Five Children And It: Amazon.ca: Edith Nesbit, Samantha Bond: Books

Product Description

Book Description

Robert, Anthea, Jane, Cyril and their baby brother, "the Lamb", are left to stay in the country while their parents are away. They discover the Psammead, a sand fairy, brown and hairy, with bat's ears and snail's eyes, and the power to grant wishes, but only reluctantly.

About the Author

Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) was born in London. She was a writer all her life and wrote many books for children. Among the most famous of these are Five Children and It and The Railway Children. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Tag this product

(What's this?)

Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.

Customer Reviews

14 Reviews

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.4 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Be careful what you wish for..., Jan 16 2004

By

kennedy19 "kennedy19" (wakefield, ma USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Puffin Classics Five Children And It (Mass Market Paperback)

E. Nesbit's classic story of about some Edwardian children who find a sand fairy one summer is an unsentimental delight. Each day the odd fairy grants them one magic wish, be it beauty, wealth, great size, etc. which will only last until sunset. Somehow each wish they make turns into a disaster, but through their own cleverness and a bit of luck, the children are able to make each problem work out in the end. Nesbit's writing is particularly full of amusing asides and offbeat humor in this one. Her turns of plot are inventive, and as the plucky children face their outlandish predicaments, it becomes clear that Nesbit has her finger on the pulse of the way real children might think. Her work has held up quite well considering it is over a hundred years old. This novel would be suitable for kids in about fourth or fifth grade.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

3.0 out of 5 stars sadly, this classic does not stand up to the test of time, Jan 11 2003

By

audrey (white mtns) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Puffin Classics Five Children And It (Mass Market Paperback)

Edith Nesbit is a charming writer. She tells her story with wit and humour, and interjects sly digs that engender a wink and a smile, but while the premise is timeless and interesting, the prose is extremely dated, making the book a bit tedious to read for any length of time. Also, the ideas and prejudices exhibited by the characters date the material.

The five siblings of the title, who have found a Sand-fairy willing to grant them one wish a day, continually make silly wishes that get them into trouble. Their first wish is to be "as beautiful as the day". Right there you get a sense of the book's outdated charm. This is of interest more as a tribute to a talented children's writer of a bygone era rather than for its own sake.

I wanted to enjoy this classic, but I found it hard slogging through. That is just my opinion, however, but I'd suggest you read a bit of the text before purchasing it unless you're already familiar with, or particularly interested in, author Nesbit.

Caveat: The occasional black-and-white line drawings are by H.R. Millar, not the Paul Zelinsky watercolors promised in the Editorial Reviews section.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

4.0 out of 5 stars My review of "Five Children and It", Oct 10 2002

By

"kornmutter" (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Puffin Classics Five Children And It (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is about Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and their baby brother who discover a Psammead,
or Sand-fairy, who agrees to grant the children one wish per day.
Soon, their wishes start to turn quite unlike what they expected.
Then, an accidental wish has terrible consequences, and the kids
are faced with a hard choice: to let an innocent man be charged
with a crime, or to lose their gift of magical wishes.

I read this book in one day, and I thought it was pretty good.
This book turned out to be fairly interesting.
I would probably read "Five Children and It" again.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 14 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Want to see more reviews on this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 30 reviews 4.3 out of 5 stars

Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars A cynic's delight
I doubt I would have liked "Five Children and It" even as a child: an ordinary child's troubles are so much more troublesome than the challenges these kids face, it's almost (but... Read more

Published on Jan 30 2002 by Alex

4.0 out of 5 stars A 100 year old wish come true - It wont disappoint you!
I have to admit that this book has an odd title. The "Five Children" part is easy enough to figure out - that refers to Robert, Anthea, Jane, Cyril, and their adorable young... Read more

Published on Nov 26 2001 by Godly Gadfly