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    Five Children and It
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    Five Children and It
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    Five Children and It
    Ebook191 pages

    Five Children and It

    By Edith Nesbit

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    The story begins when a group of children move from London to the countryside of Kent. The five children – Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and their baby brother, known as the Lamb – are playing in a gravel pit when they uncover a rather grumpy, ugly, and occasionally malevolent Psammead, a sand-fairy with ability to grant wishes.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherInteractive Media
    Release dateMar 12, 2018
    ISBN9781787244771
    Author

    Edith Nesbit

    Edith Nesbit (Londres, 1858-1924) escritora y poetisa que viajó por Inglaterra, España y Francia. Se casó a los 21 años con el político Hubert Bland, con quien tuvo cinco hijos. Su vida fue una continua lucha contra la rectitud victoriana de la época. Es conocida por sus libros para niños llenos de humor y con un estilo innovador que, en ocasiones, desarrolla las aventuras de los protagonistas en una realidad cotidiana con elementos mágicos.

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    Reviews for Five Children and It

    4/5

    631 ratings29 reviews

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    • 4/5
      When the five children in this story ask what 'It' is, and It tells them it is a Psammead, the immediate comment is the stock phrase "It's all Greek to me." And of course that is the point: Psammead would be Greek for 'sand fairy', which is what It is. This is perhaps a clear indication that Nesbit was writing not just for children but also for adults, herself included, the kind of educated middleclass adults alive at the tail-end of Victorian Britain. Which is a point that many modern-day readers often miss, especially those that criticise the chapter on American Indians for not being politically correct (it was published in 1902, when such stereotypes were perpetuated, and which Nesbit was satirising), or who chastise the author for speaking down to children (they clearly haven't read many of the contemporary morally-improving tomes for children, compared with which Nesbit's voice comes across as thoroughly modern and sensitive in its understanding of, and sympathy for, sheltered bourgeois mentality and experience).Having risen to the defence of Nesbit, I have to say that I didn't find Five Children and It as captivating as I might have hoped, though it was rather better paced than her preceding titles centred on the Bastable children, The Treasure Seekers (1899) and The Wouldbegoods (1901). Originally appearing in installments (ideal for bedtime reading), the story follows the by now familiar pattern of a group of children who, despite often good intentions, find the outcomes not going the way they hoped. Unlike the Bastable children, this family (Cyril, Anthea, Robert and Jane, plus the baby Hilary they call 'Lamb') has its adventures spiced up by magic, provided by their wishes being granted by the creature they find in an old sand quarry.To describe the adventures would be to lose any magic gained by reading the story, but of course the precise wishes, formulated through the distorting prisms of juvenile brains, are all granted in rather diverting ways. What I did find captivating, however, was the Psammead itself, not unsurprisingly a rather grumpy personnage considering not only its extreme age but also its constant disturbance by a bunch of kids. As a grumpy personnage muself (though not of a similar age) I thoroughly sympathised with its tic of having to grant whimsical wishes to all and sundry. Whilst only slightly bemused by its command of contemporary English, I was rather more irritated by its equally whimsical portrayal by more recent book cover designers and film makers, in defiance of Nesbit's very clear description: it had eyes ... on long horns like a snail’s eyes, and it could move them in and out like telescopes, and ears like a bat’s ears, and its tubby body was shaped like a spider’s and covered with thick soft fur; its legs and arms were furry too, and it had hands and feet like a monkey’s, not to mention rat-like whiskers. My edition has a cover illustration depicting the Psammead with bat's ears, a furry body (green, to be sure) and primate hands and feet as expected, but, horror of horrors, eyes in a face rather than on those telescopic stalks emerging from the top of its head. And the creature in the recent film of the same name is a travesty of Nesbit's careful portrait.
    • 4/5
      When I was a child, I loved this book. I loved the illustrations. The edition I have now doesn't have illustrations, alas.
    • 5/5
      A London family takes a modest house in the country for the summer, and the five children discover a sand fairy with the power to grant wishes.

      Cyril, Anthea, Robert, and Jane, and their two-year-old brother whom they call the Lamb, also discover that wishes aren't always all they're cracked up to be. What could be more harmless than Jane's wish that they all be "as beautiful as the day"? How could wishing for untold wealth--in gold coins--go wrong? Yet over the course of the summer, the children find that more often than not they are figuring out how to get through to sunset, when the sand fairy's gifts go away.

      This was a cherished favorite when I was a child, and it's still a lovely, wonderful book to read and reread. It ages very well; Nesbit's girls and boys are equally brave, clever, and loyal, with the impulsivity and unreliable judgment of real children.

      Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      Beautiful book of wisdom. :)
    • 4/5
      I found the book, on an obvious reread, still quite funny and entertaining. I wonder if the Disney Factory has done a rewrite for modern tastes. Or was that "E.T.?
    • 4/5
      Not sure why I have this marked as 'to read'. I loved this a lot when I was younger -- my copy is a hand-me-down from someone else who loved it, and therefore very battered. The tone is a little preachy at times, but the story is fun.
    • 4/5
      The Psammead is a grumpy sand fairy who grants wishes to five children. Unfortunately, the children find out that having wishes granted can come with unintended consequences. They wish for gold coins, but can't spend them without being accused of being thieves. They wish for a castle but find themselves in the middle of a siege. It goes on like this. In the end they wish for no more wishes!
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite Nesbit books, aside from the The Magic City, the 5 Children series are my favorites.
    • 5/5
      Five children find a fairy at the beach who grants wishes, though with surprising consequences.
    • 4/5
      I loved Five Children and It as an 11 year old. I reread it recently and it did hold up. The children were almost as appealing as the Bastables.
    • 4/5
      In reading this book to my young daughter, I was delighted that she so enjoyed a book written over 100 years ago. While some of the terminology and language is outdated enough to be a bit confusing to a child, the story itself is as fresh and charming as can be.Four children (the fifth child from the title is only a baby) discover a Psammead or Sand-fairy, which grants them a wish a day. However, at sunset, all traces of the wish disappear forever. The children quickly discover that wishing is not as easy as it sounds, and every wish they make turns out to have quite unforseen consequences - mostly bad. The story is clever, often funny, occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, and has a sweet ending.
    • 3/5
      Five children left on their own during summer holidays discover a sand-fairy called a Psammead in a gravel pit who will grant them one wish each day. Of course, the wishes go awry in a humorous way, but thankfully, the effects wear off at sunset.I never got around to reading Nesbit as a child. I read this aloud to my 8-year-old son. We both enjoyed the humorous adventures and the cranky Psammead, and it led to lots of conversations about wishes and unintended consequences. I found the characterizations of the girls don't pass muster for modern sensibilities, and the chapter about Indians was uncomfortably stereotyped. Despite those hiccups, this was a fun read.
    • 3/5
      I read this book because it was a classic, but i found it too fluffy, whimsical, not enough of a thought provoking storyline for me. It is very much the Alice in Wonderland type fantasy - pure etc. Being able to see the movie and then revisit the book made it more enjoyable the second time around. I prefer Roald Dahl's fantasy narrative style.
    • 4/5
      E. Nesbit is a writer I've been meaning to read since about 4th grade. In many of Edgar Eager's books ("Half-Magic" absolutely delighted me as a child) he mentions her magical tales, and I believe I tried reading one at that age, but found its Victorian sentences too long, convoluted and boring for me. Nevertheless, I've always intended to read her books and have been collecting them slowly from various used book stores. This last year I read A.S. Byatt's "The Children's Book" which I loved, and I have read that the mother/children's book writer at the center of the main family in this novel was based on E. Nesbit. "Five Children and It" is the story of a set of siblings who one day find a psammead or sand-fairy. The sand-fairy can grant them one wish a day, which lasts only until sunset. To the chagrin of the children (two boys, two girls and a baby) their wishes seem to always cause them more trouble than expected, but does lead them into all sorts of imaginative adventures. It is a delightful story. The language is perfectly readable and the adventures interesting. (I'm not sure which book I tried reading of hers in elementary school, but I'm sure it was not this one.) I'm actually surprised that a movie has not been made based on this book. The characters of the children reminded me of some of the movies set during the turn-of-the-century shown on "The World of Disney" show from the sixties and starring British child actors. [Anyone remember "The Three Lives of Thomasina"?] Anyway, it is highly recommended for ages 9 - 12.
    • 4/5
      A surprising story of a fantastic creature and the things that can go wrong with wishes. The kids really enjoyed this book and were pleased to learn there are more in this series. We read this as a family and even Daddy laughed out loud. This is our first Nesbit book but we excited to read more by this lovely author.
    • 3/5
      A family moved to London.The family contains five children-Robert,Anthea,Jane,Cyril,and baby.When the children dug a hole in the gravel-pit,they were very surprised atwhat they found. That is "IT". A sand-fairy,thousands of years old."IT"is fat and furry, and with eyes on long stalks. IT said the children to grant their wishes when every time they found IT.They were glad. They said,"I wish we were very beautiful." "Gold,pldase.""Wings please."....IT granted all things they wished easily,but they caused trouble many times.The book is a story with a happy ending, and easy to understand.But I was a little bored.
    • 5/5
      Five Children and It is a thoroughly delightful book chronicling the adventures of four young English children and their little brother "Lamb." Told splendidly by Nesbit this book deserves to be read again and again and again.
    • 4/5
      When the children dug a hole in the gravel-pit, they were very surprised at a Psammead.This story is pure and warm.I like this story.
    • 4/5
      One of my favorites. Lots of British language - hard read-aloud, but worth the time!
    • 5/5
      Four children and their baby brother stumble upon a Sand Fairy and learn from It that he can grant them one wish a day but the wish will only last until sunset. They quickly learn that making and getting wishes is not as easy as it seems. They wish for the wrong things at the wrong time and even when they get it right it never turns out as they thought it would. Such as when they wish they were all beautiful and return home to find that the servants don't know who they are and turn them away. And when they wish the baby was grown up, and all grown up he does become, even older than they and what a stuffy, snobby man he turns out to be. Some wishes so do turn out fun such as when they wish for wings, only they forget to get home in time and at sunset find themselves stuck on the top of a church roof. Lot's of fun!E. Nesbit is credited with creating modern fantasy where fantastical creatures or elements become a part of the 'real' world. Even with having been written over a hundred years ago the writing and style is immensely readable. The 7yo loved this book very much. He found it quite all very exciting and wants to continue on with the series. This is an old-fashioned type of story (all the horse and carriages for instance) and it is very British plus this time period in England was very class conscious which makes it a bit hard for a modern North American child to comprehend at times but most of it was a non-issue. I loved these books when I was a kid and loved this just as much this time as an adult. The 7yo boy is anxious to read more about this group of children and their magical adventures. Recommended.
    • 5/5
      I adore E. Nesbit's fantasies. They are very Edwardian, very British and invoke a world that doesn't exist any more (if it ever really did).
    • 5/5
      I loved this book as a child and really recommend it especially to parents who are trying to get their young children to read more. Its a sweet little fantasy story that has held up over time.
    • 3/5
      What I like about E. Nesbit, and Five Children and It in particular, is the sense of reality that pervades the books in contrast to the plot. Despite having found a wish-granting entity, the kids are always hungry and tired, and they get mad at each other, and they forget lessons they should have learned in the last chapter, and they're afraid of getting in trouble.
    • 5/5
      A classic children's story from 1902, about five children (or, really, four children and their baby brother) who encounter a slightly bad-tempered magical creature who can grant wishes at a rate of one a day, with the limitation that whatever is wished for inevitably disappears by sunset. Which turns out to be a good thing, as, of course, the kids keep accidentally wishing for entirely the wrong things, or wishing for things that seem like a good idea but turn out less than ideally. They end up missing dinner a lot.This was a favorite of mine when I was young. Revisiting books you loved as a child is always a little worrying, as there's a real possibility of discovering that they're not as good as you thought they were, thus tinging your beloved childhood memories with disappointment. But I'm pleased to say that this is not one of those books. I found it utterly charming, and every bit as delightful as I did as a kid. I think back then, I was probably mostly taken with the cute fantasy story. Now, what I mostly appreciate is the humor, including a lot of extremely amusing authorial asides that clearly come from someone who remembers what it's like to be a child but also has an adult's perspective on kids. And both adult me and kid me can appreciate the way the book has a pleasant sort of quaintness to it, while at the same time being as breezily readable as any modern kid's story, although I'm sure the younger me wouldn't have thought of it in quite those terms.
    • 5/5
      This is another delightful classic from the pen of Edith Nesbit. Our five young heroes and heroines (or four really as one is a baby the others call Lamb) discover a Psammead or sand fairy who can grant them a wish a day. Needless to say they get the wishes wrong and don;t think through the consequences, but it all turns out right by sunset each day. I didn't enjoy this quite as much as The Railway Children, but it was still very enjoyable, with a lot of nice illustrations throughout.
    • 5/5
      This was mysteriously missing from my shelves, so it got added to my Christmas wishlist and reread accordingly. Still wonderful even after 100 years; few people have ever written children as convincingly as Edith Nesbit (notably, btw, her children are seldom orphans, although the parents tend to be conveniently absent for whatever reason), who also throws in a little social of her own social conscience for the adults: "If grown-ups got hold of me," says the Psammead, "… they'd ask for a graduated income-tax, and old-age pensions, and manhood suffrage, and free secondary education and dull things like that, and get them and keep them, and the whole world would be turned topsy-turvy."
    • 5/5
      This is the 5 Stories About An Animal That Fulfills Our Wish.Five Children meet it And They Ask It To Fulfill Their Wish.I Thought This Book Is for children. However,That`s Good Point Of This Book.While I Read　This Book、I Could Enjoy As If I Was An Child(But I'm Not)
    • 5/5
      One day, when the children dug a hole in the gravel-pit, they found a sand-fairy. His name is Pasammead. He can use magic, and he grants the children's wishes. But their wishes make a lot of funny problems.Children’s idea is very interesting and imaginable. So I enjoy reading this book. I think this story is pure and warm.
    • 4/5
      "Fairy of sand" has come out when five children dig up his large pit in the stone quarry. The fairy is said Psammead. Psammead is said the living for several thousand years, and says that it will realize any wish of one a day. However, validity term is limited the first. Children become glad, and do various wishes. The person in the town is neither surprised, it is not trusted, and it goes anyway well though Psammead realizes the wish in every case as it is a promise. Finally, the major disruption is caused over expensive jewels stolen from a rich house. Though children who panicked go again in Psammead but….When it is every child, I think that the theme that is the ideal is a story, and the fantasy story that can be happily read.