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![Five Children and It: E. Nesbit (Classics, Literature) [Annotated] by E. Nesbit](https://cdn.thestorygraph.com/97aam85yqpbfmzo3v04k0l2nim55)
3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
We love this movie but the book was so boring and really didn't capture the magical feel of the movie.
Absolutely adorable.
Old Children's stories have such a charm to them and Nesbit is marvelous at telling them. On the first few pages, there is a parenthesis with a small note on how a line should be read out loud and that completely melted my heart. This little note brings out the added care of a grandmother and makes you feel like one of the children and ready to see the wonders the story hides.
I did not read it as a kid but it brought me simplicity and comfort that you tend to forget exist once you grow older.
Old Children's stories have such a charm to them and Nesbit is marvelous at telling them. On the first few pages, there is a parenthesis with a small note on how a line should be read out loud and that completely melted my heart. This little note brings out the added care of a grandmother and makes you feel like one of the children and ready to see the wonders the story hides.
I did not read it as a kid but it brought me simplicity and comfort that you tend to forget exist once you grow older.
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It was enjoyable read.
Originally serialized in 1900 and collected in 1902, E. Nesbit's story concerns the adventures of four children (and occasionally their toddler brother, known only as "The Lamb") who discover a wish-granting psammead, or sammyadd, an ancient sand-fairy who had been in the business of granting cavepersons their wishes for megatheriums and ichthyosaurs back in prehistoric times.
If you have read any wish-granting stories, you know how this goes. Everything the kids wish for, from beauty, to wealth, to living in a castle go horribly wrong, but in this case, it's always handled in a fairly gentle and humorous way. This is a wish-granting comedy, rather than a wish-granting horror story.
The author's witty and irreverent side remarks add nicely to the humor, and the dialogue is quick-paced and fun, showing off the personalities of the four main characters.
As might be expected for a book written in its time, chapters involving Gypsies and Native Americans are on the cringe-inducing side as the stereotypes get piled on thick and fast.
In other chapters, though, the book shines as it shows how the kids begin to learn to have fun adventures even in spite of their wishes being twisted by unexpected consequences. A two-chapter tale where they wish for wings, and a chapter where one of the kids wishes that they lived in a "besieged castle" (prompting the lament of "Why didn't we specify a well-provisioned and garrisoned besieged castle?") are among the best examples of the kids finding a sense of adventure when things take an unexpected turn.
The wish-magic is handled with a great deal of consistency, and the kids come up with some clever and resourceful solutions to their various troubles, especially in the later chapters.
I read this aloud to my eight-year-old son, and he found some of it to be a bit slow and dull, but he always perked up whenever any of the characters blurted out something beginning with "I wish...", and was quick to imagine all of the ways that the latest wish could go badly wrong.
If you have read any wish-granting stories, you know how this goes. Everything the kids wish for, from beauty, to wealth, to living in a castle go horribly wrong, but in this case, it's always handled in a fairly gentle and humorous way. This is a wish-granting comedy, rather than a wish-granting horror story.
The author's witty and irreverent side remarks add nicely to the humor, and the dialogue is quick-paced and fun, showing off the personalities of the four main characters.
As might be expected for a book written in its time, chapters involving Gypsies and Native Americans are on the cringe-inducing side as the stereotypes get piled on thick and fast.
In other chapters, though, the book shines as it shows how the kids begin to learn to have fun adventures even in spite of their wishes being twisted by unexpected consequences. A two-chapter tale where they wish for wings, and a chapter where one of the kids wishes that they lived in a "besieged castle" (prompting the lament of "Why didn't we specify a well-provisioned and garrisoned besieged castle?") are among the best examples of the kids finding a sense of adventure when things take an unexpected turn.
The wish-magic is handled with a great deal of consistency, and the kids come up with some clever and resourceful solutions to their various troubles, especially in the later chapters.
I read this aloud to my eight-year-old son, and he found some of it to be a bit slow and dull, but he always perked up whenever any of the characters blurted out something beginning with "I wish...", and was quick to imagine all of the ways that the latest wish could go badly wrong.
This was cute and sweet and yet I don't really enjoy stories where people try hard to do the right thing and it backfires every single time.
Okay, now I understand Edward Eager's Half Magic! Haha! This is a whimsical fantasy about how getting what you wish for isn't always a dream come true. I love that the book addresses the issue of contentment — how we should be happy with what we have and grateful for what we've got. (Something I know that I struggle with right along with my small sons.) This is a prim and proper British children's book, so the tone might be too stuffy for some kids, but it's good to round out children's taste with a good old-fashioned story like this. (As with Little House, you will have to address with kids the way Native Americans are portrayed here.)
I tried to read it to my 6yo and 4yo but it's a very domestic story with a lot of word that even I didn't know. They lost interest, but I continued. It's all right, but it just kind of follows the "be careful what you wish for" formula. I would, however, be very interested in seeing an animated sequence of the chapter where the Lamb becomes Hilary.
Also, old-timey illustrators, what is your deal with drawing a picture of just before or just after the interesting thing happens?
Also, old-timey illustrators, what is your deal with drawing a picture of just before or just after the interesting thing happens?
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
Enjoyable, although some culturally inappropriate aspects that are a product of the time in which it was written took me out of the story.
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
NO.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism