Showing results for "The Railway Children" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

E Nesbit is widely regarded as the first modern children's writer. Her ground-breaking novels have influenced authors from Oscar Wilde to Jacqueline Wilson, and over 100 years after their first publication, they remain perennially popular. This wide-ranging collection comprises some of her very best children's fiction, commencing with her timeless tale The Railway Children.

Edie is fascinated by Victorian times, and she's just desperate to be cast in the lead role of her drama club production of Oliver. When she's given a real Victorian notebook she's determined to write the best story ever, all about a girl in a workhouse. But when she starts writing, something strange happens. Edie finds herself in Victorian London. She feels the same, but everything around her is completely different to what she knows. Soon, she realises she's living the life of another Edie Trimmer—and is in danger of being sent to a real workhouse!

Mab's mum is obsessed with fairies—she even named Mab after the Fairy Queen! Their flat is full of fairy ornaments, tiny fairy furniture and they've even got fairy lights in the toilet. Mab doesn't quite get it, but she knows that fairies make her mum happy, especially after Dad left. When Mab comes into school with a new fairy dress on her birthday, her teacher gives her a book all about Victorian fairies. She reads it with her mum and her little brother Robin, and she's surprised to see the drawings inside are nothing like the sweet fairies she imagined.

Four children rescue a mermaid and plunge into a great sea adventure. As with many of Ms. Nesbit's works, behind the "children's" story is some rather incisive commentary on "grown-up" issues.