FIVE-CHILDREN-AND-IT

1. (Read ebook) Five Children and It Five Children and It Edith Nesbit, E. Nesbit audiobook | *ebooks | Download PDF | ePub | DOC #12876863 in Books 2005-12-01Format: Large PrintOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x .67 x 5.98l, .96 #File Name: 1846372003296 pages | File size: 18.Mb Edith Nesbit, E. Nesbit : Five Children and It before purchasing it in order to gage whether or not it would be worth my time, and all praised Five Children and It: 0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Very Good, Though Retrograde--Which Makes It BetterBy CharlesFive Children and It is a book that resonates on two levels. On one level, it is an outstanding and well-drawn childrens story. We read it to our own five children to general acclaim. On another level, it is a glimpse of upper-class child-rearing in Edwardian England, very interesting as social history to todays adults, even with no children

2. around.The core moral of the story, that wishes when granted do not often provide the benefit sought by the wisher, isnt new. The frame of the story is clever, thoughit features Nesbits original creation, a sand-fairy, the Psammead. It is the last of its kind, having burrowed into a Jurassic beach to protect itself from damaging water, and having slept there for eons while the sea receded and left behind a gravel pit. The five children of the title move in nearby, and while digging in the pit for fun, discover the Psammead, who is a grumpy, borderline malevolent creature. What follows are a series of clever adventures, in which the children either make ill-considered wishes that are granted immediately and literally by the Psammead, or well-considered wishes that the Psammead grants in a way calculated to undercut the point of the wish. But with pluck and energy, and without the help of adults, the children make every situation turn out all right in the end.Of course, much of the storys backdrop seems strange now. What mother would let her children, including a baby under the supervision only of his siblings, play in a gravel pit alone? Nowadays, it would be considered criminal child neglect. True, gravel pit here probably means nothing more than a place where wheelbarrows of gravel were dug out of the ground, not a massive pit mine, but the children still spend each day ranging unattended far from home, and none appears older than twelve. Throughout the stories all adults assume that they are to act in loco parentis. There is no suggestion that there is any variation in how children are to be dealt with or that an adult has no right to instruct, or punish, anothers children. The government is only involved when the Psammead grants the childrens wish for gold by giving them very old gold coins, leading them to be reported to the police for presumed theft. And so on, throughout the book, glimpses of a different way of living.And thats not even getting to the horrifically not-politically correct nature of many of the stories. Gypsies are not celebrated as persecuted Roma; they are shown as child thieves (admittedly while under the spell of the Psammead, but still). Red Indians are portrayed as savages eager to scalp the children. A woman without children is drawn as selfish, nasty and unpleasant to all. Class distinctions, especially between master and servant, are shown as normal and wholly accepted (even though Nesbit was a Fabian). The childrens first wish is to be beautiful, and it is assumed that everyone agrees what beauty is, with no pauses to reflect about look-ism. Sex roles are clearly drawn and assumed, both among adults and children. Nobody at all is seen as oppressed, except perhaps the Psammead, but given that his nature is to grant wishes, not even he seems actually oppressed when wishes are demanded of him. Its a good thing that the concepts of this book arent being put out on Twitter; a liberal hate mob would erupt, followed by Twitter banning the account of anyone retrograde enough to enunciate even one of these concepts.Im frankly surprised that this book is still popular. Not that it shouldnt be, but in this age when everything is politicized, Id have thought it would have come in for attack and marginalization. I suppose I should be grateful and should donate copies to my childrens schools. This book is followed by two sequels, much less well known today, which I have not read. (Supposedly, though, C.S. Lewis borrowed certain key trappings for The Chronicles of Narnia from those books, including the character of the Tisroc, whom I always assumed was simply based on Ottoman sultans.) Im going to get those as well, and read them to my own children, hoping that by osmosis some of the backdrop of these books sinks into them and further chokes the roots of todays idiot culture.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Fantastic book!By Susan C.Delightful book! Not lots of action, but lovely story (in relatively small bites, if you are reading it out loud as a family. Amazing perspective on the freedom children used to have, in terms of the places they could go and activities they could do without adult supervision.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Classic and charmingBy DetroitVLoved this book as a child, when I thought it a very sophisticated, serious book. Still love it, but now I can see much more humor in it. Highly recommended. This classic large print title is printed in 16 point Tiresias font as recommended by the Royal National Institute for the Blind. ''[Nesbit is] the children's writer with whom I most identify.'' --J. K. Rowling, in O, The Oprah Magazine''Their first time in the country is filled with magical escapades for five children in this classic tale of adventure . . . [A] humorous story about magic in the real world.'' --Children's LiteratureFrom the Back CoverThe five children find a cantankerous sand fairy or 'psammead' in a gravel pit. Every day 'It' will grant each of them a wish that lasts until sunset, often with disastrous consequences. Five Children and It was first published in 1902, and it has remained in print ever since. The Introduction to this edition examines Nesbit's life and her reading, showing how she was poised between the Victorian world and a new era in which children in literature were no longer mere projections of the adult viewpoint. Sandra Kemp examines how the narrative is structured around the acting out of literary fantasies, which always come down to earth. Nesbit combines wonderfully implausible events with the prosaic and familiar, and Kemp illuminates her exploration of the shifting relationship between imagination, literature, and life.About the AuthorEnglish author Edith Nesbit s impressive body of work includes poems, plays, novels, and even ghost stories, however, she is best known for her beloved children s adventure stories, published under the name E. Nesbit. Among Nesbit s best-known works are The Story of the Treasure-Seekers, The Railway Children, The Wouldbegoods and Five Children and It. Nesbit s novels departed from the children s literary tradition of fantasy-worlds popularized by Lewis Carroll and Kenneth Grahame, and instead focused on the adventures to be had from real-life experiences. Nesbit s work inspired other

3. writers like C. S. Lewis, P. L Travers, and J. K. Rowling, and many of her stories have been adapted for film and television. In addition to writing, Nesbit was an activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist group that provided the foundation for the modern British Labour Party. Nesbit died in 1924.