Story summary
Samenvatting van Magische Wereld
- 8 min. leestijd
- 10 parts
- Binnenkort te beluisteren
A boy becomes his own cat, a girl boards a train inside a wardrobe, and a magician keeps his heart on a shelf.
3 months free · unlimited eBooks, audiobooks and summaries, and print and large print at cost
Nothing to pay today · We mailen je voordat je betaalt · Online opzeggen in twee klikken
Magische Wereld in het kort
Samenvatting: 8 min leestijd
- Leestijd
- Ongeveer 3 h 55 min3 h 5 min fast, 4 h 40 min slow
- Lengte
- 55.700 woorden
- Bibliotheekniveau
- Makkelijk short sentences, plain words
- Voor het eerst verschenen
- 1912by E. Nesbit
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Hoelang het duurt om de klassiekers te lezen · Bijgewerkt
3 maanden gratis
Ontvang de volledige samenvatting van Magische Wereld, gratis
- 200.000+ klassiekers als e-books, luisterboeken en samenvattingen in 15 minuten, en gedrukte boeken, ook in grote letters, tegen drukkosten
- Tot 5 lezers bij je thuis met één plan
Magische Wereld in short
The Magic World is twelve separate tales, but they share one idea. In each, a person who has made a mistake, or who feels wronged, is given a chance to see things differently. Magic is the means, whether it is a cat's body, a telescope, an ancient stone, a bell, a wardrobe, or a moat full of fish.
What Magische Wereld is about
What if you could trade places with the cat you tormented all week? What if a telescope on a beach could swell anything you looked at, from a toffee drop to an elephant? E. Nesbit opens her book with questions like these, and then lets her characters find the answers the hard way.
The Magic World gathers twelve tales by Nesbit, an English writer who died in 1924 and who made her name writing about children and enchantment. Some tales start in a schoolroom, a seaside or a cottage, while others begin with kings, queens and fairies. Nesbit tells it all in a chatty voice, speaking straight to you. Behind every tale stands a quiet question about kindness, courage and what it costs to put things right.
Voor wie is het?. This book suits readers who love fairy tales told with a wink, families who like stories to share aloud, and anyone fond of talking animals and wicked fairies.
The story in 10 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
A cruel boy learns what a cat feels
The first tale, The Cat-Hood of Maurice, begins with a boy who does not think of himself as cruel. Maurice cuts the whiskers of the family cat, Lord Hugh, throws him in ponds, and ties a sardine tin to his tail. He insists that he did not mean to be cruel.
His father decides to send him to a school with spiked walls and locked gates. Then Lord Hugh speaks to him in plain English and offers a bargain. Maurice can be a cat if he says one secret word, and he can be a boy again when someone tells him to stop being a cat.
Maurice takes the deal, and at once he is small and furry. Then comes the cruel part. A cat can only meow, so nobody can hear him ask for the words that would free him. Maurice had already been told that cruelty was wrong. He only had to feel it from the other side.
To know what harm feels like, you sometimes have to stand where the hurt one stands.
- 2Begin gratis met lezen
A magic telescope tests two friends
The Mixed Mine follows two boys who could hardly be more different.
- 3Begin gratis met lezen
Telling everything you know has a price
In Accidental Magic, we meet Quentin de Ward, a ten-year-old who knows a great deal about Atlantis, Stonehenge and the Man in the Iron Mask.
- 4Begin gratis met lezen
A princess learns to stand alone
The Princess and the Hedgehog starts at a christening so secret that the invitations look like grocery bills.
- 5Begin gratis met lezen
A frightened boy follows the wind
Septimus Septimusson tells of a boy who is the seventh son of a seventh son.
- 6Begin gratis met lezen
A china cat and a cursed face
Two tales sit side by side here.
- 7Begin gratis met lezen
Two lonely girls find a better world
Justnowland starts in a bare attic.
- 8Begin gratis met lezen
Cousins and a carp teach fairness
The Related Muff is told by Rupert, the eldest of a lively group of cousins stuck at home on Christmas Eve.
- 9Begin gratis met lezen
A wicked magician and a stupid prince
The Magician's Heart opens with Professor Taykin, who loves christenings more than anything but is never invited.
- 10Begin gratis met lezen
A storyteller who talks straight to you
What holds these twelve tales together is Nesbit's voice.
Read all 10 key ideas now
3 months free, then USD 0,14 a day: unlimited eBooks, audiobooks and summaries, and print and large print at cost.
- Nothing to pay today
- We mailen je voordat je betaalt
- Online opzeggen in twee klikken
Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Maurice Basingstoke A boy who tortures his father's cat without meaning harm, and who is about to find out how it feels.
- Edward and Gustus Two boys from very different homes who explore a magic spyglass Edward finds on a beach and must decide what to do with it.
- Quentin de Ward A clever ten-year-old who loves Atlantis and Stonehenge, runs away from school, and wakes up somewhere impossible.
- Princess Ozyliza A strong, brave princess cursed at her christening, who wants her kingdom back and a friend to stand beside her.
- Septimus Septimusson A frightened seventh son of a seventh son who sets out to find his fortune with the wind as his guide.
- Belinda and Bellamant A princess ugly on every day but Sunday and a prince with the opposite curse, both searching for a bell that never rings.
- Elsie A lonely eight-year-old locked in an attic, who wants to be brave and is asked to tame something terrible.
- Professor Taykin A wicked magician who loves royal christenings and keeps his heart close at hand.
How it ends (spoiler)
Most of the tales close with kindness set right. Maurice is turned back and treats his sister better. Edward's father finds a rich mine, and the boys go to a good school. Quentin returns to his mother just in time. Ozyliza marries her hedgehog squire, now a prince. Sep frees a whole nation. Elsie's father comes home from India, and Taykin ends up a good baby.
The whole book is coming to your plan
The full text of Magische Wereld opens soon. Keep this summary as a file today.
Paperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way. Email me when it is printed
Vragen over Magische Wereld
What is The Magic World by E. Nesbit about?
It is a collection of twelve tales in which children and princes meet magic. Cats talk, a telescope makes things grow, bells give advice, and a wardrobe opens onto a railway station. Each story teaches something about kindness or honesty.
What are the twelve stories in The Magic World?
They are The Cat-Hood of Maurice, The Mixed Mine, Accidental Magic, The Princess and the Hedgehog, Septimus Septimusson, The White Cat, Belinda and Bellamant, Justnowland, The Related Muff, The Aunt and Amabel, Kenneth and the Carp, and The Magician's Heart.
When was The Magic World written?
Nesbit wrote for children in the early twentieth century, and she died in 1924. The stories carry that era's details, such as carriages, paper wings, and Christmas parties, but they remain fresh because the children behave like real children.
Is The Magic World easy to read aloud?
Yes, the tales are short, the sentences are lively, and the author speaks to the listener. Each story has a clear shape, so it works well for one sitting or bedtime, and the jokes land when read aloud.
What is the main message of the stories?
The stories suggest that kindness, truthfulness, and courage matter more than cleverness or rank. Characters learn by seeing the world from another's side, and they find that magic only helps those who are willing to change.
Verwijs naar deze uitgave
Nesbit, E. The Magic World. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-magic-world.
Nesbit, E. (2026). The magic world. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-magic-world (Original work published 1912)
Nesbit, E. The Magic World. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-magic-world.
@book{nesbit2026magic,
author = {Nesbit, E.},
title = {The Magic World},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-magic-world},
note = {First published 1912}
}
Crime and Punishment
Wuthering Heights
Pride and Prejudice
The Iliad
Romeo and Juliet
The Picture of Dorian Gray3 maanden gratis
Ontvang de volledige samenvatting van Magische Wereld, gratis
- 200.000+ klassiekers als e-books, luisterboeken en samenvattingen in 15 minuten, en gedrukte boeken, ook in grote letters, tegen drukkosten
- Tot 5 lezers bij je thuis met één plan
