Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “The Railway Children” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Read Book* *Different edition

The Railway Children

E. Nesbit

4.01 · Rating details · 49,442 ratings · 1,424 reviews

Librarian note: alternate covers for this edition can be found here

Three children, forced to alter their comfortable lifestyle when their father is taken away by strangers, move with their mother to a simple cottage near a railway station where their days are filled with excitement and adventure. First published in 1906, this beloved children's classic has charmed ...more

Get A Copy

Paperback, 208 pages

Published March 5th 1993 by Wordsworth Editions (first published 1906)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about The Railway Children, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

চাঁদের পাহাড় by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay

পিঁপড়ে আর ব্যোমনাবিক by Anatoly Mityayev

আমার বন্ধু রাশেদ by Muhammed Zafar Iqbal

ছোটদের বই

138 books — 10 voters

The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Best Entertainments

121 books — 2 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 4.01 ·

Rating details

· 49,442 ratings · 1,424 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of The Railway Children

Nov 16, 2015 Jan-Maat added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century, british-isles, childrens-ya, fiction

The shock involved in crying over a children's book that endorses theft, children soliciting favours from old men, and frequent acts of trespass on to Railway property is hard to describe.

As is the dislocation in reading a Father tell his son that girls are as clever as boys before inviting his daughter to consider a railway career, and a man with a Polish surname imprisoned in Siberia for offending the Russian state. Still, I am fairly sure that this was published in 1906 and not 2006, afterall ...more

flag 66 likes · Like · see review

Aug 13, 2019 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, classics, fiction, literature, british, adventure, young-adult, 20th-century

The Railway Children, E. Nesbit
The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and first published in book form in 1906. It has been adapted for the screen several times, of which the 1970 film version is the best known. The story concerns a family who move from London to "The Three Chimneys", a house near the railway in Yorkshire, after the father, who works at the Foreign Office, is imprisoned after being falsely accused of The Railway Children, E. Nesbit
The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and first published in book form in 1906. It has been adapted for the screen several times, of which the 1970 film version is the best known. The story concerns a family who move from London to "The Three Chimneys", a house near the railway in Yorkshire, after the father, who works at the Foreign Office, is imprisoned after being falsely accused of spying. The children befriend an Old Gentleman who regularly takes the 9:15 train near their home; he is eventually able to help prove their father's innocence, and the family is reunited. The family takes care of a Russian exile, Mr. Szczepansky, who came to England looking for his family and Jim, the grandson of the Old Gentleman, who suffers a broken leg in a tunnel. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال 1977 میلادی
عنوان: بچه های راه آهن؛ نویسنده: ادیت نسبیت (نزبیت)، مترجم: پری منصوری (کیانوش)، تهران، کانون پرورش فکری کودکان و نوجوانان، 1355، در 321 ص؛ چاپ سوم 1379، در 321 ص؛ شابک: ایکس - 964432224؛ چاپ چهارم 1388؛ شابک: 9789644322242؛ چاپ دیگر: کانون، 1394؛ در 254 ص؛ شابک: 9786000103781؛ چاپ دوم 1396؛ چاپ دیگر: تهران، زرین قلم؛ 1378؛ در 321 ص؛ شابک: 9645939061؛ موضوع: داستانهای نوجوانان از نویسندگان بریتانیایی - سده 20 م
مترجمین دیگر: پروین قائمی، انتشارات درنا، 1375، در 112 ص؛ شیما فتاحی، قدیانی، 1386؛ و 1391، در 293 ص؛ و دیگران
فیلیس، پیتر و روبرتا «بابی» فرزندان پولداری هستند که زندگی خوبی را در شهر می‌گذرانند. پدر آن‌ها کارمند و مردی مهربان است و همیشه برای بازی کردن با بچه‌ ها آماده است. سپس یکروز، دو مرد با هیبتی جدی به خانه آن‌ها می‌آیند و با پدر در خلوت گفتگو می‌کنند. کودکان صدای پاهای زیاد را می‌شنوند، و پس از نیم‌ ساعت گفتگو، پدر با آن دو مرد سوار ارابه می‌شود، و می‌رود، در حالیکه مادر با سر و هیبتی آشفته از راه می‌رسد، و تنها سخنی که به آن‌ها می‌گوید، این است: «پدرتان برای چند گاهی به خانه نخواهد آمد، در این میان ما باید زندگی تهیدستانه ای را بگذرانیم». در پاسخ «بابی» که می‌پرسد: پدر کجا رفته؟، تنها پاسخ می‌دهد: «برای کار». خانه تازه و ساده ی آن‌ها، در روستایی نزدیک به راه‌ آهن قرار دارد، و بچه‌ ها با چندی آنجا ماندن، «بچه‌ های راه‌ آهن» می‌شوند. آن‌ها زمان رهسپاری همه قطارها، آغازانه و پایانه آن‌ها را می‌دانند. به زودی، ماجراهای تازه ای در زندگی آن‌ها آغاز می‌شود، از یک پیرمرد ناشناس کمک می‌خواهند، یک قطار را نجات می‌دهند، مخفیانه وارد یک قطار می‌شوند و...؛ ا. شربیانی ...more

flag 49 likes · Like · see review

Mar 27, 2017 Dhanaraj Rajan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: literature, children-s-lit, literature-uk

Question: Why do I read Children's Literature?
Answer: I read them because they are feel good stories and they fill you to the brim with hopes. They teach you great lessons through simple actions and easy sentences.

Question: Did The Railway Children fulfill these expectations?
Answer: Certainly. My Four Stars rating is the proof of that.

Question: Why not a Five star rating?
Answer: Unfortunately I fell in the trap of comparison game. I compared it with other books of similar genre that had received ...more

flag 40 likes · Like · see review

Feb 27, 2018 Dannii Elle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-captivaton

Recently, I have been going through a phase of revisiting my favourite childhood reads to see if they still garner the same awe and satisfaction when read as an adult. This, I was happy to discover, is as beloved to me now as when I first read it as a child.

My younger self appreciated the focus on sibling bonds - from their minor feuds to their lasting camaraderie - but my older self has discovered the darker and more harrowing story-line, that I either seem to have prior missed or that had ...more

flag 38 likes · Like · see review

Nov 20, 2008 Manny rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: children, story-review, celebrity-death-match, pooh-dante

Pilot for the Celebrity Death Match Review Tournament, The Railway Children versus Atlas Shrugged

It's a capacity crowd tonight at the Surrealist Boxing Stadium, and everyone's wondering if The Railway Children have a chance against Atlas Shrugged. I can see them in the blue corner, I must say they look nervous, they know they're behind on weight and reach but their supporters are out in force, that's always worth a lot, Bobbie is trying to calm Phyllis, she's whispering something in her ear. And ...more

flag 37 likes · Like · see review

Aug 11, 2014 Muhammad Ahmed Siddiqui rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, childrens, favorites, classics, adv-travel, british-lit, ya-teen, historical

changed my mind this is a 5 STAR BOOK

I am overwhelmed by the emotions and was hungover for a day. The whole journey throughout this book was magical. It was nostalgic. It was beautiful.

This book tells the story of three children whose father is taken away by the police and they have to live with their mother in poverty nearside a railway station.

If poverty is living in a wonderful countryside, meeting with lively people, roaming around free and exploring new areas then I will happily accept ...more

flag 26 likes · Like · see review

May 22, 2013 Ivonne Rovira rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: children-literature, children-classics

Children who have grown up with Matilda, The Dumb Bunnies or The Cat in the Hat can't really appreciate what an advance Edith Nesbit's The Railway Children actually was. For the first time, an author wrote about children who weren't miniature adults, who weren't preternaturally perfect, but who were flesh-and-blood children, children who quarreled and worried and snapped at one another when they grew fatigued or anxious.

Nesbit also provides a somewhat realistic view into the Edwardian period: ...more

flag 24 likes · Like · see review

Jan 13, 2009 Becki rated it really liked it · review of another edition

One thing I've noticed while reading "the classics" is that most of them center around female characters. I find that interesting, especially when you look over American educational statistics and see that girls generally fair much better at English class than boys. Perhaps this could be a reason?

It was a relief, then, to read The Railway Children and discover that female and male characters get equal play in this book. In fact, it was the favorite book of a male friend of mine when he was One thing I've noticed while reading "the classics" is that most of them center around female characters. I find that interesting, especially when you look over American educational statistics and see that girls generally fair much better at English class than boys. Perhaps this could be a reason?

It was a relief, then, to read The Railway Children and discover that female and male characters get equal play in this book. In fact, it was the favorite book of a male friend of mine when he was little, which just proves my point. Like most classics, this book was first published in the early 1900s, but there are surprisingly few outdated references - most obviously, the lack of electricity in every home.

The story centers around three children, Roberta, Phyllis, and Peter. They are pampered (but not annoying), wealthy, and generally have a pretty tame life until the night that their father is taken away. Suddenly, they are forced to move out of their home to a tiny, rundown cottage in the country, and their mother is now perpetually busy writing childrens' stories so that they can afford to buy food and coal to heat the cottage. At no point are the children told why their father is now missing, and this taints their attempts for a care-free life.

Like most childrens' and young adults' books, this one has a variety of adventures that always end with the children on top. They save a baby from a burning houseboat, the girls' red petticoats help save an entire train full of passengers, and Roberta's pidgin French rescues a Russian immigrant who has lost his money and family. The book is full of little adventures and mini-dramas, and I really liked how eventually, the children's good attitude sets into swing a series of events that bring their father home. Sometimes books like this one can be really trite and the ending spoiled by a bad plot, but this one totally escapes that. Nesbit also shows a really thorough understanding of how children would feel in every situation.

Even though this is a children's book, I think it could be enjoyed by every age. My copy is illustrated by Dinah Dryhurst, so if you can, try to get a copy with her illustrations. They are beautiful and really enhance the story. ...more

flag 22 likes · Like · see review

Apr 03, 2017 Luisa Knight rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: family-read-aloud, children, own

Did you know that C.S. Lewis was greatly influenced by E. Nesbits literature? He adopted a similar writing style and mannerism to hers. In fact, he went as far as to mention the children in this story, the Bastable children, in his book The Magicians Nephew. (Now you want to go back and read it, dont you!).

So if youre a Lewis fan, youll be delighted with this book and will enjoy discovering what aided his inspiration.

And if youre not a Lewis fan, well, first you should take yourself in for a ...more

flag 19 likes · Like · see review

Jun 06, 2017 Scarlet rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, for-young-readers, 2017-challenge, audiobooks, uk

Listened to a Librivox recording of this classic during a nine-hour car ride. It kept me entertained throughout the journey (and also helped to keep carsickness at bay). I would probably have enjoyed this a lot more had I read this in my early teens, when I was obsessed with authors like Enid Blyton. It's a charming, feel-good children's story with a cast of precocious kids who have their share of adventures while also rescuing a couple of people and brightening up the lives of the town folk in ...more

flag 17 likes · Like · see review

Mar 03, 2011 Laura Verret rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-fiction, goodwill-finds

A charming little children's tale - only in Britain, eh?

flag 16 likes · Like · see review

Jul 07, 2016 Roger Brunyate rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-readers

Nothing if not Strictly Truthful

And something wonderful did happen exactly four days after she had said this. I wish I could say it was three days after, because in fairy tales it is always three days after that things happen. But this is not a fairy story, and besides, it really was four and not three, and I am nothing if not strictly truthful.

Edith Nesbit had her tongue well in her cheek, of course, as she came to the end of her children's classic, published 110 years ago in 1906. After all, Nothing if not Strictly Truthful

And something wonderful did happen exactly four days after she had said this. I wish I could say it was three days after, because in fairy tales it is always three days after that things happen. But this is not a fairy story, and besides, it really was four and not three, and I am nothing if not strictly truthful.

Edith Nesbit had her tongue well in her cheek, of course, as she came to the end of her children's classic, published 110 years ago in 1906. After all, this story of three children forced into sudden poverty with their mother when their father is arrested has its full share of romance: the children thrive in their new environment next to a railway cutting, they make friends everywhere they go, and by a wonderful coincidence one of these friends turns out to be exactly the person who can help them. And yet, the enduring strength of the book has less to do with its romance than its truth. This is a real family, under real conditions, talking as people really talked—a far cry from the magical time-travel of The Story of the Amulet which preceded it.

Though equally fascinated by steam trains, I did not read the book as a child. I ordered it now as a footnote to Helen Dunmore's recent novel Exposure, which takes The Railway Children as its narrative frame—something I naturally didn't know until it was pointed out by friends. Dunmore's focus is primarily on why the father was arrested; with Nesbit, this is simply a fact that the reader must conjecture in the opening pages; it is not until quite close to the end that we hear any details (and discover that the case is very close to Dunmore's). But I think she is right to say nothing up front; it reproduces exactly the child's feeling of being carted off to new places and situations without understanding the adult reason behind it. It also gives a clear foundation for their resilience: their task is simply to help their mother get the new cottage in order, take chores off her hands, and make the most of their new environment.

The three children are Roberta (12), Peter (10), and Phyllis (8). But the author explains on page 30:

I am tired of calling Roberta by her name. I don't see why I should. No one else did. Everyone else called her Bobbie, and I don't see why I shouldn't.

So we get to know them by boys' names: Bobbie, Peter, and Phil. This matches the children's active independence, yet Nesbit does not turn the girls into tomboys; her gender balance is carefully thought out, and breaks the usual pattern of an elder boy leading the girls. Peter is there for physical strength and mechanical ingenuity, but Roberta is the one with the most responsibility, the one closest to her mother, the thinker, and in many ways the protagonist of the book; she is blessed with "the power of silent sympathy," a beautiful phrase. It is she who suggests that they get up early on their first morning, light the fire, lay the table, and put the kettle on for breakfast. After which, they go outside, discover the railway, and lose track of time:

They had made an excellent fire, and had set the kettle on it at about half past five. So that by eight the fire had been out for some time, the water had all boiled away, and the bottom was burned out of the kettle. Also they had not thought of washing the crockery before they set the table.

But their mother is nothing if not resilient too, and soon the children are off to visit the little rural station and make the first of their many friends. Even here, Nesbit values truth. Very few of the adults who come to help them fall in love with their cuteness at first sight; the children make mistakes and have to work on repairing them. Peter makes friends with the Station Master only after he has been caught "mining" coal from the heap outside the station and has duly apologized. Perks, the porter who tells them so much about trains, is as easily offended as befriended, and the children risk upsetting him when they plan something nice for his birthday. The bargee whom they encounter on the nearby canal behaves like an aggressive bully, and it is only when they help him in an unexpected crisis that they see his good side. I was also struck by the fact that while the book is naturally full of adventures, they are mostly of a small and believable kind. The biggest of them, when they save a train from crashing, is not saved for some grand climax, as another author might do, but placed before the half-way point in the book. It is the simplicity and naturalness of the book that makes it great—not its romance but its truth.

In reviewing The Story of the Amulet, I pointed out Nesbit's occasion tendency to insert herself into the story as a moralist, generally to advance her socialist beliefs. There is much less of that here. A Russian emigré who shows up in the village turns out to be a celebrated leftist writer, but little else is made of it. There is one slightly awkward scene where the local doctor tell Peter how to treat girls, but in general the life-lessons are introduced subtly in the everyday course of events; this is indeed an improving book to read, but the kids will never know it! Of course, Nesbit does introduce herself frequently into the action as author, with charming effect as in my first two quotations above. The mother who spends her days writing stories for sale while the children roam free in the countryside is Nesbit herself, who passed through some hard times of her own. Which leads to a delightful example of what we would now call meta-fiction:

"I say," said Peter, musingly, "wouldn't it be jolly if we all were in a book and you were writing it? Then you could make all sorts of jolly things happen, and make Jim's legs get well at once and be all right tomorrow, and Father come home soon and — "

Little does Peter know, they are already in a book, and their mother is indeed making all sorts of jolly things happen. But she is not doing it the easy way. And that is what makes this more than a footnote to a later novel, more than a charming period piece, but a true classic, as satisfying now as in the year it was written. ...more

flag 15 likes · Like · see review

Feb 21, 2016 Kellyn Roth rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, classical-reads, books-for-children, satire-comedy, adventurous-books

This is such an adorable story! My mom read it aloud to me and my brothers a couple years back. It's touching, funny, and picturesque.

~Kellyn Roth, Reveries Reviews

flag 11 likes · Like · see review

Jan 01, 2019 Jenny Baker rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, childrens, 2019, e-nesbit

My first read of 2019. I wish I had discovered E. Nesbit as a child, because I think it would have helped me to become more of an early reader.

flag 11 likes · Like · see review

Jan 21, 2015 Duane rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: rated-books, reviewed-books, english-calssics, childrens, 2015-book-challenge

E. Nesbit's (Edith) story, The Railway Children, was published in 1906. This first decade of the 20th century also introduced us to Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables and Burnett's A Little Princess. All three are considered childrens classics but are equally enjoyed by adult readers. Unlike many of today's children's stories, these classics place children in real life situations, and they find real life solutions to their problems. Although sometimes far fetched, they provide a level of ...more

flag 10 likes · Like · see review

Aug 13, 2015 Ferdy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: children-s-book, classic, liked-it, loved-the-setting

A light, summery, charming read in an old school British sort of way. It was a little slow paced and predictable though, then again I was expecting it to be like that.

I did find the kids quite cheeky when they went around demanding things from the Old Gentlemen, the villagers, and the poor Doctor. I know they were trying to help their mum and other people, but it was still kind of greedy and cheeky. Though they were quite selfless and nice when it came to the Russian guy and the red jumper guy, ...more

flag 10 likes · Like · see review

Mar 08, 2018 Kady Monroe rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A quick story about a family which has to move to a house near a railway line. They befriend the stationmaster and one of the train passengers. It was an enjoyable few hours audiobook.

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Jan 06, 2012 Tracey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-star

Again E. Nesbit shows herself expert at showing-not-telling, and at writing for anyone and everyone. With the story told from the point of view of the children, and aimed at children, all anyone under a certain height level is going to understand is that the father of the family goes away one night and does not come back, and the mother tells the three that he is away on business and everything changes. Mother is upset or sad all the time, even when courageously pretending otherwise. The Again E. Nesbit shows herself expert at showing-not-telling, and at writing for anyone and everyone. With the story told from the point of view of the children, and aimed at children, all anyone under a certain height level is going to understand is that the father of the family goes away one night and does not come back, and the mother tells the three that he is away on business – and everything changes. Mother is upset or sad all the time, even when courageously pretending otherwise. The children are made to understand that they are now poor – for a while. And almost overnight they pick up and leave their home – taking all the furniture the children deem "ugly" and Mother deems "useful", but few of their pretty things – and move out to a cottage in the country and Mother begins writing most of the day and far into the night. And Father does not come back.

I can't think how this story could be told more poignantly than as it is, obliquely through the children's eyes. Peter and Roberta (Bobbie) and Phyllis are, of course, bright children, and good ones, well brought up and attentive and conscientious – but they are wrapped in the happy oblivion of what seems to have been an upper middle class upbringing, wanting for no essential and few non-essentials, a world in which it is utterly and in all other ways inconceivable that anyone could ever dream their father did anything wrong. As it happens, of course, they are correct, but even had their father been in truth Jack the Ripper they would have been difficult to convince. They are essentially self-involved, viewing the world only as it affects them; for Peter and Phyllis it is enough that their mother tells them their father is away on business and they mustn't worry. They are upset when she is upset, but otherwise they are content and involved in their own lives. Bobbie is more attentive, more outwardly focused, and seems to step away from her childhood with this book.

Mother is, in this story, utterly brilliant – and I don't think that's just because the point of view is thoroughly sympathetic. She does a tremendous job of protecting her children – whisking them away from their old environment before they can hear a whisper of what has really happened to their father.

And of course the children are brilliant too. Roberta especially is rather magnificent. I love the narrator's frank statement that she hopes the reader does not mind her paying particular attention to Bobbie, but she has become rather a favorite. And I also love the equally frank assessment of her tendency to a) interfere or b) help lame dogs over stiles or c) help others (depending on who you ask) – she can't help herself from making every effort to do something, and feels things very deeply, and this does not always make for easy relations with others.

The realism of E. Nesbit's writing is a bit dinged by the heroic role of the children during the summer of the story. Not to spoil things, but the events the three of them become involved in might, individually, be acceptable; all together it's a little bit ridiculous. But for the original target audience it would be so much fun. For me, a good bit older than the target? Also fun – and I admit to choking up at the climax. Oh, and Karen Savage, the narrator of the Librivox recording? Absolutely terrific. ...more

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Aug 14, 2013 L.H. Johnson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-literature, classics, adventure, tearjerker

I'm on a bit of a classics kick recently. And as mentioned in my review of For Love Of A Horse, these aren't the Oliver Twist sort of classics. These are classics that have framed my childhood - and my adulthood - and are just really, really good.

I love The Railway Children. (And I love Bobbie in particular.)E Nesbit is a stylish, approachable author who writes with a sort of seditious aplomb. There's a whole level of this book that I missed first time round, the subtle comments on society, I'm on a bit of a classics kick recently. And as mentioned in my review of For Love Of A Horse, these aren't the Oliver Twist sort of classics. These are classics that have framed my childhood - and my adulthood - and are just really, really good.

I love The Railway Children. (And I love Bobbie in particular.)E Nesbit is a stylish, approachable author who writes with a sort of seditious aplomb. There's a whole level of this book that I missed first time round, the subtle comments on society, class and gender that quietly slip, slip, slide throughout the book. Have a look at how Nesbit writes her girls for example, the shift between Roberta and Bobbie, Phil and Phyllis, and the way Nesbit quite beautifully starts to fall in love with her characters.

You should so read E Nesbit. You should read everything of hers because it's all very, very gorgeous. It's writing that's full of riches; of families fighting and making up and falling in love and holding fast to each other against the world. And Nesbit writes that, she writes it all brilliantly, but she also rips it all apart.

This is a single parent family, run by Mother in Father's absence. And due to that absence, she becomes the breadwinner, the caregiver, and the authority in the lives of her children. It's an apparently simple conceit but it's one that allows Nesbit to quietly pull the rug from under our feet and shatter any preconceptions we may have. Girls are brave, boys are foolish, boys are brave and girls are foolish, and at the mercy of adult authority and yet, subtly, quietly, often manipulating and controlling that authority.

It's great, clever stuff that is still an excellent read over one hundred years later. I love Nesbit. I love her a lot. Read this, then go read The Phoenix and the Carpet, and Five Children and It and The Story of the Treasure Seekers and then read everything else she ever wrote.

The Railway Children is available for free on Project Gutenberghere. (And for more on the subversive nature of the book itself, read this which is excellent. ...more

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Aug 16, 2015 Tarmia rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library-books, adolescent-fiction, classical-literature, reading-challenge-2017

This was an endearing read, but one that, for me, was nothing more than endearing. The children, the side characters, and the narrator were all well considered and gave an almost whimsical sensation to the book, but I was lost when trying to properly connect and feel emotionally invested. It was very reminiscent of Little Women but luckily had less of the sexist undertones. Yes, I am aware of when these books were written, but I felt almost 'dirtied' by such statements as; 'girls are so much ...more

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Sep 10, 2018 Eva rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-books

I cry so hard reading this book. So. Hard.

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Sep 06, 2017 Marlene rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own-kindle, a-to-z-2018b, also-for-nora

"...it's not so much what you do, as what you mean."

The Railway Children (1906, Wells Gardner, Darton) by E. Nesbit, is a children's chapter book set in Edwardian England near a railway station in Yorkshire. According to Wikipedia, the timeframe is thought to be the year 1905, which is the same year this story was published serially in The London Magazine. I tend to enjoy classic children's books, so when I found this title in my husband's library of Audible books, how could I resist?

Rating: 5 ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Mar 03, 2020 Deborah Ideiosepius rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-book, historic-fiction, literature, wordpress, classics, 2020-reading-challenge

This book was heaps of fun: A classic children's book which is still readable, exciting and enjoyable one hundred and fifteen years after it was first published. I enjoy children's books anyway and I especially enjoy reading books that are historical by virtue of being written quite a long time ago.

In this book we follow the adventures of Roberta, Peter and Phyllis who live in happy, middle class comfort in the city of London until one day their father mysteriously goes away. The children, with ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Apr 18, 2015 Kavita rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: children, movie-was-better, uk

Meh. Tedious.

I really thought I would enjoy a book about the railways, and I did enjoy that aspect of it. It's funny how quaint and informal the railway officials are but it was nice to see the children's growing love for the railway station, the trains and the employees working there.

The plot, as it goes, was boring. The childrens' father was imprisoned for spying but the mother does not tell the children anything and lets them speculate all manner of terrible things, which I found to be quite Meh. Tedious.

I really thought I would enjoy a book about the railways, and I did enjoy that aspect of it. It's funny how quaint and informal the railway officials are but it was nice to see the children's growing love for the railway station, the trains and the employees working there.

The plot, as it goes, was boring. The childrens' father was imprisoned for spying but the mother does not tell the children anything and lets them speculate all manner of terrible things, which I found to be quite cruel. The eldest finds out about it by accident and the mother makes her promise not to tell anyone. These are not small kids but almost teenagers. The family doesn't seem to make visits to the father in prison either. It was just made out to be a big mystery, but I found it all rather forced. The book does not go into details about the arrest and so on, which could have made it more interesting. The mother kept yapping that now they are very poor but there was no struggle shown on the part of the children to try to adjust to their new surroundings. I also don't think Mother knows what poverty really is.

There were some sub-plots, but most of them were senseless, especially one involving a famous Russian writer who appears to get stranded in a remote village of all the places! It didn't lead anywhere either and seemed very forced. There was one good plot involving the station master, though, which I thought was rather nicely done. Bobby's final moment of intuition was forced and unrealistic too.

The three children are all saccharine sweet and boring beyond belief. Peter is the one who was a little interesting but I could not really sustain interest in the squabbles that ended almost as soon as he started them, because diabetes-Bobbie apologises right away all the time. Phyllis is almost a background character, and does not have any separate plot of her own. Roberta is the eldest and is a goody two shoes who consistently got on my nerves with her diabetes-inducing behaviour. The last concern with children that age is trying to act good, but Roberta is not a teen, she is a robot. One who bursts into tears all the time. Maybe this was Nesbit's ideal teen, rather than a real one. The siblings go around doing good deeds all over the place, which frankly is rather boring.

We also learn a scientific fact in this book meant for children - something that has been read and absorbed by kids for about a century now. Girls are weaker and softer because it's good for the babies. Yes, so weak and soft that they can push out big babies from a small hole ... Very good for them, I'm sure, if women are unable to handle pain. Very soft, indeed! It's SCIENCE, don't you know?!

I am not sure I would have enjoyed this book even as a child. Reading this as an adult, it's perfectly tedious and I hate all of them. Everyone is really fake, the plots are either boring or don't really fit in together, and the scientific facts are not supported by peer reviews. Total loss! I don't even know how this is a classic. ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Jul 22, 2018 Kathleen Flynn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: found-on-the-street

A children's classic I somehow failed to read as a child. Sweet without being treacly. A lot of fun.

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

May 24, 2018 Tukunjil Nayeera rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favourite, middle-grade, british-lit, classic

"Daddy dear, I'm only four
And I'd rather not be more.
Four's the nicest age to be,
Two and two and one and three.
What I love is two and two,
Mother, Peter, Phil, and you.
What you love is one and three,
Mother, Peter, Phil, and me.
Give your little girl a kiss
Because she learned and told you this."

If I could be a daddy's little girl again!

E. Nesbith portrait The Railway Children so beautifully! This is a story of three well mannered siblings and their brave mother. The Railway Children could be a ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Apr 11, 2017 Suad Shamma rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: own, classics, 2017

I can't say this was the most exciting book to read. I bought this book because I had heard so much about it, it's such a classic and well-known novel that gets referenced now and again, and it looked like a quick and easy read, so I thought why not? Except, it took me longer to finish than expected, only because I wasn't too interested in the storytelling or overall plot.

It revolves around 3 siblings who come from a comfortable background with a nice house, servants etc. One evening, their ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Jun 20, 2012 Mommalibrarian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-literature

Written in 1906 - still fresh. The fact that there is no electricity and people walk instead of getting their mother to drive them are the only real indication of its age. On page 6 the father tells his ten year old son, "Of course they [girls] can help. Girls are just as clever as boys, and don't you forget it." When the father is taken away the 'clever' mother supports the family writing poems and children's stories. Her son regrets at one point that she has to be so clever as she has less ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Apr 10, 2017 Jackie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library-bookclub, 2017-read

This story reminded me of the nursery rhyme Sugar and spice and everything nice; That's what little girls are made of. It was just so sickly sweet and innocent. I get it though, as it was written in 1906, when kids were encouraged to make friends outside and most people cared about respecting one another.

For the most part, this was a cute story. It was enjoyable, despite the Mary-Sue behavior of all the characters. The only thing that didnt hold up well was the gender conversation, but again not ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Jan 22, 2014 Ritika Gupta rated it really liked it · review of another edition

While reading some books, you smile often and this wasn't that kind of book. Because you don't smile often but always. The goodness of heart, the kindness, innocence and love is overwhelming especially in today's world. Almost an utopian work, worth a read not only for kids but also grown ups. And especially for the skeptics grown ups. Such works should be read more often. A breath of clean and fresh air amidst the polluted air that we breathe.

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Never too Late to...: 2018 July: The Railway Children by E Nesbit	19	27	Aug 02, 2018 04:34PM
Reading Addicts: June Classic BOTM_The Railway Children	5	16	Jun 23, 2016 03:41AM
Around the Year i...: The Railway Children, by Edith Nesbit	4	27	Mar 01, 2016 07:22AM
enchanting adventures	3	34	Oct 09, 2014 05:09PM
Reading Everythin...: The railway children	1	15	May 18, 2013 01:09AM

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Classics

820 users

Childrens

481 users

Fiction

391 users

See top shelves…

About E. Nesbit

E. Nesbit

690 followers

Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland; 15 August 1858 4 May 1924) was an English author and poet; she published her books for children 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 socialist organisation later ...more

Books by E. Nesbit

The Phoenix and the Carpet (Five Children #2)

The Story of the Treasure Seekers (Bastable Children, #1)

The Enchanted Castle and Five Children and It

More…

Goodreads Members Suggest: Favorite Comfort Reads

"Stay calm and read on" might be our collective slogan for the coming months. Since we all might need some help with that, we asked Goodreads m...

Trivia About The Railway Children

17 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from The Railway Children

“Also she had the power of silent sympathy. That sounds rather dull, I know, but it's not so dull as it sounds. It just means that a person is able to know that you are unhappy, and to love you extra on that account, without bothering you by telling you all the time how sorry she is for you.” — 30 likes

“Don't you think it's rather nice to think that we're in a book that God's writing? If I were writing the book, I might make mistakes. But God knows how to make the story end just right—in the way that's best for us.” — 23 likes

More quotes…

See a Problem?

Preview — The Railway Children by E. Nesbit

The Railway Children

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About E. Nesbit

Books by E. Nesbit

Related Articles

Trivia About The Railway Children

Quotes from The Railway Children

See a Problem?

Preview — The Railway Children by E. Nesbit

The Railway Children

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About E. Nesbit

Books by E. Nesbit

Related Articles

Trivia About The Railway Children

Quotes from The Railway Children

new topic
Discuss This Book