Five Children and It by E. Nesbit (classic books for 12 year olds .TXT) 📕
Description
Initially published in The Strand Magazine, which explains its episodic nature, Five Children and It was later collected into a book. Like many of E. Nesbit’s works, it has proven popular with children and adults to this day. It has been adapted into a TV series, a musical, a film, and even an anime series.
In this story, five siblings encounter an ancient magical creature in a gravel pit. The Psammead, as it calls itself, grants each of them a wish per day, with the restriction that it ends at sunset. As expected, all of the children’s wishes go comically wrong, and it’s up to them to solve the problems they created.
E. Nesbit’s enduring popularity is due in large part to the way she addresses children. Like Lewis Carrol and Kenneth Grahame, she engages children seriously, tapping into their imagination without any condescension. C. S. Lewis admired her, and the grumpy (but kind) sand-sorcerer Psamathos in Roverandom, a story J. R. R. Tolkien wrote for his own children, bears a striking resemblance to the Psammead—indeed, an early version of the story featured the creature itself!
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- Author: E. Nesbit
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“No; only thank you kindly for all you’ve done for us, and I hope you’ll have a good long sleep, and I hope we shall see you again some day.”
“Is that a wish?” it said in a weak voice.
“Yes, please,” said the two girls together.
Then for the last time in this story they saw the Psammead blow itself out and collapse suddenly. It nodded to them, blinked its long snail’s eyes, burrowed, and disappeared, scratching fiercely to the last, and the sand closed over it.
“I hope we’ve done right?” said Jane.
“I’m sure we have,” said Anthea. “Come on home and tell the boys.”
Anthea found Cyril glooming over his paper boats, and told him. Jane told Robert. The two tales were only just ended when mother walked in, hot and dusty. She explained that as she was being driven into Rochester to buy the girls’ autumn school-dresses the axle had broken, and but for the narrowness of the lane and the high soft hedges she would have been thrown out. As it was, she was not hurt, but she had had to walk home. “And oh, my dearest dear chicks,” she said, “I am simply dying for a cup of tea! Do run and see if the kettle boils!”
“So you see it’s all right,” Jane whispered. “She doesn’t remember.”
“No more does Martha,” said Anthea, who had been to ask after the state of the kettle.
As the servants sat at their tea, Beale the gamekeeper dropped in. He brought the welcome news that Lady Chittenden’s diamonds had not been lost at all. Lord Chittenden had taken them to be reset and cleaned, and the maid who knew about it had gone for a holiday. So that was all right.
“I wonder if we ever shall see the Psammead again,” said Jane wistfully as they walked in the garden, while mother was putting the Lamb to bed.
“I’m sure we shall,” said Cyril, “if you really wished it.”
“We’ve promised never to ask it for another wish,” said Anthea.
“I never want to,” said Robert earnestly.
They did see it again, of course, but not in this story. And it was not in a sandpit either, but in a very, very, very different place. It was in a—But I must say no more.
ColophonFive Children and It
was published in 1902 by
E. Nesbit.
This ebook was produced for
Standard Ebooks
by
François Grandjean,
and is based on a transcription produced in 1997 by
Jo Churcher
for
Project Gutenberg
and on digital scans available at the
HathiTrust Digital Library.
The cover page is adapted from
Zandafgraving,
a painting completed in 1839 by
Johannes Tavenraat.
The cover and title pages feature the
League Spartan and Sorts Mill Goudy
typefaces created in 2014 and 2009 by
The League of Moveable Type.
The first edition of this ebook was released on
October 14, 2020, 2:04 a.m.
You can check for updates to this ebook, view its revision history, or download it for different ereading systems at
standardebooks.org/ebooks/e-nesbit/five-children-and-it.
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