the children wish for something, and how it goes wrong. Usually they wish for something obvious like beauty or money, but sometimes they accidentally wish for something they didn’t really want granted, such as when Cyril carelessly wishes that his baby brother would grow up. The consequences are always unexpected and usually... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
Originally posted at FanLit:
Five Children and It combines eleven stories that Edith Nesbit wrote about five siblings who discovered a wish-granting fairy called The Psammead in the sandlot of the house they recently moved into. The stories were originally serialized in shorter form in Strand Magazine in 1900. The first story (the first chapter of the novel) tells how the children moved from London to Kent, explored their new house and yard, and found the Psammead. He grumpily agrees to grant the children a daily wish that will end at sundown.
Each chapter tells the story of a single day, how the children wish for something, and how it goes wrong. Usually they wish for something obvious like beauty or money, but sometimes they accidentally wish for something they didn’t really want granted, such as when Cyril carelessly wishes that his baby brother would grow up. The consequences are always unexpected and usually... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
December 11, 2017
تذكرت أيام الطفولة عندما قرأت هذا الكتاب لأنها تشبة الرسوم المتحركة سميد
"هيا انظروا سميد مغامر فريد من ألف ألف عام يعود من جديد"
"هيا انظروا سميد مغامر فريد من ألف ألف عام يعود من جديد"
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August 10, 2023Very, very funny. My 7 year old snorted up his tea because he was laughing so hard while we were reading.
The kids thought the besieged castle chapter was the best; I thought "Grown Up" was comedic gold.
And now we shall have ginger beer ice cream floats and watch the film adaptation to celebrate.
The kids thought the besieged castle chapter was the best; I thought "Grown Up" was comedic gold.
And now we shall have ginger beer ice cream floats and watch the film adaptation to celebrate.
April 25, 2022
This should be talked about everywhere. What a book!
November 2, 2015
There's nothing better then rereading some favorite classics with your children. In that respect, this year has been a really good one for me and my son. He enjoyed the adventures of Robert, Cyril, Jane, Anthea and The Lamb a lot. He asked questions, fervently professed his dislike for the cunning sand fairy, and I dare say learned some things from the five children's trials. One thing is certain: one SHOULD be careful what one wishes for :D
July 19, 2019
My childhood just put on an Edwardian boater hat and some rompers and came and WHACKED ME GLEEFULLY IN THE FACE.
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