Five Children and It
Style: Classic
Attitude: Positive
Age Range: Children
Period: Early 20th C
Genres: Historical , Magic
Synopsis:
Cyril, Robert, Anthea, Jane and their baby brother find a Psammead (a sand fairy) in a gravel pit and it promises them one wish a day, whose effects will vanish at sunset. They wish - intentionally and otherwise - for several things and none goes entirely according to plan.
Notes:
The appeal of this book is the combination of magic and reality (at least reality for children at the turn of the century). The wish-granting genie was nothing new when this book was written, but to make the magical being a rather cratchety old creature, and then to leave the children with very everyday problems as a result of their wishes (they wish for gold, but no-one in Rochester will accept it) makes the book attractive even now.
Tuesday 1st January 2002