Five Children and It

The story

Five siblings digging in a gravel pit uncover the Psammead, a grumpy, ancient sand-fairy with eyes on stalks. It grants them one wish a day, and every wish ends at sunset.

The children wish for beauty, for gold, for wings and to be grown up — and every time, the wish goes wrong in ways they never imagined.

Themes: wishes and consequences, family, humour, Edwardian childhood.

Why it's a good book for language learners

Nesbit's narrator talks directly to the reader with humour and warmth, which makes this a friendly classic for intermediate learners. Each chapter is a complete episode, so you can read one wish at a time. The conditional sentences (“if we had wished…”) are a natural grammar lesson.

What you'll practise

• Conditionals and wishes: I wish…, if only…
• Family and household vocabulary
• Humorous narration and irony
• British English of the early 1900s

Did you know?

E. Nesbit wrote two sequels, The Phoenix and the Carpet and The Story of the Amulet.

The PageWalker adventure

In the adventure you make the wishes — and you live with the consequences until sunset. The first page is free to play in your browser, and the adventure is available in 13 languages with click-to-translate.

Five Children and It in other languages

• EnglishFive Children and It
• العربيةخمسة أطفال وذاك
• DeutschFünf Kinder und das Es
• EspañolCinco Niños y Esto
• FrançaisCinq Enfants et moi
• हिन्दीपाँच बच्चे और वह
• ItalianoCinque bambini e la cosa
• 日本語砂の妖精
• 한국어다섯 아이와 모래요정
• PortuguêsCinco Crianças e a Coisa
• РусскийПятеро детей и Оно
• TürkçeBeş Çocuk ve O
• 简体中文五个孩子和那个