Résumé
Résumé de Les Chercheurs de trésors
Go deeper: the whole of Les Chercheurs de trésors
About 3 h 40 min to read.À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
For families who love reading aloud, adults who remember loving childhood adventures, and anyone who enjoys a comic narrator, treasure-hunting schemes and siblings determined to help their family.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
The Story of the Treasure Seekers is a children's book by E. Nesbit, first published in 1899. It follows the six Bastable children, who live in London in the years when their father's business has gone wrong and the family has become poor. The children decide that it is up to them to find their fortune and make everything right again.
The story is told by one of the six, who at first keeps his name to himself but drops hints that make his identity easy to guess. He is proud, kind, and not quite as clever as he thinks. Many plans go wrong in ways that are funny and often surprisingly touching. Let us begin with the children and their first council of war.
Dans ce résumé
- 1Six children decide to rescue the familyFree
- 2Digging and detective work go wrong
- 3Bandits, editors and a young poet
- 4Rescues, strangers and the people who help
- 5What the treasure really is
- 6A narrator who gives himself away
Point clé 1 sur 6
Six children decide to rescue the family
The Bastable family has six children. Dora is the eldest and the most sensible, and she never lets anyone forget it. Oswald comes next and is the one telling the story. Dicky follows him, then Alice and Noel, who are twins, and last of all the youngest, H. O., whose name is short for Horace Octavius. Their father is a kind man, but he is sad and busy, and the household has no money to spare.
The children remember how things used to be. There were servants, a fine house and a mother who is now gone. Their father's business partner leaves for Spain, and their father struggles with money. The house is dull, the meals are plain, and Father has little time to spend with them.
So the six hold a council of war. They talk about the people in books who set out to mend the fortunes of their families, and they search their memories of stories for ideas. Oswald is the leader, though Dora has opinions about that, and every child gets a turn to suggest a plan.
The children think hard, take their plans from the novels and tales they have read, and then try them out on the real world. The real world rarely behaves like a story. That gap between what a book promises and what actually happens is where much of the comedy comes from, and it begins here in the very first chapter.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
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Go deeper: the whole of Les Chercheurs de trésors
About 3 h 40 min to read.Who’s who
- Oswald Bastable
- The second Bastable child narrates the adventures, leads his siblings’ schemes, and enjoys praising his own cleverness.
- Dora
- The eldest Bastable child tries to keep her younger siblings sensible, well behaved, and out of trouble.
- Dicky
- Oswald’s next brother is a practical, loyal helper who readily joins his siblings’ plans to find treasure.
- Alice
- Noel’s brave and lively twin joins the family adventures and speaks up for her brothers and sister.
- Noel
- Alice’s dreamy twin is the family poet, hoping his verses can earn money to help their father.
- H. O.
- The youngest Bastable child, Horace Octavius, follows his older siblings into their schemes and offers his own opinions.
- Albert next door
- A neighbouring boy spends time with the Bastable children, who initially regard him as rather dull company.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 55,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 3 h 40 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 10 other languages
Questions about Les Chercheurs de trésors
What is The Story of the Treasure Seekers about?
It follows the six Bastable children, whose father has lost money. They try one scheme after another to find a fortune and restore the family, from digging for treasure to playing detective, and each attempt brings comic trouble.
Who tells the story in The Story of the Treasure Seekers?
The narrator is one of the Bastable children, and he keeps his name secret at first. He praises Oswald so often that readers soon guess he is Oswald himself, which becomes a running joke.
When was The Story of the Treasure Seekers written?
E. Nesbit published it in 1899. It is a made-up story, though it draws on the real texture of middle-class Victorian family life in and around London.
Is The Story of the Treasure Seekers hard to read?
No. The language is plain and chatty. Its separate chapters make it easy to read in short sittings or aloud to children.
Are there other books about the Bastable children?
Yes. Nesbit wrote two sequels about the same family, The Wouldbegoods and The New Treasure Seekers. Together they follow the Bastables through more adventures, with the same funny narrator.
Cite this edition
Nesbit, E. The Story of the Treasure Seekers. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-story-of-the-treasure-seekers.
Nesbit, E. (2026). The story of the treasure seekers. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-story-of-the-treasure-seekers (Original work published 1899)
Nesbit, E. The Story of the Treasure Seekers. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-story-of-the-treasure-seekers.
@book{nesbit2026story,
author = {Nesbit, E.},
title = {The Story of the Treasure Seekers},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-story-of-the-treasure-seekers},
note = {First published 1899}
}