Synopsis
What would you do if you found a fairy that would grant your every wish? The five children in this story do just that, while playing in an old gravel pit during the school holidays. Their 'sand fairy' is not a very conventional sylph: "Its eyes were on long horns like a snail's eyes, and it could move them in and out like telescopes; it had ears like a bat's ears, and its tubby body was shaped like a spider's and covered with thick soft fur... and it had hands and feet like a monkey's". But while he is not particularly beautiful or good-tempered, the creature (whose real name is Psammead) does possess the redeeming feature of magically granting any desire - though for some reason the children's wishes always seem to go awry. This results in their being held prisoner by mailed knights, given wings, turned into giants, chased by scalp-seeking Indians and a host of other exciting adventures. It seems the Psammead is deliberately 'tweaking' the children's wishes, but to discover why you will have to read the rest of 'Five Children and It'! The author, Edith Nesbit, was born in London in 1858. Her own childhood was spent mainly in boarding schools, and she said later that she was only really happy during school holidays, when she could play with her brothers. Her writing included romantic novels, plays and poems, but she is best remembered for her children's books, which include the world-famous 'Railway Children' and the 'Psammead' trilogy, both of which are available in Cathedral Children's Classics.
Review
"I love E. Nesbit - I think she is great and I identify with the way that she writes. Her children are very real children and she was quite a groundbreaker in her day" -- JK Rowling "She speaks to the reader, and it's almost as if though you could hear her voice" -- Quentin Blake "This one is definitely my favourite. The story is about five children who find a sand fairy that grants them wishes. But the wishes never turn out like the children imagine. The children had to spend the summer without TV or electronic games because they hadn't been invented. It makes me feel jealous of them, because they spend all day having adventures and the grown-ups don't bother them at all! I recommend this book to all children. If you can't read it yourself, your mum or dad should read it to you" -- Viveak Todd, aged 11 Sunday Express "So what makes these different to any other set of classics? In a moment of inspiration Random House had the bright idea of actually asking Key stage 2 children what extra ingredients they could add to make children want to read. And does it work? Well, put it this way...my 13-year-old daughter announced that she had to read a book over the summer holiday and, without any prompting, spotted The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas...and proceeded to read it! Now, if you knew my 13-year-old daughter, you would realise that this is quite remarkable. She reads texts, blogs and tags by the thousand - but this is the first book she has read since going to high school, so all hail Vintage Classics!" National Association for the Teaching of English
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