14 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the city you build from household odds and ends comes alive—and needs you to save it?
Philip feels lonely in an unfamiliar home. His older sister Helen looks after him, but he needs somewhere to belong. So he builds a city from everyday things. Then play becomes something far stranger: he discovers that he can step inside the world he has made.
The city has people, troubles, and hopes of its own. Its citizens see Philip as their long-awaited Deliverer, the person who will set things right. Lucy, a girl from the house, joins his adventure. Together they share its dangers and wonder, while Philip faces a question: what does a maker owe his creation?
What you’ll discover
- Magic in ordinary things Watch household odds and ends become a living city that Philip can enter.
- A place to belong Follow a lonely boy whose imagined world gives him more than an escape.
- A world with demands Meet citizens who look to their maker for help with troubles of their own.
- Wonder shared with Lucy Join Philip and Lucy as they face the dangers and marvels of his creation.
- Warmth beneath the adventure Enjoy Nesbit's teasing narrator, with jokes for adults and real feeling beneath the fun.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy playful fantasy with a warm heart, toys and storybooks that come alive, clever talking animals, and a narrator who chats with you.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Philip builds through his loneliness
- His handmade city becomes a world
- Leaving Lucy brings Philip back
- A familiar toy reveals the answer
- Lucy asks for a fair partnership
- A rescue plan respects its makers
- Sharing means surrendering something precious
- Lucy turns a wish into action
- Making becomes a way to share
Who’s who
- Philip HaldaneA ten-year-old who loves building and misses his sister Helen, and who learns to be brave and generous in the city he made.
- Lucy GrahamPeter Graham's cheerful daughter, quick-witted and kind, who wants Philip as a friend and solves puzzles that baffle him.
- HelenPhilip's half-sister, who raised him and marries Peter Graham, and who shares a magic island with him in dreams.
- Mr. NoahThe wooden Chief Judge of Polistopolis, fussy and gentle, who sets Philip his seven deeds and dislikes being asked questions.
- Mr. PerrinThe carpenter who made Philip's bricks and helps him in the city, proud of his trade and careful about manners.
- The PretenderetteA veiled lady in a motor veil who claims the Deliverer's place for herself and tries to stop Philip at every turn.
- Polly the parrotA clever, bossy bird from a book of beasts, who guides the children and recites verse during their travels.
- Max and BrendaTwo dachshunds from a Noah's Ark, one steady and loyal, the other delicate, fond of cocoa and certain she is a dear little dog.
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The Magic City in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Magic City
by E. Nesbit · 1910
A lonely boy builds a toy city from drawing-room clutter, then climbs a ladder into it by moonlight.
Easy read2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“She had an economy of phrase and an unparalleled talent for evoking hot summer days in the English countryside.”
In short
What if the city you built on a drawing-room table one wet afternoon were real enough to walk into? That is what happens to Philip Haldane, a ten-year-old boy who has just lost his sister Helen to a marriage.
The Magic City at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 55 min3 h 5 min fast, 4 h 40 min slow
- Length
- 55,900 words
- Library level
- Easy short sentences, plain words
- First published
- 1910by E. Nesbit
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A lonely boy builds a city from toys
Philip Haldane lives with his half-sister Helen, and for ten years the two of them have been everything to each other. Then a tall stranger appears at the garden gate. Helen is going to marry Peter Graham, and Philip is going to a new home with a girl named Lucy.
Philip is sure he will hate her, and he behaves so badly that Lucy's aunt takes her away for a few days. Left with a stiff nurse, he may not touch a flower, a book or a single toy. So he carries bricks and dominoes to the drawing room and builds. He borrows silver candlesticks, library books and chandelier crystals. Soon a city of towers, canals and fountains covers two tables.
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Details
- First published
- 1910
- Language
- English
- Level
- Easy read
Cite this edition
Nesbit, E. The Magic City. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-magic-city.
Nesbit, E. (2026). The magic city. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-magic-city (Original work published 1910)
Nesbit, E. The Magic City. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-magic-city.
@book{nesbit2026magic,
author = {Nesbit, E.},
title = {The Magic City},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-magic-city},
note = {First published 1910}
}
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What is The Magic City about?
It follows Philip, a lonely boy who builds a city from toys and then finds he can enter it. With Lucy he must complete seven deeds to be called Deliverer, facing a dragon, a fear of the sea and a sleepy tyrant.
Who is the Pretenderette in The Magic City?
She is a veiled lady in a motor veil who claims to be the Deliverer and follows the children, trying to take their place. Mr. She chooses her comic title herself and becomes their main rival.
Who are Mr. Noah and Mr. Perrin?
Mr. Noah is the wooden judge from a toy Ark who rules the city and sets Philip's tasks. Mr. Perrin is the carpenter who made Philip's bricks and helps him as foreman and adviser.
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).
“Everything in the world is magic until you understand it.”
More by E. Nesbit
See all their booksMore like this
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