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A review by ehays84
The Story of the Treasure Seekers: Complete and Unabridged by E. Nesbit
4.0
(Update July 2023: read this to the kids and they loved it. I think on second reading, I enjoyed it a little more. An absolute classic of children's literature.)
I read 5 Children and It a long time ago because it inspired the Half Magic books that I grew up loving, but this is somehow only the second Nesbit book I have ever read. Of course, she is a giant in the field, and her impact is immense. You can see why in this book, although it is pretty dated in some ways. I think really the interesting thing is that we think of this book as sort of the grandmother of Rowling, etc., which of course it is, but the book makes clear that it is the progeny of other works written for younger audiences (like Kipling and Robert Louis Stevenson). So, the point is really that every book, even in a genre like this that we think of as quite recently created, is a part of a history of similar works in its genre that are all in conversation with each other.
As for the story itself, it is quite charming with its classic (it was already classic when this was written) story of children trying to restore their family's fortunes. The narrative style, written from the perspective of one of the children yet with plenty for older readers like myself to pick up on a chuckle over, is probably the main strength of this book. The children also get into plenty of hijinx in their quest for treasure, and this made me laugh out loud at some points, whether I happened to be reading out loud to my son at the time or not.
Now, for the dated parts: it does use the N word once, has a very stereotyped element with a Jewish character, and has some fun at the expense of "Indians" from North America vs. Actual India. This is not really a complaint I guess because every work is a product of its time, but it is still something to be aware of when praising or even mentioning this book. And I suppose you could say the book was somewhat progressive (which I know Nesbit was extremely progressive for her time being in the Fabian Society and all) in the way that the kind of fairy godmother character was Indian. My only other issue really is the poor eldest sister who gets such a bad rap despite doing so much it the absence of their deceased mother.
Anyway, I am hopeful about at least that part of the story improving over the course of this series, and I certainly will read them eventually. I believe I remember reading that C. S. Lewis would read The Wind in the Willows and the Bastable books when he was convalescing, and what was good enough for him should be more than good enough for me.
I read 5 Children and It a long time ago because it inspired the Half Magic books that I grew up loving, but this is somehow only the second Nesbit book I have ever read. Of course, she is a giant in the field, and her impact is immense. You can see why in this book, although it is pretty dated in some ways. I think really the interesting thing is that we think of this book as sort of the grandmother of Rowling, etc., which of course it is, but the book makes clear that it is the progeny of other works written for younger audiences (like Kipling and Robert Louis Stevenson). So, the point is really that every book, even in a genre like this that we think of as quite recently created, is a part of a history of similar works in its genre that are all in conversation with each other.
As for the story itself, it is quite charming with its classic (it was already classic when this was written) story of children trying to restore their family's fortunes. The narrative style, written from the perspective of one of the children yet with plenty for older readers like myself to pick up on a chuckle over, is probably the main strength of this book. The children also get into plenty of hijinx in their quest for treasure, and this made me laugh out loud at some points, whether I happened to be reading out loud to my son at the time or not.
Now, for the dated parts: it does use the N word once, has a very stereotyped element with a Jewish character, and has some fun at the expense of "Indians" from North America vs. Actual India. This is not really a complaint I guess because every work is a product of its time, but it is still something to be aware of when praising or even mentioning this book. And I suppose you could say the book was somewhat progressive (which I know Nesbit was extremely progressive for her time being in the Fabian Society and all) in the way that the kind of fairy godmother character was Indian. My only other issue really is the poor eldest sister who gets such a bad rap despite doing so much it the absence of their deceased mother.
Anyway, I am hopeful about at least that part of the story improving over the course of this series, and I certainly will read them eventually. I believe I remember reading that C. S. Lewis would read The Wind in the Willows and the Bastable books when he was convalescing, and what was good enough for him should be more than good enough for me.