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Five Children and It

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Five Children and It

By: Edith Nesbit
Narrated by: Cathy Dobson
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About this listen

First written in 1902, this is one of Edith Nesbit's best loved children's stories. It all begins when a group of five children – Robert, Anthea, Cyril, Jane, and their baby brother, the Lamb - move from London to the countryside of Kent. While playing in a gravel pit, they discover a rather grumpy, ugly and occasionally malevolent sand-fairy known as the Psammead who is compelled to grant one wish of theirs per day.

The effects of each wish last until sundown. All the wishes granted to the children go hilariously wrong. When they wish to be beautiful, nobody recognises them and they are shut out of the house. When they wish to be rich, they get a stack of gold coins but nobody will take them. When they wish for wings they find themselves stuck on a tall tower at sunset. When they wish that their baby brother was older, he turns into a grown-up and bosses them about. When Robert wishes he was bigger than the baker's boy (who has beaten him in a scrap) he becomes eleven feet tall. There are many more adventures... but you will need to listen and find out for yourselves....

©2011 Red Door Audiobooks (P)2011 Red Door Audiobooks Classics Literature & Fiction Fantasy

Critic reviews

"The book is lighthearted and funny, as the children get into all sorts of impossible and hilarious situations. It has been enjoyed by several generations of children and their parents, and will be enjoyed by several more." (Rohini Chowdhury)
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I loved this book when I was younger and, after my cassette tape got "eaten", I decided to download an unabridged version to replace it, as the tape was a shortened version and I wondered what the rest of the story was like. I chose this edition and I'm sure I'll enjoy the story itself. However, the reason I've given four out of the five stars is because the narrator has an annoying tendency to draw out the last word of a sentence. For example, "...they were certain to be happy at the White Housssse." It gets on my nerves and I'm not sure why the narrator feels the need to "drawl". This is a bit of a niggle and maybe listeners will get used to it.

Marked down for narration

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I recommend this book to 10-11 year olds because there are some complicated words in it I have rated it 5 stars because it has been spoken clearly

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