Ms. Hen reviews Five Children and It

Five Children and It

E. Nesbit

T. Fisher Unwin

1902

Ms. Hen decided to read this book because she found it at a Little Free Library near where she lives. She doesn't usually read children's literature, but she wanted to read something light and refreshing after the pain of THE CORRECTIONS. She took a Children's Lit class when she was an undergrad hen, and she loved the class. She recently found out that the professor that taught that class, Mary Shaner, passed away, and it made her sad. This review is an homage to her.

This book is about a family of children who are sent to the country, and their mother leaves them there with the servants. The five children run off to play in a quarry and they find a Psammead, or a sand fairy, who can grant wishes. The Psammead grants one wish a day to one of the children and they get in trouble. Some of the wishes are pleasant, but they always turn out to be negative experiences in the end.

This novel is a classic story of a twist on the genie in the bottle. "Be careful what you wish for," is an expression that is used in stories like these. There are never stories in which people make wishes with a magical being and it makes them happy. This could be a lesson to teach children to be happy with what they have, and not to dream too much about what they don't have.

Some chickens appear in this book, which made Ms. Hen happy. The children acquire wings from the Psammead, and flying makes them hungry, and they take food from a church window that is meant for a clergyman and leave money in its place, "They had never happened to learn that a tongue, hardly cut into - a chicken and a half, a loaf of bread, and a siphon of soda water cannot be bought in shops for half-a- crown." (This was written a long time ago when money was quite different from the way it is now.)

Ms. Hen thinks that this novel is charming and a good diversion from the troubles of the world. She understands that children's books might not be for everyone, but sometimes it's good to read something very light. This book reminds her a little of ALICE IN WONDERLAND, which she loves. She likes to read things that will make her think of the possibilities of childhood, because children can imagine things that adults cannot. She thinks that adults should stretch their imaginations the way that children do, because if we did, we would be happier, and the our trials and tribulations would be easier to deal with...