Resumen
Resumen de El castillo encantado
Para quién es
For readers who love magic with a sense of humour and English summer adventures, and for parents reading aloud. Wishes that bring trouble, eerie gardens and friendships shaped by magic make this a holiday full of wonder.
De qué trata este libro
The Enchanted Castle is a children's fantasy by E. Nesbit, published in 1907. Nesbit was already well known for stories in which ordinary British children meet magic in everyday places. Here three young people spend a summer holiday near a great old house with gardens, a maze and a lake. They find that some of the place is not as dull as it looks.
The book gives you a country holiday that slides from play into wonder, and then into something a little frightening. A ring brings wishes, and the wishes bring trouble as fast as delight. Nesbit writes with a teasing voice that speaks straight to the reader. She is funny about grown-ups, about make-believe, and about how children really behave. She also lets the magic have rules and costs, which is why the story still holds up. Let us begin where the children do, with a holiday and a garden they were never meant to enter.
En este resumen
- 1Three children find a hidden gardenFree
- 2A sleeping princess is not quite what she seems
- 3The ring begins to grant wishes
- 4Wishes bring odd and unsettling creatures
- 5Magic has rules, and children must learn them
- 6What the story is about and how Nesbit tells it
Idea clave 1 de 6
Three children find a hidden garden
The story begins with Gerald, Jimmy and Kathleen, a brother and sister pair with a second brother, who are left at school over a holiday. Their holiday plans have gone astray, so they are thrown on their own resources. Nesbit makes this a gift rather than a misfortune, because bored children with no grown-up in charge will always go looking for adventure.
They set off to explore the countryside and soon come to a wild, uphill piece of land. There is a maze, and it leads them on and on. They are half lost, half delighted, and the writer treats the maze as a threshold, a place where ordinary rules loosen.
Beyond it the garden opens out. There are terraces, water, a lake and old stone statues, and the children begin to feel they have wandered into a story. Gerald, the eldest boy, is the one who loves to lead and to make grand plans. Jimmy is practical and often hungry, and Kathleen, usually called Cathy, is quick and imaginative.
At the end of the grounds they come upon a castle. It seems asleep in the sun, and nobody asks them to leave. Nesbit lets you feel the thrill of trespass here, the sense that the children have crossed into a place where something is waiting for them.
This opening matters because it sets the pattern for the whole book. The magic never arrives from nowhere. It grows from places the children go looking for, and from games they invent.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Gerald
- Gerald is the eldest of three siblings, leading Jimmy and Kathleen into adventures with grand plans and ceremony.
- Jimmy
- Jimmy is Gerald and Kathleen's practical brother, bringing common sense to their adventures when wishes cause trouble.
- Kathleen
- Kathleen, usually called Cathy, is Gerald and Jimmy's imaginative, kind sister, who worries about others when magic causes trouble.
- Mabel
- Mabel is a girl living at the castle who plays a sleeping princess and longs to find friends.
- The Ugly-Wuglies
- The Ugly-Wuglies are figures the children make from clothes and household objects, brought to life by the ring.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 73,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 4 h 50 min
- Listening time8 h 5 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about El castillo encantado
What is The Enchanted Castle about?
It follows three children on a summer holiday who find a castle, a garden and a girl named Mabel. They discover a magic ring that grants wishes, and each wish brings fun and unexpected trouble.
Who are the main characters in The Enchanted Castle?
The main characters are the siblings Gerald, Jimmy and Kathleen, called Cathy, and their new friend Mabel, who lives at the castle. The ring and the strange creatures it brings to life also play big parts.
What are the Ugly-Wuglies?
They are odd, lumpy figures made from old clothes and household items. The children make them for a game, and the magic ring brings them to life, which causes both comedy and alarm.
When was The Enchanted Castle written?
E. Nesbit published it in 1907. It is a work of fiction, though it is set in the English countryside of her own time and uses real, familiar details of children's holidays.
Is The Enchanted Castle hard to read?
No. The language is clear and the chapters are short. The humour and the adventures are easy to follow, and the book reads well aloud.