I do enjoy almost anything written by E. Nesbit, and 90% of this book is amusing and interesting. Except for the racist chapter that is all bout the same kind of stereotypical racism that Peter Pan has. Plenty of funny moments and clever turns of phrase. ( )

Escritora predileta da criadora de Harry Potter J. K. Rowling, Edith Nesbith narra aqui as aventuras de cinco irmãos que, durante as férias, encontram um duende da areia. Essa criatura estranha e peluda passa a realizar um desejo das crianças a cada dia. Mas, uma vez realizados, os desejos colocam os meninos em grandes e divertidos apuros.

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 . . .

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 . . .

I could hardly tell that this was written 120 years ago! A cute story with a lot of funny moments - I definitely understand why it's a classic. This would be a fun one to read aloud. ( )

A fun and clever series of adventures for grade school kids, but it’s important to take them in the context of when they were published.

Five siblings (actually 4, because the fifth is too young to speak intelligibly) find a sand fairy, AKA a wish granter, and they harass it into giving the children one wish a day. Needless to say, these are children, and their half thought out wishes get them in trouble more often than not. It leads to that often used moral, "be careful what you wish for…"

But the children in this story step up to the challenge of fixing things after their wishes have gone wrong and, eventually, they learn from it.

Keep in mind, though, that this story were written in 1902. Written by Edith Nesbit, I'm happy to point out that even back then, a story could be written to pass the Bechdel test (my apparent reviewer theme for 2023), but it does not depict Indians well. They are literally described in the story as redskins, and the children dress up like redskins to the point where they paint their faces red. But this was 1902, and considering this, maybe you can give the lack of cultural sensitivity a pass. There are gypsies and carnival barkers too, and while the narrative alludes to these people as being dirty and poor schemers and connivers in a general sense, the Gypsies and carnival barkers in general don’t come across as inherently bad people. Nor do the Natives, for that matter.

There are also a few moments of the boys downplaying the importance of women or girls, but at least the girls don’t play into those stereotypes too heavily. So, in context, this was a fun read. If these kinds of sensitivities are bothersome, the reader can always skip over those chapters if they want, because each chapter is a new day and a new wish. ( )

I kept seeing this title and remembered reading a book as a child with a similar title that I loved and wanted to know if this was the same book. NO. No, it was not. (The one I had been thinking of was much more of a horror story than this.) Anyway, I am so sad that I missed this absolutely delightful book back then. It does have several morals sewn in, but they're not overbearing and the adventures and characters are fun. Seems like this would be a good book to read aloud to your kids. ( )

This book almost works as a collection of linked short stories; each chapter is a self-contained adventure in which the five children make a single wish each day, and the wishes invariably have unforeseen consequences. Most of the stories were okay given the time in which they were written, but wow did it get inappropriate in the last couple of chapters with the portrayal of Indigenous people. Also. the girls had naughty-sounding-to-modern-ears nicknames (Panty for Anthea aka Panther, and Pussy for Jane), which would be awkward for modern-day storytimes. And I was not fond of Nesbit’s almost ostentatiously prescriptive grammar: she seemed to go out of her way to say things like « everyone ate its supper ». She would obviously not approve of the singular they… ( )

I know i read this last year but all record of it here is gone? Anyway, fun adventure fantasy story with classic wish granting shenanigans but the sexism was annoying and then there was a super racist chapter yikes ( )

Five children - Anthea, Cyril, Jane, Robert, and the baby, called Lamb - are taken to a summer house, and in the nearby gravel pit, they discover a Psammead, or sand-fairy, that grants wishes. Their wishes, of course, go wrong, one after the other, whether they are carefully thought-through or made impulsively. When they wish to be "as beautiful as the day," no one recognizes them and they are locked out of their house; when they wish for wings, they enjoy flight but get stuck at the top of a clock tower; when they wish for wealth, they are unable to spend their gold. Wishes for a besieged castle and for "Red Indians in England" likewise go awry.

The chapter "Scalps" is downright problematic and deeply uncomfortable, and the language is naturally somewhat old-fashioned throughout, as it was first published in 1902, but for those magic-loving readers willing to overlook the former and either put up with or enjoy the latter (the first-person omniscient narrator has a wryly humorous tone), this classic is still enjoyable, and certainly inspired many other beloved fantasy novels.

See also: Seven-Day Magic by Edward Eager

Quotes

Trying not to believe in things when in your heart you are almost sure they are true, is as bad for the temper as anything I know. (165)

"But it's true," said Jane.
"Of course it is, but it's not true enough for grown-up people to believe it," said Anthea. ( )

Basically its a kids version of the Monkey's Paw or Bedazzled. Get wishes, they turn out badly. Its quite good and while its a kids book so the horrible results can't be too bad, its still moving at times. If i was a kid this rating would no doubt be much higher. ( )

Cute and funny, I wonder how entirely obvious the point of “be careful what you wish for” is for children reading it, or if it’s easily accepted among the laughs that ensue from the mishaps spawned by the poorly thought out/made wishes. ( )

I needed a break after The Count of Monte Cristo so I reread some childhood favorites. This one stood up surprisingly well. Definitely one I will keep in my collection. ( )

A favourite as a child,listened to excellent reading by Elizabeth Proud on RNIB connect radio,very simple tales of wishes that to wrong,but very enjoyable. Amusing. ( )

"Niños, desastres y un hada peluda", J.M. Guelbenzu, Babelia 01.10.2018: https://elpais.com/cultura/2018/09/26/babelia/1537980572_457469.html

A charming story. I wonder why I never read it before? Sometimes it is a bit precious, but not so much that it turns to treacle. Having been written in 1902, in England, there are some culturally interesting features: attitudes of the children to servants, the fact that a middle class family has servants, the adult's willingness to let the children roam for the day, not inquiring into their activities unless they make a mess.

Any moralizing is moderate to invisible, and yet, lessons are learned. Lovely. ( )

Charming and endearing. ( )

This was a lot of fun! I wish I read this when I was a kid. ( )

Thoroughly enjoyed this tale. The moral of the story is be careful what you wish for as none of the wishes granted by the sand fairy prove joyous.

Similar to the Railway Children the protagonists move from london to the kent countryside where they find a psammead (sammyadd) who can grant them wishes. Story skips along at a nice pace with plenty of interest for the reader. ( )

In boxed set: The adventures of the five children ( )

This is another delightful classic from the pen of Edith Nesbit. Our five young heroes and heroines (or four really as one is a baby the others call Lamb) discover a Psammead or sand fairy who can grant them a wish a day. Needless to say they get the wishes wrong and don;t think through the consequences, but it all turns out right by sunset each day. I didn't enjoy this quite as much as The Railway Children, but it was still very enjoyable, with a lot of nice illustrations throughout. ( )

The Psammead or Sammyad is a strange looking sand fairy capable of granting wishes. I loved the description of "it" as having eyes on long horns like a snail, ears like a bat, body like a spider, hands and feet like a monkey, and whiskers like a rat. And. And! And, the thing talks! When five children named Cyril (Squirrel), Roberts (Bobs), Anthea (Panther), Hilary (the Lamb), and Jane, digging in the sand discover the Psammead can grant wishes they immediately embark on making choices that always seem to backfire on them: wealth, becoming physically bigger than an opponent, living in a castle, growing angel wings, fighting wild Indians, to name a few. Even after they decide to be more thoughtful with their wishes they still run into disaster. Luckily, their parents are away dealing with an ailing grandmother so they have plenty of opportunities to get it right...and wrong. The best part of Five Children and It is the relationship between the siblings. It rings true no matter what drama they face.

And in another case of "everyone loves it but I just don't" - I couldn't finish this one. It's an enjoyable enough read, and certainly very creative, but it became a bit tedious by the third wish gone wrong. ( )

A London family takes a modest house in the country for the summer, and the five children discover a sand fairy with the power to grant wishes.

Cyril, Anthea, Robert, and Jane, and their two-year-old brother whom they call the Lamb, also discover that wishes aren't always all they're cracked up to be. What could be more harmless than Jane's wish that they all be "as beautiful as the day"? How could wishing for untold wealth--in gold coins--go wrong? Yet over the course of the summer, the children find that more often than not they are figuring out how to get through to sunset, when the sand fairy's gifts go away.

This was a cherished favorite when I was a child, and it's still a lovely, wonderful book to read and reread. It ages very well; Nesbit's girls and boys are equally brave, clever, and loyal, with the impulsivity and unreliable judgment of real children.

Highly recommended. ( )

When I was a child, I loved this book. I loved the illustrations. The edition I have now doesn't have illustrations, alas. ( )