Five Children and It, E. Nesbit
Five Children and It, E. Nesbit
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Five Children and It

Author: E. Nesbit

Narrator: Simon Hester

Unabridged: 6 hr 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/22/2023

Synopsis

The story of three wishes being granted is an old one and often takes the form of a precautionary tale with the resultant moral being “be careful what you wish for!” Such is the fallibility of human nature that we can’t easily be trusted to use those wishes wisely.The great children’s author Edith Nesbit (1858 – 1924) took this popular concept for her 1903 book “Five Children and It” and extended the wishes from three to eleven, now granted to five young siblings in Edwardian England.They have no Geni of the Lamp or Fairy Godmother, but instead, an irascible Sand Fairy dug accidently out of the sand of an abandon quarry. This strange “Psammead”, with his snail’s eyes on stalks, furry squat body and aversion to water reluctantly grants the four children their, often ill thought out, wishes.Nesbit writes with her usual warmth and humour, placing her protagonists into funny and sometimes frightening adventures which gradually make the children “wise beyond their years.”Head Stories Audio presents "Five Children and It" by E. Nesbit. Narrated by Simon Hester. With original music.

About E. Nesbit

Edith Nesbit was a mischievous child who grew up into an unconventional adult. With her husband, Hubert Bland, she was one of the founder members of the socialist Fabian Society; their household became a centre of the socialist and literary circles of the times. E. Nesbit turned late to children's writing. Her first children's book, The Treasure Seekers, was published in 1899 to great acclaim. Other books featuring the Bastable children followed, and a series of magical fantasy books, including Five Children and It also became very popular. The Railway Children was first published monthly in the London Magazine in 1905, and published as a book in 1906, which has been in print ever since.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Manny on 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......more

Goodreads review by Margaret on August 01, 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......more

Goodreads review by Louie the Mustache on 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 grandpare......more

Goodreads review by Jessica on August 01, 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 havi......more

Goodreads review by Luisa on November 21, 2023

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 sp......more

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