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The Magic World
At her imaginative best, Nesbit takes us through such tales as “The Cat-hood of Maurice,” “The Mixed Mine,” “Accidental Magic,” “The Princess and the Hedge-pig,” “The Related Muff,” “Justnowland,” “Kenneth and the Carp,” and more.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1912
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About the author
E. Nesbit
1,030 books996 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 85 reviews
July 28, 2015
Not everyone is successful at writing literary fairytales, especially those stories that mix the modern world with traditional wonder tales of magic and enchantment. Joan Aiken was one who mastered this deft conjoining of old and new, as did her predecessor Edith Nesbit. Maybe it takes a special individual, or maybe it requires a female touch — many 19th-century male writers, such as the Brothers Grimm, Charles Kingsley et al, found it hard not to come over all didactic and moral, though some female writers were not averse to these failings. Nesbit slyly parodies these aspects of Victorian literary fairytales at the end of “The Mixed Mine” when she concludes
“There is no moral to this story, except…
But no – there is no moral.”
And yet morality lies deeply embedded in most of these dozen stories — the wicked meet their just deserts, or maybe just don’t profit from their wickedness; the meek inherit the earth, or at least don’t lose out. She subverts your expectations, but in a nice way, leaving the reader challenged but also satisfied.
As was the way with much fiction then the stories were published in magazines first before appearing in book form in 1912; pretty much all Nesbit’s output appeared this way, even the novels like Five Children and It (which betrays its origins with uniform-length episodic chapters, loosely linked). With the twelve tales of The Magic World there was of course no need to have a narrative thread and yet a few of the pieces have themes in common, and one or two even explicitly reference another in the collection. I’ll be grouping some of these tales according to their commonalty rather than dealing with them in the order they’re here published.
Some of the tales involve transformations, with the protagonist taking the form of some creature or other. In “The Cat-hood of Maurice” the titular boy somehow becomes the family cat, and learns what it feels like to be teased intolerably — a case of the punishment suiting the crime. However, in “Kenneth and the Carp” Kenneth is falsely accused of theft but when he becomes the aforementioned carp he is able to prove his innocence. (Incidentally, this story is set in an historic moated house similar in all respects to one that Nesbit herself lived in.) In one of the few tales eschewing overt magic, “The Related Muff”, cousin Sidney is wrongly regarded as a ‘muff’ — an incompetent who ‘muffs’ everything he attempts — until an emergency demonstrates his ability to rise to the occasion, a transformation of sorts. (The narrator sometimes talks of himself in the third person, a literary tic that Nesbit had previously used in The Wouldbegoods.)
Sometimes something else transforms. In “The White Cat” Octavius finds a forgotten china ornament in the form of a cat which comes to life and reveals family secrets and changes fortunes. A spyglass which magically changes the magnitude of objects transforms the lives and fortunes of Augustus and his newfound friend Edward in “The Mixed Mine”. In “Accidental Magic” young Quentin follows the lead of many a fairytale hero by falling asleep on a ancient relic (in this case the Altar Stone at Stonehenge), which transforms into a ship en route to Atlantis; Nesbit here revisited themes she’d explored in The Story of the Amulet.
More reminiscent of traditional fairytales and fairytale motifs are the remaining half dozen pieces, often featuring princesses, princes, magicians and mythical creatures. Some involve the laying of curses and their subsequent circumvention. In “The Princess and the Hedge-pig” — the latter an alternative name for a hedgehog — a king and queen try to stop Princess Ozyliza being cursed at her christening by a wicked fairy’s curse, to no avail. A prince and a princess are also afflicted with curses in “Belinda and Bellamant” but luckily bells (the pair’s names suggest an affinity with these instruments) furnish a solution to their problems. The enchanter who is implicated in the workings of this last story also appears, along with Princess Belinda, in “The Magician’s Heart”; here more curses fly through the air at a royal christening. The motif of magician’s power lying in an external object is revisited in “Septimus Septimusson”; the hero — whose name denotes the seventh son of a seventh son who traditionally has exceptional abilities — has to seek his fortune, encountering that object during the course of his adventures.
Surprisingly, not that many young females feature as protagonists. In “Justnowland” Elsie’s adventures are reminiscent of those of Gulliver or Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel in that we have talking crows and dragons, but her kind nature wins the day. Finally in “The Aunt and Amabel” Anabel actually enters a wardrobe to access a magic world, rather like Lucy in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, leading to suggestions that C S Lewis subconsciously borrowed this idea from Nesbit.
So much for superficialities; Nesbit’s stories are so much more than this. There is humour and mischievousness in them, truths and profundities, playfulness and seriousness, ingenuousness and knowingness. They are more than just fairytales but follow in that great tradition; they partake of the Edwardian period (what with the presence of a Quentin and an Augustus and a Maurice) even while the whiff of Grimm and Anderson wafts in their wake. Here is a collection that I’m happy to keep on my shelves alongside compendiums of traditional tales from the British Isles, Turkey, Russia and elsewhere — that’s how much I esteem them — because they are honest and, essentially, very human.
https://calmgrove.wordpress.com/2015/...
“There is no moral to this story, except…
But no – there is no moral.”
And yet morality lies deeply embedded in most of these dozen stories — the wicked meet their just deserts, or maybe just don’t profit from their wickedness; the meek inherit the earth, or at least don’t lose out. She subverts your expectations, but in a nice way, leaving the reader challenged but also satisfied.
As was the way with much fiction then the stories were published in magazines first before appearing in book form in 1912; pretty much all Nesbit’s output appeared this way, even the novels like Five Children and It (which betrays its origins with uniform-length episodic chapters, loosely linked). With the twelve tales of The Magic World there was of course no need to have a narrative thread and yet a few of the pieces have themes in common, and one or two even explicitly reference another in the collection. I’ll be grouping some of these tales according to their commonalty rather than dealing with them in the order they’re here published.
Some of the tales involve transformations, with the protagonist taking the form of some creature or other. In “The Cat-hood of Maurice” the titular boy somehow becomes the family cat, and learns what it feels like to be teased intolerably — a case of the punishment suiting the crime. However, in “Kenneth and the Carp” Kenneth is falsely accused of theft but when he becomes the aforementioned carp he is able to prove his innocence. (Incidentally, this story is set in an historic moated house similar in all respects to one that Nesbit herself lived in.) In one of the few tales eschewing overt magic, “The Related Muff”, cousin Sidney is wrongly regarded as a ‘muff’ — an incompetent who ‘muffs’ everything he attempts — until an emergency demonstrates his ability to rise to the occasion, a transformation of sorts. (The narrator sometimes talks of himself in the third person, a literary tic that Nesbit had previously used in The Wouldbegoods.)
Sometimes something else transforms. In “The White Cat” Octavius finds a forgotten china ornament in the form of a cat which comes to life and reveals family secrets and changes fortunes. A spyglass which magically changes the magnitude of objects transforms the lives and fortunes of Augustus and his newfound friend Edward in “The Mixed Mine”. In “Accidental Magic” young Quentin follows the lead of many a fairytale hero by falling asleep on a ancient relic (in this case the Altar Stone at Stonehenge), which transforms into a ship en route to Atlantis; Nesbit here revisited themes she’d explored in The Story of the Amulet.
More reminiscent of traditional fairytales and fairytale motifs are the remaining half dozen pieces, often featuring princesses, princes, magicians and mythical creatures. Some involve the laying of curses and their subsequent circumvention. In “The Princess and the Hedge-pig” — the latter an alternative name for a hedgehog — a king and queen try to stop Princess Ozyliza being cursed at her christening by a wicked fairy’s curse, to no avail. A prince and a princess are also afflicted with curses in “Belinda and Bellamant” but luckily bells (the pair’s names suggest an affinity with these instruments) furnish a solution to their problems. The enchanter who is implicated in the workings of this last story also appears, along with Princess Belinda, in “The Magician’s Heart”; here more curses fly through the air at a royal christening. The motif of magician’s power lying in an external object is revisited in “Septimus Septimusson”; the hero — whose name denotes the seventh son of a seventh son who traditionally has exceptional abilities — has to seek his fortune, encountering that object during the course of his adventures.
Surprisingly, not that many young females feature as protagonists. In “Justnowland” Elsie’s adventures are reminiscent of those of Gulliver or Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel in that we have talking crows and dragons, but her kind nature wins the day. Finally in “The Aunt and Amabel” Anabel actually enters a wardrobe to access a magic world, rather like Lucy in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, leading to suggestions that C S Lewis subconsciously borrowed this idea from Nesbit.
So much for superficialities; Nesbit’s stories are so much more than this. There is humour and mischievousness in them, truths and profundities, playfulness and seriousness, ingenuousness and knowingness. They are more than just fairytales but follow in that great tradition; they partake of the Edwardian period (what with the presence of a Quentin and an Augustus and a Maurice) even while the whiff of Grimm and Anderson wafts in their wake. Here is a collection that I’m happy to keep on my shelves alongside compendiums of traditional tales from the British Isles, Turkey, Russia and elsewhere — that’s how much I esteem them — because they are honest and, essentially, very human.
https://calmgrove.wordpress.com/2015/...
April 30, 2009
This was just absolutely fun! My only regret is that I didn't find Edith Nesbit's books while I was still a child. I still smile and laugh when I think of the stories I've read by her. One doesn't quickly forget them, which may be the greatest magic of all!
December 12, 2016
I listened to an excellent audio streaming version of this, narrated perfectly by Johanna Ward. All E. Nesbit should be narrated by Johanna Ward; her voice encapsulates all that is droll and witty and excellent about Nesbit. Elsewhere, I've seen The Magic World described as "influential" and I have to agree. I'm not a scholar of either fantasy, or children's literature, but this collection of short stories seems to me to be the homo erectus from which all modern fantasy, particularly urban fantasy, sprang forth. Nesbit has a boy and a cat trading places, in a trope that became in various ways both The Sword in the Stone and Freaky Friday (and even Disney's The Shaggy Dog). In this story, she also talks about how the boy and cat have to follow magical laws, or destroy the universe, another concept that will come up in various ways again and again in modern fantasy (J.K. Rowling, Diana Wynne Jones) In "Accidental Magic" she has a lonely boy at a horrid boarding school use magic to travel back in time, to the building of Stonehenge, with a just a touch of horror; again, this trope will be used to great effect in novels of the future. Nesbit always uses the same narrative voice; it's a close, personal third person, in which the author injects herself again and again with drolly, witty asides that invite the reader, particularly a young reader, in, as if sharing really delicious secrets. It's this narrative voice that both makes Nesbit sound so modern, and also makes her so different and accessible from other fantasy or books for children around the same time; there are no morals either (see the end of "The Mixed Mine" for Nesbit thumbing her nose at morals at the end of stories). You can't read Nesbit and these stories, without thinking again and again of C.S. Lewis; it's obvious he patterned the narrative voice of his Chronicles after his favorite childhood author; there is even a wardrobe in Nesbit that magically takes a young girl to another world; and a White Witch in another story, although Nesbit's White Witch isn't as evil (and thus less interesting) as Lewis's scary White Witch. Nesbit has a magician as well, but Lewis's magician is more of a bumbler; I think you'd find more Nesbittian magicians in Diana Wynne Jones. If you love fantasy, particularly urban fantasy, then take a look at this collection of short stories.
March 31, 2022
Wonderful. I was craving some sort of fun adventure story I hadn't read before and this was a delightful collection. Nesbit's sarcastic play upon familiar fairy tale tropes is blended with what seems to be a sincere love of storytelling and fun escapades. I was laughing at a couple scenes, particularly the evil wizard who wasn't originally evil but "through diligent application and attention to his clients" became evil later in life. Also the usurping king putting an ad for a governess in 'Usurper's Today." Definitely recommend if you want something light, fun, and kind of Narnia-like. (Also, I see so much of Nesbit's influence on Lewis...one of her characters literally travels to a magical country via "magic wardrobe in a spare room." :O)
November 19, 2017
"The Cat-hood of Maurice" - a boy abuses the family cat, and learns to see things from the feline point of view. (3 stars)
"The Mixed Mine" - two boys find a magic spyglass, and use it to make their fortunes. (3 stars)
"Accidental Magic" -Quentin falls asleep on the altar stone at Stonehenge, and wakes in Atlantis. (3 stars)** influenced J. R. R. Tolkien
"The Princess and the Hedge-pig" - King Ozymandias and Queen Eliza plan a secret christening for their Princess Ozyliza, to avoid a wicked fairy's curse. Things go awry. (2 stars)
"Septimus Septimusson" - he is the seventh son of a seventh son, who can see fairies and hear the beasts speak; and he must seek his fortune. (2 stars)
"The White Cat" - a boy finds a china ornament in the attic; it proves to be a magic talisman. (2 stars)
"Belinda and Bellamant" - they are a princess and prince suffering curses; a talking bat helps resolve their problems. (2 stars)
"Justnowland" - Elsie visits a magic land of giant crows, and a dragon. (3 stars)
"The Related Muff" - a sensitive boy, dismissed as a "muff" by his cousins, proves himself a hero in a crisis. (2 stars)
"The Aunt and Amabel" - a girl enters a magic world through a wardrobe. (3 stars)** influenced C. S. Lewis
"Kenneth and the Carp" - unjustly accused, a boy transforms into a fish and redeems his honor. (3 stars)
"The Magician's Heart" - an evil magician distributes curses at royal christenings. Complications ensue. (2 stars)
"The Mixed Mine" - two boys find a magic spyglass, and use it to make their fortunes. (3 stars)
"Accidental Magic" -Quentin falls asleep on the altar stone at Stonehenge, and wakes in Atlantis. (3 stars)** influenced J. R. R. Tolkien
"The Princess and the Hedge-pig" - King Ozymandias and Queen Eliza plan a secret christening for their Princess Ozyliza, to avoid a wicked fairy's curse. Things go awry. (2 stars)
"Septimus Septimusson" - he is the seventh son of a seventh son, who can see fairies and hear the beasts speak; and he must seek his fortune. (2 stars)
"The White Cat" - a boy finds a china ornament in the attic; it proves to be a magic talisman. (2 stars)
"Belinda and Bellamant" - they are a princess and prince suffering curses; a talking bat helps resolve their problems. (2 stars)
"Justnowland" - Elsie visits a magic land of giant crows, and a dragon. (3 stars)
"The Related Muff" - a sensitive boy, dismissed as a "muff" by his cousins, proves himself a hero in a crisis. (2 stars)
"The Aunt and Amabel" - a girl enters a magic world through a wardrobe. (3 stars)** influenced C. S. Lewis
"Kenneth and the Carp" - unjustly accused, a boy transforms into a fish and redeems his honor. (3 stars)
"The Magician's Heart" - an evil magician distributes curses at royal christenings. Complications ensue. (2 stars)
April 16, 2015
Just love how E. Nesbit writes directly to children in the Edwardian
times about things they know and understand. She was an astounding
woman for her time - she and her husband were founder members of
the Fabian society, her husband was a philanderer so Edith not only
had the mistress live with them but all the children were bought up
together. Edith loved children and it came through in her stories.
So in the lovely fairy tale "The Princess and the Hedge-pig" you
have the King and Queen trying to plant a tree in their old copper
boiler to "make a feature out of it" and when the Princess comes
home, instead of a celebration the shops are shut "because it's
early closing day" and the King and Queen are evicted from their
kingdom and were found living "in a poor way in a semi detatched at
Tooting"!! Then there is "The Aunt and Amabel" with a combination
of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and "Harry Potter" where
Amabel must catch a train at the crystal station inside the wardrobe so
she can search for the "people who understand". In "The Magician's
Heart" a little prince is turned into the stupidest boy in the
world and gets lost early on because he goes around telling everyone
his name is James and is then taken on as a baker's apprentice.
Hilarious!!
times about things they know and understand. She was an astounding
woman for her time - she and her husband were founder members of
the Fabian society, her husband was a philanderer so Edith not only
had the mistress live with them but all the children were bought up
together. Edith loved children and it came through in her stories.
So in the lovely fairy tale "The Princess and the Hedge-pig" you
have the King and Queen trying to plant a tree in their old copper
boiler to "make a feature out of it" and when the Princess comes
home, instead of a celebration the shops are shut "because it's
early closing day" and the King and Queen are evicted from their
kingdom and were found living "in a poor way in a semi detatched at
Tooting"!! Then there is "The Aunt and Amabel" with a combination
of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and "Harry Potter" where
Amabel must catch a train at the crystal station inside the wardrobe so
she can search for the "people who understand". In "The Magician's
Heart" a little prince is turned into the stupidest boy in the
world and gets lost early on because he goes around telling everyone
his name is James and is then taken on as a baker's apprentice.
Hilarious!!
April 17, 2013
Edith Nesbit (1858-1924), though one might not agree with her socialist politics, was a wonderful children’s story teller who was admired by C. S. Lewis, beginning with The Story of the Treasure Seekers in 1899. We have previously enjoyed some of her books, including The Railway Children, Five Children and It, and The Enchanted Castle. Unlike the others, The Magic World is not a novel but a collection of twelve fantasy short stories.
In "The Cat-Hood Of Maurice," a thoughtless boy is taught a lesson by his cat. In “The Mixed Mine,” a magic telescope brings two boys named Edward and Gustus a fortune. In “The Princess and the Hedge- Pig,” a very sensible prince and princess outwit a wicked fairy and usurpers. In "Septimus Septimusson," the seventh son of a seventh son has to go seek his fortune. In “Justnowland,” a girl named Elsie is sent upstairs in disgrace and whisked away by a crow to the world of her dreams. And "The Aunt and Amabel," with its train station tucked away inside a wardrobe in a spare room, was C. S. Lewis' inspiration for setting the land of Narnia inside a similar wardrobe in The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe.
Some people object to any kind of “magic” in children’s books. They will obviously want to avoid The Magic World. However, the “magic” of this book is not primarily that of witches and sorcerers but basically that of fairy tales. There are a couple of references to drinking wine, a few common euphemisms (golly, drat, Lor’), and one mention of smoking a pipe. While children will enjoy following the well-told plots, adults can chuckle at the tongue-in-cheek humor in many of Nesbit’s aside comments. Many people especially like Nesbit’s ability to combine real-life situations with elements of magical fantasy.
In "The Cat-Hood Of Maurice," a thoughtless boy is taught a lesson by his cat. In “The Mixed Mine,” a magic telescope brings two boys named Edward and Gustus a fortune. In “The Princess and the Hedge- Pig,” a very sensible prince and princess outwit a wicked fairy and usurpers. In "Septimus Septimusson," the seventh son of a seventh son has to go seek his fortune. In “Justnowland,” a girl named Elsie is sent upstairs in disgrace and whisked away by a crow to the world of her dreams. And "The Aunt and Amabel," with its train station tucked away inside a wardrobe in a spare room, was C. S. Lewis' inspiration for setting the land of Narnia inside a similar wardrobe in The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe.
Some people object to any kind of “magic” in children’s books. They will obviously want to avoid The Magic World. However, the “magic” of this book is not primarily that of witches and sorcerers but basically that of fairy tales. There are a couple of references to drinking wine, a few common euphemisms (golly, drat, Lor’), and one mention of smoking a pipe. While children will enjoy following the well-told plots, adults can chuckle at the tongue-in-cheek humor in many of Nesbit’s aside comments. Many people especially like Nesbit’s ability to combine real-life situations with elements of magical fantasy.
February 5, 2020
A very fun collection of children's stories! There are recurring themes of naughty children, adult unfairness, separation from parents (whether through death, poverty, or work overseas), loyalty, justice, pluck, and reconciliation. As for genre, they mostly range somewhere between fairy-tale and fable, with the occasional school days story thrown in.
I started with #10, The Aunt and Amabel, as it involved a girl who enters into a magical world through a wardrobe. (It is quite different from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in plot, characters, style, tone, and themes -- as well as in details of the magic system and the wardrobe's quotidian contents.)
The Cat-hood of Maurice has a little speech that reminds me of Dr Who. I also particulaly liked The White Cat and The Princess and the Hedge-Hog.
Probably the least successful ones for me were #2, The Mixed Mine, and #9, The Related Muff. Otherwise, a delightful collection.
And I've just realized that the answer to the riddle in Belinda and Bellamant is something that will feature in Patrick O'Brian's Treason's Harbour. Huzzah for unintended synergy!
I started with #10, The Aunt and Amabel, as it involved a girl who enters into a magical world through a wardrobe. (It is quite different from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in plot, characters, style, tone, and themes -- as well as in details of the magic system and the wardrobe's quotidian contents.)
The Cat-hood of Maurice has a little speech that reminds me of Dr Who. I also particulaly liked The White Cat and The Princess and the Hedge-Hog.
Probably the least successful ones for me were #2, The Mixed Mine, and #9, The Related Muff. Otherwise, a delightful collection.
And I've just realized that the answer to the riddle in Belinda and Bellamant is something that will feature in Patrick O'Brian's Treason's Harbour. Huzzah for unintended synergy!
October 26, 2020
The Magic World by Edith Nesbit contains a dozen of her fantastical stories. The stories are filled with ugly princesses, stupid princes, wicked magicians, misunderstood children with fathers in India and talking animals. In one story, a young girl tumbles through a wardrobe into another world and I couldn’t help but wonder if C.S. Lewis had been influenced by it.
One of the features of Nesbit’s stories are her asides to the reader. They are always interesting and charming remarks that reveal her feelings. I continue to hope that a filmmaker will decide to make movies of some of my favorites of her books – especially The Enchanted Castle.
One of the features of Nesbit’s stories are her asides to the reader. They are always interesting and charming remarks that reveal her feelings. I continue to hope that a filmmaker will decide to make movies of some of my favorites of her books – especially The Enchanted Castle.
March 23, 2023
Lite besviken att det här var en 'novellsamling', dvs tolv kortare sagor, eftersom jag tidigare läst två andra av hennes böcker för barn, som jag tyckt mycket om. Men hon är lika skicklig i det korta formatet och inte minst hur hon gestaltar barn, och att flickorna är lika energiska som pojkarna. (Omslaget känns dock lite missvisande.)
Flera sagor bygger på klassiskt material, som hon förnyar i egen tappning. Allt är kreativt och har ovanliga vändningar. Det finns också flera sagor där barn och vuxna kommit på kollisionskurs, arga vuxna anklagar barnen på mer eller mindre felaktiga grunder, men barnen får upprättelse så sätt som jag tycker mycket om.
Flera sagor bygger på klassiskt material, som hon förnyar i egen tappning. Allt är kreativt och har ovanliga vändningar. Det finns också flera sagor där barn och vuxna kommit på kollisionskurs, arga vuxna anklagar barnen på mer eller mindre felaktiga grunder, men barnen får upprättelse så sätt som jag tycker mycket om.
September 30, 2018
POPSUGAR Reading Challenge 2018: A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym. I didn't have an actual male pseudonym author to call on from my TBR list so this is the closest I could get; using an initial is also a common practice by female authors to hide their gender.
A mixed bag, but overall these stories are sweet, charming and whimsical without being too saccharine. Nesbit has an excellent way of depicting the difficulties of being a child in an adult world, especially making what adults judge to be mistakes when you were just playing or trying to help.
A mixed bag, but overall these stories are sweet, charming and whimsical without being too saccharine. Nesbit has an excellent way of depicting the difficulties of being a child in an adult world, especially making what adults judge to be mistakes when you were just playing or trying to help.
June 27, 2015
Nesbit had one of the most creative minds. This collection of children's stories captured my attention. As of the time, each story had a not so subtle moral to it - but relayed in a most creative way.
I listened to the audiobook on Librivox read by Ruth Golding, quite an excellent narrator, especially painting pictures of the different characters with her voice so colorfully.
I listened to the audiobook on Librivox read by Ruth Golding, quite an excellent narrator, especially painting pictures of the different characters with her voice so colorfully.
April 26, 2018
To go with the title, the tales I was swept up in while reading was a magical experience.
I enjoyed the sweetness of many of the stories, and how many of them all had morality lessons and ended up with characters living a perfect happily ever after, or a changed and better person.
Really enjoyed this find of a book and I'm glad to have read it.
I enjoyed the sweetness of many of the stories, and how many of them all had morality lessons and ended up with characters living a perfect happily ever after, or a changed and better person.
Really enjoyed this find of a book and I'm glad to have read it.
May 25, 2013
Sadly, this book is not at all what I hoped it would be. While E. Nesbit's writing is always delightlfully fanciful, in this collection of short stories she falls back at almost every turn on tired, gender-based stereotypes.
The stories about boys and men feature strong, independent, likeable characters, whose oft-heroic actions generally bring them happiness and good fortune.
The stories about girls and women feature flat, helpless characters who do almost nothing, and are saved by other people. The majority of them have been cursed with being ugly, which is presented as just about the worst thing which can happen to a woman aside from death. There was even a princess character who was struck deaf, blind, and mute, yet was married off to the fabulous knight because he was so in love with her. HE had agency in the story, but she might as well have been a cardboard cut-out carried around the plot for all she mattered.
E. Nesbit is still a wonderful writer, but the overwhelming odiousness of her preference for boys over girls ruined my enjoyment of her work.
The stories about boys and men feature strong, independent, likeable characters, whose oft-heroic actions generally bring them happiness and good fortune.
The stories about girls and women feature flat, helpless characters who do almost nothing, and are saved by other people. The majority of them have been cursed with being ugly, which is presented as just about the worst thing which can happen to a woman aside from death. There was even a princess character who was struck deaf, blind, and mute, yet was married off to the fabulous knight because he was so in love with her. HE had agency in the story, but she might as well have been a cardboard cut-out carried around the plot for all she mattered.
E. Nesbit is still a wonderful writer, but the overwhelming odiousness of her preference for boys over girls ruined my enjoyment of her work.
April 3, 2023
As a former EFL teacher, I noticed that high achievers from all walks of life had something in common: they had parents who had instilled in them the love of reading from an early age. Nothing can get in the way of a curious child. I met parents who organized impromptu storytelling competitions with their offspring, improvising long plots by throwing words at them: railroad, wand, unicorn, cloak... More often than not, Edit Nesbit was the name they mentioned side by side with J.K. Rowling, Roald Dahl and H.C. Andersen.
Edith Nesbit was the J.K. Rowling of yesteryear. Actually, fans of the Hogwarts realm will find many familiar elements in her works. The best gift that parents can offer a child is to see them reading or hear them telling stories that will awaken the sense of awe and wonder. Edith Nesbit is a gateway into the myriad lives they can live by proxy.
Edith Nesbit was the J.K. Rowling of yesteryear. Actually, fans of the Hogwarts realm will find many familiar elements in her works. The best gift that parents can offer a child is to see them reading or hear them telling stories that will awaken the sense of awe and wonder. Edith Nesbit is a gateway into the myriad lives they can live by proxy.
May 2, 2008
This is a fun book. It has sevrel fun stories in it.
July 10, 2010
This is the best collection of E. Nesbit's short stories I've read. The stories were entertaining, amusing and imaginative.
January 14, 2010
Short stories by Nesbit. Nice enough, but none of them really stuck out as fantastic.
January 13, 2024
Such a fun collection of stories - like the brothers Grimm, but with a cheeky, English twist.
April 23, 2015
I love love love E Nesbit. Charming as always.
January 7, 2016
A very fun collection of stories. I especially liked "The Mixed Mine", "The Princess and the Hedge-Pig", "Belinda and Bellamant" and "The Magician's Heart". 3 1/2 stars.
June 30, 2016
Stories that make you smile
July 26, 2023
E. Nesbit`s The Magic World is a collection of twelve wonderful short stories. A beautiful, magical, enjoyable and not-to-be-missed journey!
Each story is about the ups and downs of life - friendship, love, childhood, death, evil, arrogance, kindness, attitudes - with fairies, princesses, bell-people, cats and many more - magical times!
(Infinite Energy, ©Michael Baum, pixels.com)
Nothing is impossible, and everything is possible!
This seems to be the theme of all the stories. These stories try their best to convey to the reader that don`t limit yourself with assumptions as there are infinite possibilities and all you need to do is leap with faith and belief – and when you do that, either you shall be given a road to walk on or be taught how to fly!
"He was ten years old and he had enjoyed every moment of his ten years, even the sleeping ones, because he always dreamed jolly dreams, though he could not always remember what they were."
The Magic World will bring out that child in you, who will enjoy every moment because all you will be dreaming and thinking of are happy and magical thoughts and joyful dreams.
“We ought to be the benefactors of the human race,†said Edward; “make all the good things more and all the bad things less.â€
This is the purpose of this book: to be at our best - in our thoughts, our intentions, our attitudes and our actions. ‘Clean hands and clean heart’.
" and he wrote on his slate in very big letters, 'Gone to seek our fortune.'"
"He had no more idea how to look for his fortune than you would have if you suddenly left off reading this and went out of your front door to seek yours."
"because no man has really found his fortune till he`s found the lady who is his heart`s lady."
Here`s the message from E. Nesbit – find your purpose, get out of your door and go seek your fortune! Your lady luck and your fortune will not be coming looking for you.
Wishing you all fair winds and calm seas!
***
(E. Nesbit 1858-1924, Wikipedia.com)
Each story is about the ups and downs of life - friendship, love, childhood, death, evil, arrogance, kindness, attitudes - with fairies, princesses, bell-people, cats and many more - magical times!
(Infinite Energy, ©Michael Baum, pixels.com)
Nothing is impossible, and everything is possible!
This seems to be the theme of all the stories. These stories try their best to convey to the reader that don`t limit yourself with assumptions as there are infinite possibilities and all you need to do is leap with faith and belief – and when you do that, either you shall be given a road to walk on or be taught how to fly!
"He was ten years old and he had enjoyed every moment of his ten years, even the sleeping ones, because he always dreamed jolly dreams, though he could not always remember what they were."
The Magic World will bring out that child in you, who will enjoy every moment because all you will be dreaming and thinking of are happy and magical thoughts and joyful dreams.
“We ought to be the benefactors of the human race,†said Edward; “make all the good things more and all the bad things less.â€
This is the purpose of this book: to be at our best - in our thoughts, our intentions, our attitudes and our actions. ‘Clean hands and clean heart’.
" and he wrote on his slate in very big letters, 'Gone to seek our fortune.'"
"He had no more idea how to look for his fortune than you would have if you suddenly left off reading this and went out of your front door to seek yours."
"because no man has really found his fortune till he`s found the lady who is his heart`s lady."
Here`s the message from E. Nesbit – find your purpose, get out of your door and go seek your fortune! Your lady luck and your fortune will not be coming looking for you.
Wishing you all fair winds and calm seas!
***
(E. Nesbit 1858-1924, Wikipedia.com)
November 9, 2024
I enjoyed each and every tale so much with E. Nesbit making occasional forays across the proverbial fourth wall.
Here is a little something about each one to whet your appetite:
"The Cathood of Maurice" - a mischievous boy switches places with his cat and learns the error of his ways.
"The Mixed Mine" - a magic spyglass bonds two boys from very different backgrounds.
"Accidental Magic" - a boy who loves the mythical stories of old finds himself living inside of one when he falls asleep at Stonehenge.
"The Princess and the Hedgepig" - when a King and Queen try to have a secret christening, there are unintended consequences.
"Septimus Septimussen" - the seventh son of the seventh son goes out to seek his fortune and it takes a very long time giving him time to make some fortunate friends.
"The White Cat" - an heirloom ceramic cat must be preserved at all costs. What to do if it falls?
"Belinda and Bellamont" - cranky bells cause trouble for a prince and princess until a bat comes to the rescue.
"Justnowland" - an ordinary girl finds herself tasked with taming a dragon in a world where all the residents are crows or pigeons depending on their social class.
"The Related Muff" - three children make a snap judgment about their visiting cousin and find themselves regretting it.
"The Aunt and Amabel" - most likely the inspiration for the wardrobe in the spare room in the C.S. Lewis classic.
"Kenneth and the Carp" - a visiting cousin finds himself accused of stealing a family ring. He will need some help from below the surface to make things right.
"The Magicians Heart" - a magician only a nanny could love gets his comeuppance.
A big thank you to my GR friend Cam for bringing this collection to my attention. It was a delight to listen to this magical mix of children, animals, fairies, magicians, and a fair number of royal figures.
There is nothing more luxurious than eating while you read—unless it be reading while you eat. Amabel did both: they are not the same thing, as you will see if you think the matter over.
Here is a little something about each one to whet your appetite:
"The Cathood of Maurice" - a mischievous boy switches places with his cat and learns the error of his ways.
"The Mixed Mine" - a magic spyglass bonds two boys from very different backgrounds.
"Accidental Magic" - a boy who loves the mythical stories of old finds himself living inside of one when he falls asleep at Stonehenge.
"The Princess and the Hedgepig" - when a King and Queen try to have a secret christening, there are unintended consequences.
"Septimus Septimussen" - the seventh son of the seventh son goes out to seek his fortune and it takes a very long time giving him time to make some fortunate friends.
"The White Cat" - an heirloom ceramic cat must be preserved at all costs. What to do if it falls?
"Belinda and Bellamont" - cranky bells cause trouble for a prince and princess until a bat comes to the rescue.
"Justnowland" - an ordinary girl finds herself tasked with taming a dragon in a world where all the residents are crows or pigeons depending on their social class.
"The Related Muff" - three children make a snap judgment about their visiting cousin and find themselves regretting it.
"The Aunt and Amabel" - most likely the inspiration for the wardrobe in the spare room in the C.S. Lewis classic.
"Kenneth and the Carp" - a visiting cousin finds himself accused of stealing a family ring. He will need some help from below the surface to make things right.
"The Magicians Heart" - a magician only a nanny could love gets his comeuppance.
A big thank you to my GR friend Cam for bringing this collection to my attention. It was a delight to listen to this magical mix of children, animals, fairies, magicians, and a fair number of royal figures.
There is nothing more luxurious than eating while you read—unless it be reading while you eat. Amabel did both: they are not the same thing, as you will see if you think the matter over.
May 12, 2020
Some of these really stood out to me ("Accidental Magic"; "Justnowland"; "The Magician's Heart"), but overall this simply isn't her strongest book. It is however a must for all true Nesbit fans, especially as these are quite late stories and you can see many of her typical themes and techniques having become crystallized into its purest, though inflexible, appearance.
What is it with the cover though?? The only thing I can imagine this might represent is the ugly/beautiful princess of "Belinda and Bellamant" (or, for that matter, the one of "The Magician's Heart" - this book has too many princesses entangled in the same struggle over and over)? If so, the illustrator surely has a different idea of ugliness than I do!
What is it with the cover though?? The only thing I can imagine this might represent is the ugly/beautiful princess of "Belinda and Bellamant" (or, for that matter, the one of "The Magician's Heart" - this book has too many princesses entangled in the same struggle over and over)? If so, the illustrator surely has a different idea of ugliness than I do!
May 12, 2023
Entertaining but uneven collection of short stories, all but one of which include magic (well, in a couple of cases, we may be dealing with dream or hallucination). Lo less than three are variations on "Sleeping Beauty," which is perhaps one too many, and others also play on fairy tale tropes. For me, the most interesting was the one about the boy who switches identities with the family cat in order to learn a lesson about tormenting animals. Some of the takes on fairy tales are also amusing, especially, when they are self-conscious about it. Nesbit's style is consistently witty and sharp. Nevertheless, I doubt I will remember much of this book in a year's time. This edition offers a lovely facsimile of the first edition.
May 18, 2022
I read this collection of stories because of a review that stated they may have influenced both Lewis and Tolkien. I agree! There is a closet to another world, a ring lost underwater, and more.
There's also some very clever magic with its own consistent rules, some social commentary, and a lot of humor. Yes, these tales are old-fashioned, and some modern readers may be baffled by the language. But they are still very good fun and great read-alouds. I'm happy to have read them.
Some favorites: Kenneth and the fishing moat, Amabel and her Aunt, Maurice and the cat.
There's also some very clever magic with its own consistent rules, some social commentary, and a lot of humor. Yes, these tales are old-fashioned, and some modern readers may be baffled by the language. But they are still very good fun and great read-alouds. I'm happy to have read them.
Some favorites: Kenneth and the fishing moat, Amabel and her Aunt, Maurice and the cat.
May 21, 2019
Nesbit remains one of my favourite authorial voices ever. Dated, but in the best possible way.
Oh yes, as an adult I am particularly delighted by the Fabian fairytale which is unbelievable in more ways than one. I remember preferring the arch tone of the proper literary fairytales when I was a child, especially Belinda and Belamont. Which is a marvel of the genre, challenged only by Aiken.
Oh yes, as an adult I am particularly delighted by the Fabian fairytale which is unbelievable in more ways than one. I remember preferring the arch tone of the proper literary fairytales when I was a child, especially Belinda and Belamont. Which is a marvel of the genre, challenged only by Aiken.
Read
October 10, 2019I had read this a long time ago and wanted to revisit some of my favorites. I listened to The Princess and the Hedge-pig, Belinda and Bellamant, and the Magician's Heart and each was as good as I remembered. The narrator did a great job of embodying the different characters and I thoroughly enjoyed my evening listening to this book.
July 12, 2023
These short stories can become a bit repetitive when read altogether (as many feature basic premises such as children turned into animals or royalty cursed by wicked fairies), but otherwise characteristic of Nesbit's imaginative writing style. I think this would be a great "bedtime story" book to read aloud.
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