Five Children and It (Five Children, #1)
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Five Children and It (Five Children #1)

3.85 of 5 stars 3.85  ·  rating details  ·  7,801 ratings  ·  319 reviews
The five children find a cantankerous sand fairy or 'psammead' in a gravel pit. Every day 'It' will grant each of them a wish that lasts until sunset, often with disastrous consequences. Five Children and It was first published in 1902, and it has remained in print ever since. The Introduction to this edition examines Nesbit's life and her reading, showing how she was pois...more
Paperback, 237 pages
Published December 1st 1996 by Puffin (first published 1902)
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Kwoomac
This novel was written in 1902. The author Edith Nesbit tells the story of five children (obviously) who come across a psammead, a sand fairy, while playing in a deserted gravel pit. This is one of the earliest examples of children left on their own who then have great adventures. Tha family goes to a house in the country on holiday when their father is called back to work and their mother leaves them to take care of her own sick mother. The children are basically on their own, minimally supervi...more
Manny
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 you wish for", one of her favourite themes. Some of the episodes are excellent, and it's full of delightful asides. But the construction is rather loose, and the ending is weak. I think she was dissat...more
Tracey
Review purely for the Librivox edition of Five Children and It - I love the book, but this was awful. Various narrators - unfortunately un-listen-to-able. How can you read Five Children and It and not be able to pronounce "Anthea" and "Psammead"??
Margaret
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 children, usually siblings or cousins but sometimes friends, stumble on a magical something that leads them into a series of fantastic adventures and important discoveries (gently conveyed) about the...more
Gale
“Be careful what you wish for…!”

Four children in turn-of the century England (and a two year old baby called the Lamb) make the discovery of an unusual creature in a sand pit: the Psammead, or Sand Fairy. Of course no adult would believe in It’s existence or its super-magical ability to grant wishes--that is, one wish per day, which lasts until sundown. While the children’s parents are on an extended visit to an ailing grandparent, the kids are left in the care of Martha and the Cook at their...more
Sally
This is an age-old fable tale of "be careful what you wish for," told in a way that is entirely suitable for children to read or have read to them. I would suggest the appropriate audience age would be 6-11 or 12. It is not heavy reading and only about 2 hours long (audiobook), but it is an entertaining tale even some adults might enjoy. I think books of this sort appeal to children, or the adult who remembers childhood, because the main characters are children themselves. The way the story chil...more
Leslie
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Martha
Apr 14, 2012 Martha rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: elementary school-age kids
Good late Victorian fun. You lose something when you read a children's book for the first time as an adult. But I would have liked this as a kid although it doesn't have the kind of compelling characters that make you read a book over and over again--like Alice or Dr. Dolittle. So it's lighter weight, a fairy tale with early 20th-century English schoolboy speak. And the omniscient narrator gets a bit arch at times.

Having the knights' equipment come from different historical periods b/c the chil...more
Lucinda
This is a heartwarming story that never fails to bring a smile to my face, and it is something that i love as much now as i did when i was a child. It is set during the second world war where five children are sent to relatives in the countryside, and there they encounter a strange and magical creature. This is a story that is centered around friendship and love and one that is beautifully touching and emotive, which will really touch your heart. The saying "be careful what you wish for" is the...more
Beth Bonini
This is basically a version of the "three foolish wishes" folktale, with some original elaboration. One of the original bits is that Edith Nesbit featured a family of five children (two boys, two girls and a toddler) instead of the orphan or only child more common in children's fantasy books of the time. Nesbit was a hugely successful children's writer in the early 20th century, and her novels impacted most of the writers who came after her. Indeed, I immediately thought of Enid Blyton -- and he...more
Chris
If you could have anything you wanted, what would it be? Quickly now, off the top of your head. You get one wish, immediately. What is it?

Okay, now that you’ve made your wish, think it through very carefully and try to imagine all the ways it might go wrong. Because your wish won’t turn out the way that you think. Wishes never do, you know. The creature granting the wish always finds a way to twist your words so they mean something a bit different than you thought, people will react to your chan...more
Krista
Nesbit is the grandmother of children's fantasy literature. Written in 1902, Five Children and It can be considered to have inspired many who came later, including Edward Eager, whose Tales of Magic series owes a great debt to Nesbit (this Eager freely admits)

The book shows its age but it is much more accessible than the other books I've read that she penned. Five siblings find a creature who will grant one wish a day and madcap hilarity ensues, replete with political incorrectness and reference...more
Shel
Jul 24, 2009 Shel added it
Nesbit, E. (2004). Five Children and It. New York: Puffin Books.



9780140367355



Five children (thus the first part of the title of this book—although one of the five kids is a baby and is not involved in all of the events) leave their London home with their mother visit the countryside for a week. Within hours of their arrival they discover an ancient sand fairy living in a gravel-pit. The grumpy fairy grants the children one wish each day. The catch? The wishes only last one day and the kids never...more
Xenophon Hendrix
The book is both funny and witty. I wish I had read it when I was a child. The dialog is sharp, and except for one chapter, all of the human characters behave in realistic ways.

I wish I could give the book extra points for the deeply politically incorrect chapter featuring American Indians, but alas, it is the only silly chapter in the book. I despise PC as much as the next amateur subversive, but political incorrectness should be reserved for speaking truth. This chapter, unfortunately, display...more
Judy
Feb 11, 2012 Judy rated it 3 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: classic children's books lovers
Recommended to Judy by: Dan
My brother pawned this book off on me so I felt obligated to read it. Considering he and I have recently divergent tastes in books I didn't expect much, but surprise! it turned out to be a delightful book.

This chapter book centers around five children staying with their caring but unimaginative housekeeper at a country house near a sand pit. The children discover a grumpy psammead (sand fairy) who grants them a wish a day. Of course, this results in good lessons, predicaments and missed suppers....more
Bryn
I loved E Nesbit as a child, I read everything of hers I could get my hands on. This was a particular favorite. So, looking for things to read to my son, I returned with great delight and enthusiasm. And was horribly disappointed.

The story premis and remains sois pleasing - the sand fairy grants wishes, the children learn from their wishes about what is important to them. But, going back as an adult reader, the whole thing seems so judgemental and patronising, laced with the suggestion that you...more
Jessica
Free to download, and recommended by J. K. Rowling, this seemed like a simple diversion while I waited for the book I really wanted to read. And, mostly, it was. The story of 5 Victorian siblings who find a wish-granting fairy felt very familiar and generally sweet. You already know how things will turn out. "Be careful what you wish for." In a world populated by a maid, nurse, cook... yes, overly privileged children who are simply wishing for something to pass the time. Other than the classicis...more
Maria
I must have gotten this on a trip to Spain because there is a sticker on the back that says it cost just over 5 pesetas and is from an English bookshop. The American price is just over $2 which is shocking to me given today's prices. I must be getting old.

I really want to give this book 2.5 stars because there are things I really like about it but then lots of stuff that is just so-so. Perhaps my favorite part of the book is the historical aspect, the things the children wore, the expected stand...more
Debra
What would you wish for if you could have one wish granted every day? Five siblings--well, really only four of five because "Lamb" is too young--in E. Nesbit's Five Children and It discover that deciding what to wish for is only the beginning of their troubles. When they uncover a sand fairy who promises to grant them a wish a day, "careful what you wish for" becomes a much more colorful aphorism.

Somehow, I had not read E. Nesbit's work before, and I am not familiar with turn-of-the-20th-Century...more
Chris
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 reade...more
Travis
Odd, but entertaining children's book about five siblings that discover a 'sand fairy' near their summer home and are given a wish a day.

Unfortunately, none of the wishes go as the kids hope and quite a few cause more trouble then they solve.

What makes this book a step above the usual kids fantasy books from the turn of the century is a balance of fun fantasy elements and cynicism. It's a bit like the Mary Poppins books, in that the people in the book act very real, and while there are fantastic...more
dragonhelmuk
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Stephanie
Kids might enjoy comparing the contemporary series The Spiderwick Chronicles to this obvious predecessor, which also involves a group of siblings who find a grumpy magical being. Four British children (and their baby brother) uncover a Sand-fairy who grants wishes that only last a day. This time constraint is welcome when they wish to live in a besieged castle, for example, but causes problems when their wished-for wings vanish and they're stranded on top of a building. Published in 1902, the bo...more
Valerie
My copy of this edition is evidently an earlier printing, as it's from 1986.

The Psammead (the 'it' of the title) longs for 'good old days' which are, frankly, purely imaginary. The attempt to explain away fossils as petrifications of ancient wishes is just silly.

But the silliness becomes a springboard for 'modern' fantasies. But the 'modern' in case is Edwardian (NOT 'Victorian'. Victoria died in very early 1901) middle class children.

Before the development of a lot of labor-saving devices, serv...more
Zelda
This charming classic tale of five spunky British children who stumble upon a wish-granting sand fairy will not only look splendid on your bookshelf but it will make Ambien seem like some kind of 12-horse powered, super upper by comparison. By that I mean, oh my gaw, please kill me before I have to read one more word of this.

But my kids loved it! Here's why: I would literally doze off mid-sentence while I was reading it aloud to them. But I would still be reading and my garbled sentence would ma...more
Isabel
So far, I'm not blown away by this one. The four English children (plus Baby) living in the country after leaving London are a far cry from the Pevinses of Narnia. It's hard for me to distinguish between one child and another.

The conspiring tone of the narrator, who understands children as well as children do, is a little annoying. The rhythm of the writing doesn't lend itself to reading aloud, but maybe that's because I don't have an English accent (?). Anyway, I'm a bit disappointed so far. I...more
Lisa Cox
I've only discovered the works of Edith Nesbit in my later years. I'm not sure I could have appreciated them as a younger reader. There is the expected old-world feel to the writing, and I'm sure modern audiences may scoff, but I find myself looking forward to the hidden humor that sometimes makes me snort tea out my nose. The fairy stories and the adventures of the children are light and entertaining, but my favorite thing about this book is the unexpected humor delivered in that wide-eyed, inn...more
Hillary
Feb 16, 2011 Hillary rated it 3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Hillary by: C. S. Lewis
From my understanding, this book is one of the first of its kind. Until Nesbit's story, characters often went out to find adventure. Nesbit decided to bring the adventure to the children. A small pioneering effort in light of today, but to think of what all these ideas have lead to since then! This form of story has been expounded on in every possible way since Nesbit.

The chapters were long and a little extra effort was exerted to get through them, but by the time each chapter was done, I found...more
Carmine
Feb 19, 2009 Carmine rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: family read aloud, fantasy lovers
Loved it. The influence on Edward Eager is very clear. Stories where children get wishes and they always go awry- right up my alley. In this case an irritable sand fairy promises them one wish per day and, of course, they always backfire. Luckily the wish undoes itself at sunset and all is restored. The children bicker and banter wittily and get into scrapes- help! our wings have disappeared and we are stuck in the belfry.

One moment of pause- this was written in 1902. The attitudes of colonial E...more
Michele Velthuizen
Interest level: 5th +
Reading level: medium
Genre: fantasy, humor, classics, fairies, sand fairies

This book was written over 100 years ago, so you'll notice that the language a bit old-fashioned; nevertheless it's a timeless story about five children who discover a creature - a Psammead (an ancient odd-looking sand fairy) - that grants them a wish a day that lasts until sunset. But it's a hard to think of sensible wishes so the children soon find out that every wish they ask for ends up in disaste...more
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Five Children and It (Paperback)
Five Children And It
Five Children and It (Paperback)
Five Children and It (Paperback)
Five Children and It (Paperback)

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Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland; 15 August 1858 – 4 May 1924) was an English author and poet whose children's works were published 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 precursor to the modern Labour Par...more
More about E. Nesbit...
The Railway Children The Phoenix and the Carpet (Five Children, #2) The Enchanted Castle The Enchanted Castle & Five Children and It The Story of the Treasure Seekers (Bastable Children, #1)

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