Five Children and It
E. Nesbit, 1902
Five siblings dig up a grumpy sand-fairy who grants one wish a day, and every wish goes gloriously wrong. Edwardian mischief with real teeth.
E. Nesbit
1858–1924
E. Nesbit writes as if she has a hand on your shoulder and is telling you the story directly, funny and sensible at once. The children in «Five Children and It» get their wishes and the consequences, and that mix of delight and mild disaster is what her books share. Start there if you want the mischief; take «Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare» when you want the plots laid out plainly.
Feels like wonder, family and love.
Start with Five Children and It.
Nesbit helped found the Fabian Society in 1884, then wrote children's books at speed to support an unusually tangled household — the socialism and the silliness come from the same person.
The world at dawn really does point its shadows the other way.
Have you ever been up at five o’clock on a fine summer morning? It is very beautiful. The sunlight is pinky and yellowy, and all the grass and trees are covered with dew-diamonds. And all the shadows go the opposite way to the way they do in the evening, which is very interesting and makes you feel as though you were in a new other world. Books by E. Nesbit
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare
E. Nesbit, 1907
Shakespeare's plays retold as clear, quick stories, so you know the plot before you meet the poetry.
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