Stephen Hayes reviewed Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit
None
4 stars
This is one of those books I had heard about, but never seen, until my eye lit on it in the library this week. It's good bed-time reading, because each chapter is almost a self-contained story.
I suppose coming so late to it, probably many people have had an opportunity to read it before me, and it is too well-known to need much children -- four children and their baby brother discover a Psammead, a very ancient sand fairy who grants wishes. And, as I'm sure many others have said, the theme "be careful what you wish for" runs right through the book. In each chapter the children spent most of their time, energy, and, sometimes, money, trying to undo the damage that their wishes have caused.
It is interesting that most of the best books for children that have lasted have been fantasy books. Most of the children's books …
This is one of those books I had heard about, but never seen, until my eye lit on it in the library this week. It's good bed-time reading, because each chapter is almost a self-contained story.
I suppose coming so late to it, probably many people have had an opportunity to read it before me, and it is too well-known to need much children -- four children and their baby brother discover a Psammead, a very ancient sand fairy who grants wishes. And, as I'm sure many others have said, the theme "be careful what you wish for" runs right through the book. In each chapter the children spent most of their time, energy, and, sometimes, money, trying to undo the damage that their wishes have caused.
It is interesting that most of the best books for children that have lasted have been fantasy books. Most of the children's books from before the First World War have probably been all but forgotten, but many of those that have lasted and been reprinted have been fantasy books.
Another thought is that the children in the story, and therefore many of the first readers of the book, would have been of the generation that fought in the First World War. They grew up in a kind of idyllic world that was to vanish in their generation.
