6 h 20 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 20 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if your wishes come true, but leave you with problems you never think to wish away?
Robert, Anthea, Cyril, Jane, and their baby brother, the Lamb, leave London for the countryside. While adults are busy elsewhere, the older children find a Psammead: an ancient, grumpy sand-fairy that grants wishes. Suddenly, getting what they want seems easy. Knowing what to ask for is another matter.
In E. Nesbit’s Five Children and It, beauty makes familiar faces unrecognisable, and wings bring the urgent question of where to land. Wishes usually wear off at sunset, but practical trouble arrives much sooner. The children quarrel, boast, and blame one another as their grand ideas turn into awkward adventures.
What you’ll discover
- A reluctant wish granter Meet a touchy sand-fairy with little interest in becoming anyone’s obedient servant.
- Beauty with a catch Discover how a wish for beautiful faces makes being recognised unexpectedly difficult.
- Wings and worries Enjoy the delight of flight, then face the practical problem of coming down.
- Siblings who feel familiar Follow children who argue, act too quickly, and help untangle the trouble they create.
- Care amid the chaos Watch Anthea bring practical sense to adventures, especially when the Lamb needs her.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy funny family adventures, magical creatures with sharp tongues, and a narrator who chats with you directly. It suits readers who like wishes that go delightfully wrong.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Five children find a very odd house
- A Sand-fairy offers one wish a day
- Gold that nobody will accept
- Everyone wants the Lamb
- Wings bring a picnic and a locked door
- A castle with invisible dinners
- Finding a wish that really helps
- What the wishes are really about
- How the story is told
Who’s who
- CyrilThe eldest, nicknamed Squirrel, who likes to lead and plan and tries to make sensible wishes.
- AntheaCalled Panther, the kind and sensible older sister, who is brave and always tries to finish what she starts.
- RobertCalled Bobs, a lively boy who is full of schemes and tempers and shows real bravery.
- JaneCalled Pussy, a hopeful, tender-hearted girl who often speaks before thinking.
- The LambThe baby brother, whom the others protect, love and sometimes find hard to manage.
- The PsammeadThe ancient, irritable Sand-fairy who grants one wish a day and hates getting wet.
- MarthaThe nursemaid, who looks after the children and cannot see the effects of the wishes.
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
- 6 h 20 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 6 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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25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Cinque bambini e It in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Cinque bambini e It
by E. Nesbit · 1902
Four children dig for Australia and find a bad-tempered Sand-fairy who grants one wish a day.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
What would you wish for if a grumpy, furry creature with snail eyes had to grant it? Five Children and It, written by E.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Five children find a very odd house
The story opens with Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and their baby brother, the Lamb, arriving at a white house in the Kent countryside. After two years in London, they think it a paradise, with a garden, an orchard, a wood, a chalk quarry and a gravel pit.
The narrator tells us why. London, we hear, is a prison for children whose families are not rich, with straight streets and invisible signs saying you mustn't touch. In the country nobody forbids anything, and the children explore every corner before tea.
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What is Five Children and It about?
Four children and their baby brother find a Sand-fairy called a Psammead in a gravel pit. It agrees to grant one wish a day, usually lasting until sunset, and the wishes bring unexpected trouble.
What is a Psammead?
A Psammead is a Sand-fairy, a furry creature with bat ears and snail-like eyes on stalks. It lives in sand, hates water, and says it has granted wishes for thousands of years.
Do the wishes last forever?
Most wishes end at sunset, but there are exceptions. The wings disappear and the gold vanishes from the children's pockets, yet the guinea paid to Mr. Crispin remains.
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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