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  • Published: 27 October 2008
  • ISBN: 9780141321615
  • Imprint: Puffin Modern Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 272
  • RRP: $19.99

Five Children and It




Rediscover Puffin Classics. An entirely new package bringing the best-loved classics to a new generation.

When Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and their baby brother go digging in the gravel pit, the last thing they expect to find is a Psammead - an ancient Sand-fairy! Having a Sand-fairy for a pet means having one wish granted each day. But the children don't realize all the trouble wishes can cause . . .

A timeless classic with an introduction by Quentin Blake, award-winning illustrator and first-ever Children's Laureate (1999-2001).

  • Published: 27 October 2008
  • ISBN: 9780141321615
  • Imprint: Puffin Modern Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 272
  • RRP: $19.99

About the author

E. Nesbit

Edith Nesbit was born in 1858. Her father died when she was only three and so her family moved all over England. Poverty was something she had known first hand, both as a child and as a young married woman with small children. Like the Railway Childrens' Mother, she was forced to try and sell her stories and poems to editors. Her first children's book, The Treasure Seekers, was published in 1899. She also wrote Five Children and It but her most famous story is The Railway Children which was first published in 1905 and it hasn't been out of print since. Edith Nesbit was a lady ahead of her time - she cut her hair short, which was considered a very bold move in Victorian times, and she was a founding member of a group that worked towards improvements in politics and society called The Fabian Society. She died in 1924.

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