The Story of the Treasure Seekers (Paperback)

The Bastable books were written for literate children of 8-14 almost a hundred years ago, and may be a little difficult for the easy-reader child of today, who thinks Harry Potter is full of hard words! It also has an "I" narrator, which many children do not like. But E. Nesbit was one of the first great children's writers, and in my opinion this is the best of all her books.

Although E. Nesbit is rightly well-known known for fantasies like "The Phoenix and the Carpet," "The Enchanted Castle," or "Five Children and It," this book is not a fantasy. The Bastables are six lively children who live in a dreary London suburb in a row house. Their mother is dead, their discouraged, rather milquetoast father has lost all his money. The children are left to their own devices, since they can no longer afford to go to school (this is the turn of the 19th century). They decide to go about seeking their fortune, and do so in the most imaginative and amusing ways. They often get into trouble, bicker, pout, and basically act like real children; but their emphasis on old-fashioned honor and bravery is a welcome change from modern books. Many of the scenes are very funny, especially to older readers who can figure out what is really happening, versus what the children think is happening. It is also fascinating to see how creative the children have to be to entertain themselves-- which they are very good at! and to marvel at how much more freedom of movement children had in those days. No one is worrying about their safety as they travel around London alone all day long. The narration itself is clever, both because the narrator, who is one of the children, tries to write in a literary style (with funny results), and because the narrator is trying to fool the reader.

The children accidentally bury alive a neighbor boy who "doesn't know how to play," ruin a fishing contest, kill a pudding, play with a real princess, meet a famous politician and a poet, and set out to catch a burglar. They quarrel over lost balls, who should pay for treats, and who has to take care of the youngest brother, whom they have nicknamed after a cereal ad, and who always insists on tagging along. You find yourself laughing and realize that these could be children you know today. There is almost no Victorian/Edwardian sentimentality (some may have been required to be publishable in those days, just as political correctness is now), and only a few convenient happy endings.

This book brings the past to life more vividly than almost any I have ever read. I find myself thinking of it whenever I read about that period of history. It's odd to think the boys would have been just the age to fight and perhaps die in the First World War. The Bastables are a children's classic.

Nonetheless, this is not Nesbit's best work. Enchanted Castle, Five Children and It, Phoenix and the Carpet are better, since they also incorporate magic. This book is also distinctly unPC in some places, for instance in its description of a Jewish character (he's a miserly moneylender), and is to that extent a product of its times.