Edith Nesbit, Five Children and It

Matthew Creasy (University of Glasgow)

Ed. by Dimitra Fimi, University of Glasgow
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Birmingham Newman University), Louise McDonald (Birmingham Newman University), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1902 - 1902

Places

United Kingdom (Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Children's Literature

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Five Children and It

(1902) is the first major work of fantasy published by Edith Nesbit. It concerns a family of London children who move to Kent one summer. Freed from adult supervision, they discover a magical creature whilst digging in a local gravel pit. According to her biographer Julia Briggs, Nesbit concocted her name for this creation, the “psammead”, from the Greek

psammos

(sand) by analogy with the dryads and naiads of Classical myth (p. 223). Her sand-fairy is capable of granting the children one wish a day, although the effects usually wear off by sundown. Having established this premise, the plot of the novel is largely episodic and chapters chart the ways in which a succession of wishes goes astray: for example, the children wish for gold, but discover that local…

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2100 words

Citation: Creasy, Matthew. "Five Children and It". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 February 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39013, accessed 21 November 2024.]

Edith Nesbit, Five Children and It

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