Five Children and It
core novel 1902 The Psammead Trilogy
Record
| First published | 1902 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.86 (27,922 ratings, collected 2026-10-24) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780349009353 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
While spending their summer holiday in the Kent countryside, the siblings Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and their baby brother, known as the Lamb, go digging in a gravel pit that was once the seashore and uncover an ancient Sand-fairy, a Psammead: lumpy, grumpy and occasionally malevolent. The Psammead takes a liking to them and agrees to grant them one wish every day, warning that the wishes will turn to stone at sunset; but the children do not realise all the trouble wishes can cause. They wish to be beautiful as the day and the servants shut them out of the house; they wish to be rich and find the gravel pit full of gold guineas no shop will accept. The first book of E. Nesbit's Psammead trilogy, a blockbuster when serialised in The Strand Magazine.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Psammead Trilogy
- Series: The Psammead Trilogy core; position 1 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: E. Nesbit
Notes
- First published by T. Fisher Unwin in 1902, after serialisation in The Strand Magazine; the ISBN recorded is the Virago Modern Classics edition of 2017 (pre-ISBN rule).
- From the series record (The Psammead Trilogy): Five children, a sand-fairy, a phoenix, a magic carpet and an amulet.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series The Psammead Trilogy: position 1 of 3: next The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904)
Sources
- Library catalogue (series record and description)
- Wikipedia (Five Children and It)
- AbeBooks (Virago edition record, with the rating platform's figures)
- Library catalogue (publisher description)
- Alma Books (publisher description, via Hatchards)
- Puffin (publisher description, via Page 158 Books)
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Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.