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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
This was a lot of fun! I wish I read this when I was a kid.
I like the idea of this book. I like it more than its application. Four siblings find a magical something, and learn some valuable life lessons, basically.
I thought it was a little repetitive. The kids never seemed to learn, and kept making the same mistakes over and over again.
I didn't like the children. I understand that there needed to be a little more to the plot, a little more conflict. I'm still not sure which sibling is older, but one of them is a jerk for no reason. It's less of a team, and more of a group of children that have to get along.
I liked the storytelling feel to be narrative...except for the times the narrator "could't remember" or couldn't be bothered to tell the rest of a plot point. It was very jarring.
I don't know if I'd read this to kids. The plot gets rather repetitive, and some of the main characters aren't very sympathetic.
I thought it was a little repetitive. The kids never seemed to learn, and kept making the same mistakes over and over again.
I didn't like the children. I understand that there needed to be a little more to the plot, a little more conflict. I'm still not sure which sibling is older, but one of them is a jerk for no reason. It's less of a team, and more of a group of children that have to get along.
I liked the storytelling feel to be narrative...except for the times the narrator "could't remember" or couldn't be bothered to tell the rest of a plot point. It was very jarring.
I don't know if I'd read this to kids. The plot gets rather repetitive, and some of the main characters aren't very sympathetic.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book just was not for me. I think if I had read it as a child I would have liked it a lot more. I found it so repetitive and the children to be obtuse. If I had not listened to the audiobook I'm not sure I would have gotten through it. Very well written, it was the story itself I did not care for. :(
This is such a funny children's book. I loved it!
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a perfectly charming children's book about a group of siblings who stumble on a source of wishes. The wishes of course backfire or otherwise go wrong, but in inventive and unpredictable ways.
It's got a number of very surprising little features and tidbits. The dialogue is entertaining and the writing is funny. I especially liked the history as told by Psammead parts. Chapters with gypsies and "red indians" offend some modern sensibilities and might need some parental guidance.
It's got a number of very surprising little features and tidbits. The dialogue is entertaining and the writing is funny. I especially liked the history as told by Psammead parts. Chapters with gypsies and "red indians" offend some modern sensibilities and might need some parental guidance.
This book, published in 1902, is one of several books by E. Nesbit that went on to shape modern children's literature and fantasy. There are echoes of E. Nesbit in Narnia, Hogwarts and in Moorcock and Wynne. The authorial voice in the The Hobbit is not unlike the voice of the author is this book. Like that of an understanding, but mischievous aunt or uncle.
The story is simple enough, five kids find a wish granting creature and have adventures as none of the wishes turn out the way they had hoped.
The strength in the book lies in the way Nesbit captures the way summers felt when summer holidays stretched ahead of you as a never ending ocean of time and the way she treats the protagonists as proper characters. They are not paper-tin stereotypes put in place to give the author a segue into moralizing, but are instead rounded characters wil virtues and flaws like the rest of us. I kept forgetting that the book I was reading was some 114 years old. It has aged really well and should be in the toolbox of any parent reading to their child or adult who just wants a quick trip back to those wonderful summer holidays.
Cloying, racist, sexist, and repetitive. This does not hold up well. It's interesting as an example of early fantasy for children, but I can't enjoy it or recommend it as a reader.