≫ PDF Free Five Children and It Puffin Classics E Nesbit H R Millar 9780140367355 Books

Five Children and It Puffin Classics E Nesbit H R Millar 9780140367355 Books

Download As PDF : Five Children and It Puffin Classics E Nesbit H R Millar 9780140367355 Books

Five Children and It Puffin Classics E Nesbit H R Millar 9780140367355 Books

I love this story and the two that follow it. This version uses original Harold Millar illustrations which is a major reason why I chose this particular volume. I like the size of the volume - it's slightly larger than a trade paperback, it's 6"Wx9"H. The size of the illustrations is GREAT - much larger than my old battered Puffin paperback. They're very, very slightly pixelated from being enlarged but not problematically so.

BUT my eyes watered the minute I opened the book - the type is ridiculously small. It's the typeface you expect out of a condensed dictionary. Out of curiosity, I compared current word-processing font sizing and the otherwise lovely serif font sizes out between 10 and 11 points.

It's a real shame, because this volume is lovely except for, well, the reading part.


Tags : Five Children and It (Puffin Classics) [E. Nesbit, H. R. Millar] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. A series of phenomenal adventures follow when young Anthea discovers a sand-fairy who can grant wishes,E. Nesbit, H. R. Millar,Five Children and It (Puffin Classics),Puffin,0140367357,Children's stories, English.,Fairy tales.,Family life;Fiction.,Children's BooksAges 9-12 Fiction,Children's stories, English,Children: Grades 4-6,Classic fiction (Children'sYA),Classics,Fairy tales,Family life,Fantasy & Magic,Fiction,Juvenile Fiction,Juvenile Fiction Classics

Five Children and It Puffin Classics E Nesbit H R Millar 9780140367355 Books Reviews

It was always a little strange to me as a boy that children in books always went to boarding school and always had nannies, cooks, and maids, but we just accepted that that was how people were in books. We realised that books were written before decimalisation, and just enjoyed the stories. I am delighted that the same is still true. I read this to my son over several nights, and while he did ask about the servants and "were they like slaves", this was more an additional facet, something he could enjoy and learn from, rather than something which inhibited his enjoyment. This story is of children who behave in much the same way as modern children would, leaving parental and adult supervision at the earliest opportunity, particularly if this involves getting into adventures and meeting magical creatures. The Psammead is an ancient Sand Fairy, and the children in the story are initially frightened of him, then grow to like him and respect his wisdom (even if he's a little cantankerous). The story follows the classic "what would you wish for if you had three wishes" formula, but is done with such style that each mini adventure that follows on is enjoyable, and a learning experience for the characters, rather than just being a list of examples of a smart-alec genie's deliberately obtuse interpretation of instructions.

I would say this book is suitable for children of seven to fourteen, and doesn't really require any explanation of old-fashioned terms, but there can be much gained from discussing them.
E. Nesbit is one of my favorite childhood authors and I remember school holidays spent comfortably ensconced in a chair reading her books (and those of Enid Blyton's). I thought it was about time I introduced my eight-year-old daughter and avid reader to the delights of Nesbit's works and bought several of Nesbit's books for her.

"Five Children and It" is a classic tale of adventure featuring five children, i.e. Robert, Anthea, Jane, Cyril, and their baby brother. They decide to dig a hole through the Earth to discover if those living on the other side walk upside down. Imagine their shock and delight when they find a sand fairy called a Psammead (pronounced as Sammyadd). The Psammead's nature is to grant wishes, but he warns the children that the wishes granted will come undone at sunset. Naturally, with a bunch of gregarious youngsters, things are bound to go awry when wishes are not planned with precision and careful thinking!

I recommend this delightful fantasy story for curious and imaginative children ages eight and up.
I read a review for Five Children on the Western Front and although we have not yet read that book, I was intrigued to learn that it was a sequel to this children's classic first published in 1902. I had never heard of this book before so I bought it and read it to my 7-year-old. My daughter never wanted to stop after just one chapter and frankly neither did I. Each of the 11 chapters tells the rich, exciting tale of one of the children's wishes although nothing turns out quite as they expected. We had a great time trying to predict what might go wrong with each wish and how we would have worded the wish for hopefully a more "successful" outcome.

The language is a bit different from what we use today but it never felt cumbersome or boring. In fact, the "old-fashioned" feel really made the story that much more fun. Of course, of all the interesting words and phrases that we read and talked about, my daughter decided to start using the term "stow it" which the 2 brothers impolitely used on each other! Actually, I confess to having used the phrase a few times myself since we finished the book!! This book is definitely still relevant to today's reader and I highly recommend reading it to your child.

Spoiler alert at the end of the book the Psammead asks Anthea to make a wish for him. He wants her to wish that the children will never be able to tell anyone about him. Anthea agrees and makes the wish. I was stasified with that ending but my daughter correctly pointed out that since the wishes only last 24 hours they could just tell about the Psammead the next day if they wanted. Great point!! Her astute conclusion made the story suddenly feel not quite as neatly wrapped up as I thought so perhaps we will move on to the sequel!
Five children are digging in a gravel pit when they unearth the Psammead (Sand-fairy), an ancient furry creature with eyes on stalks. He grants them one wish a day (or more, under protest), which don’t turn out the way they expect them to. The best wish is the first “I wish we were all as beautiful as the day.” Not only do they not recognize each other at first (being so beautiful), but the nursemaid Martha snatches the baby (who is unchanged the children decide that he is too young to have wishes naturally and must be specifically mentioned next time) and the cook threatens to call the police. All the wishes end at sunset, at which point they are able to go home. Readers today have to make some allowances for the at times arch and cutesy narrator, but the stories are fun and inventive and well worth a read. The next two books in the series are THE PHOENIX AND THE CARPET and THE STORY OF THE AMULET, featuring the same children.
I love this story and the two that follow it. This version uses original Harold Millar illustrations which is a major reason why I chose this particular volume. I like the size of the volume - it's slightly larger than a trade paperback, it's 6"Wx9"H. The size of the illustrations is GREAT - much larger than my old battered Puffin paperback. They're very, very slightly pixelated from being enlarged but not problematically so.

BUT my eyes watered the minute I opened the book - the type is ridiculously small. It's the typeface you expect out of a condensed dictionary. Out of curiosity, I compared current word-processing font sizing and the otherwise lovely serif font sizes out between 10 and 11 points.

It's a real shame, because this volume is lovely except for, well, the reading part.