Cover of Five Children and It

Five Children and It

  • Free to read
  • 4 hours to read
  • 12 chapters
  • Reading level: 6th grade

"Five Children and It" by E. Nesbit is a children's fantasy novel published in 1902. When five siblings discover a grumpy, ancient sand-fairy called the Psammead in a gravel pit, they're granted one wish per day—but there's a catch. Each wish vanishes at sunset, and every desire goes hilariously and dangerously wrong. From unwanted beauty to unspendable riches, from inconvenient wings to a besieged castle, the children learn that getting what you wish for isn't always what you want.

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  • Siblings
  • Wishes
  • Fairies
  • Great Britain · History · Edward VII, 1901-1910

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Chapter I

BEAUTIFUL AS THE DAY

The house was three miles from the station, but, before the dusty hired hack had rattled along for five minutes, the children began to put their heads out of the carriage window and say, "Aren't we nearly there?" And every time they passed a house, which was not very often, they all said, "Oh, is this it?" But it never was, till they reached the very top of the hill, just past the chalk-quarry and before you come to the gravel-pit. And then there was a white house with a green garden and an orchard beyond, and mother said, "Here we are!"

"How white the house is," said Robert.

"And look at the roses," said Anthea.

"And the plums," said Jane.

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Contents

  1. Front Matter
  2. Chapter I
  3. Chapter II
  4. Chapter III
  5. Chapter IV
  6. Chapter V
  7. Chapter VI
  8. Chapter VII
  9. Chapter VIII
  10. Chapter IX
  11. Chapter X
  12. Chapter XI (and Last)

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About this edition

This free edition of Five Children and It by E. Nesbit comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #17314, released 2005-12-15. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Children & Young Adult Reading, Science-Fiction & Fantasy, Novels, British Literature.

Other editions: eBook #778 (most read).

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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