7 h 9 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 9 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if your nursery carpet could carry you anywhere—but you still had to explain the mess to your parents?
Cyril, Anthea, Robert, and Jane find an egg inside their new nursery carpet. When it falls into the fire, a phoenix hatches. Soon, the four siblings have an ancient talking companion and a carpet that makes extraordinary journeys possible. Their experience with magic does not make them especially careful.
In E. Nesbit’s The Phoenix and the Carpet, grand possibilities meet meals, money, and grown-ups who may notice too much. The phoenix offers knowledge, advice, and plenty of pride. Cyril’s confidence and Anthea’s practical judgment meet fresh tests, while Robert and Jane share the excitement and worry. Even the carpet has limits: its fabric suffers from use.
What you’ll discover
- An egg in the fire An unexpected discovery turns the nursery into the starting point for magical adventures.
- A proud feathered guide Meet a talking phoenix whose ancient knowledge comes with a troublesome understanding of the world.
- Four siblings sharing trouble Follow Cyril, Anthea, Robert, and Jane as bold plans create problems they must face together.
- Magic meets everyday life Enjoy impossible journeys tangled with ordinary questions about meals, money, and what parents might notice.
- A carpet with limits Discover why the condition of an extraordinary object matters as much as its magical powers.
Who will love it
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.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Cheap fireworks lead to a golden egg
- The Phoenix hatches and explains the carpet
- The topless tower and the buried gold
- A cross cook is hired as a queen
- Indian treasures for a bazaar and a rude stallholder
- A temple of insurance and a good deed in France
- Cats, a cow and a nervous burglar
- A hole in the carpet and an uncle with a sovereign
- What the story is really about and how it is told
Who’s who
- CyrilThe eldest, nicknamed Squirrel, is quick-thinking and bossy. He leads the children's plans and often speaks for them.
- AntheaCalled Panther, she is kind and truthful, tries to do right, and is the one most troubled by keeping secrets from Mother.
- RobertCalled Bobs, he is steady and loyal, the Phoenix's favourite, and the child who first lights its egg in the fire.
- JaneCalled Pussy, she is the youngest of the four, easily upset, often outvoted, and fond of stories about burglars.
- The PhoenixA golden, vain and polite bird from an ancient desert who loves praise, poetry and a good altar, and who helps the children.
- The LambThe baby of the family, who plays animal games, copies everything, and loves the sunny island and the golden bird.
- The CookThe cross cook of the household, who longs to be treated with respect and gets her wish on an island far away.
- The BurglarA nervous orange seller who tries burgling once, meets a nursery full of cats, and wants only a quiet garden to dig.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 7 h 9 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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El Fénix y la alfombra
by E. Nesbit · 1904
Four children in Camden Town hatch a Phoenix and ride its wishing carpet to a tower, an island and a police cell.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
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.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
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.
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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.
The author
E. Nesbit
1858–1924 · English children's writer and poet
Edith Nesbit (1858–1924) was an English author and poet who published as E. Nesbit. She was born in London and later lived in Kent. Her children’s books include The Story of the Treasure Seekers (1899), Five Children and It (1902), The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904), and The Railway Children (1906).
More by E. Nesbit
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