Five Children and It

Read the ultimate classic comforting coming of age fantasy story.Dont you know a sand-fairy when you see one?I dare say you have often thought about what you would do if you were granted three wishes. The five children - Cyril Anthea Robert Jane and their baby brother - had often talked about it but when they are faced with the grumpy sand-fairy they find it difficult to make up their minds. And that is just the beginning of their dilemmas. As they discover there is nothing quite like a wish for getting you into terrible trouble.EXTRA ACTIVITIES INCLUDED: Learn about what it was like to be a child in 1902 and try some fun activities! This special edition includes fantastic extra educational resources. Review I love E. Nesbit - I think she is great and I identify with the way that she writes. Her children are very real children and she was quite a groundbreaker in her day -- JK RowlingShe speaks to the reader and its almost as if though you could hear her voice -- Quentin BlakeThis one is definitely my favourite. The story is about five children who find a sand fairy that grants them wishes. But the wishes never turn out like the children imagine. The children had to spend the summer without TV or electronic games because they hadnt been invented. It makes me feel jealous of them because they spend all day having adventures and the grown-ups dont bother them at all! I recommend this book to all children. If you cant read it yourself your mum or dad should read it to you -- Viveak Todd aged 11 ―Sunday ExpressSo what makes these different to any other set of classics? In a moment of inspiration Random House had the bright idea of actually asking Key stage 2 children what extra ingredients they could add to make children want to read. And does it work? Well put it this way...my 13-year-old daughter announced that she had to read a book over the summer holiday and without any prompting spotted The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas...and proceeded to read it! Now if you knew my 13-year-old daughter you would realise that this is quite remarkable. She reads texts blogs and tags by the thousand - but this is the first book she has read since going to high school so all hail Vintage Classics! ―National Association for the Teaching of English About the Author 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 childrens bookThe Treasure Seekers was published in 1899. She also wroteFive Children and It but her most famous story isThe Railway Children which was first published in 1905 and it hasnt 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.