Resumen
Resumen de El Fénix y la alfombra
Para quién es
Readers who love funny, warm fantasy, talking animals, magic with rules, and a narrator who chats like a favourite aunt. It suits families reading aloud, and anyone who enjoys Edwardian London and mischievous children.
De qué trata este libro
The Phoenix and the Carpet is a children's fantasy by E. Nesbit, written in 1904 and dedicated to her godson Hubert and his sister Margaret. It follows four London children, Cyril, Anthea, Robert and Jane, whom readers first meet in Five Children and It. Their baby brother, called the Lamb, is also along for the ride. This time their magic comes from a new nursery carpet and the golden bird hidden in it.
Nesbit tells the story in a chatty voice that speaks straight to you. She stops to joke, to give advice on lighting a fire, and to remind you that no one can tell everything at once. The adventures are huge, yet the settings are small and homely: a basement nursery, a tram ride, a cook's kitchen, a church bazaar. You get a wishing carpet, a vain and charming bird, and a string of troubles that grow from good intentions.
In this summary you will meet the children and their strange guests, follow the carpet from Camden Town to a ruined tower, a tropical island and a police cell, and see what the story is really about. First, a pile of cheap fireworks.
En este resumen
- 1Cheap fireworks lead to a golden eggFree
- 2The Phoenix hatches and explains the carpet
- 3The topless tower and the buried gold
- 4A cross cook is hired as a queen
- 5Indian treasures for a bazaar and a rude stallholder
- 6A temple of insurance and a good deed in France
- 7Cats, a cow and a nervous burglar
- 8A hole in the carpet and an uncle with a sovereign
- 9What the story is really about and how it is told
Idea clave 1 de 9
Cheap fireworks lead to a golden egg
The story opens in November, just before Guy Fawkes night. The four children are cooped up on a wet day, and Robert worries that their cheap fireworks might not work. He argues that you test seeds by sampling a few, so they should sample the fireworks too. Everyone draws one with eyes shut, and Jane gets the best prize, a Jack-in-the-box that cost two shillings.
The children keep a rule that whatever chance decides must be accepted, so Jane's luck stands. The Jack-in-the-box refuses to light. Anthea pours paraffin over the tray to help it along, and a pillar of flame shoots to the ceiling. The boys smother it under the nursery carpet, and then the Jack-in-the-box goes off inside the folded carpet with a terrible din.
Mother arrives to find four black faces and a ruined carpet. The children are sent to bed, and Father lets off the remaining fireworks himself in the back garden. The next day Mother buys a replacement carpet for twenty-two shillings and ninepence from a shop on Kentish Town Road. It is a bargain, the shopkeeper insists, and there is not a thread missing.
When the carpet is unrolled, a heavy yellow egg tumbles out. It is shiny and half see-through, with a glow like a fiery yolk inside. The children carry it back to the shop, but the man shouts that nothing in his goods could possibly hide an egg and threatens to call the police. Father decides they may keep it, and it goes on the nursery mantelpiece.
The basement nursery is dingy, with cockroaches that try to befriend the children every evening. On the night of the fifth, with Father and Mother out, the children feel bored and want something to happen. They remember their summer with the Psammead, the sand fairy who granted wishes. Now they try magic of their own, with chalk drawings, burning cedar pencils, eucalyptus oil and camphor. Nothing happens until a flailing tea towel knocks the egg into the fire.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Cyril
- The eldest sibling often leads Anthea, Robert, and Jane, though his confidence does not always make his plans safe.
- Anthea
- Anthea is Cyril, Robert, and Jane's sister, bringing care and practical judgment to their shared magical adventures.
- Robert
- Robert is one of the four siblings, sharing his brother and sisters' eagerness for travel and excitement.
- Jane
- Jane is the youngest of the four adventurers, joining her siblings in their excitement, worries, and decisions.
- The phoenix
- The phoenix is an ancient, proud, talking bird who becomes the children's companion and adviser on magical journeys.
- The magic carpet
- The magic carpet carries the siblings on extraordinary journeys, though its powers have limits and its fabric suffers through use.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 64,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 4 h 15 min
- Listening time7 h 10 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 12 other languages
Questions about El Fénix y la alfombra
What is The Phoenix and the Carpet about?
Four London children light a fire that hatches a Phoenix from an egg hidden in their new nursery carpet. The carpet is a wishing carpet, and the children and the golden bird travel to a tower, an island and more.
Do I need to read Five Children and It first?
No. The Phoenix and the Carpet is a sequel, but the narrator briefly explains the Psammead and the children's earlier adventure, so you can enjoy this one by itself, and it makes you curious about the earlier book.
How many wishes does the magic carpet give?
The carpet grants three wishes a day. The Phoenix tells the children to save one wish for emergencies, and they forget, so they end up stuck in a tower with no wishes left until the next morning.
Who wrote The Phoenix and the Carpet and when?
E. Nesbit wrote it in 1904. It is a sequel to Five Children and It and is set in the London of its own time.
Is The Phoenix and the Carpet easy to read?
Yes, very readable, with short chapters, funny dialogue, and a narrator who speaks directly to you. Each chapter is a new adventure, and the rhymes and lively asides make it a pleasure to read aloud.