Showing results by author "Edith Nesbit" in All Categories

When five children discover the Psammead - a malevolent sand-fairy - who says he can grant wishes, the children cannot believe their luck! All their wildest secret dreams will come true: beauty beyond compare, riches greater than kings, the ability to fly. But wishes are not always what they seem, and every wish the fairy grants goes wrong for the children.

First written in 1904, this is one of Edith Nesbit's best-loved children's stories. It it the second story about a group of five children - Robert, Anthea, Cyril, Jane, and their baby brother, the Lamb - who live in London. One day their mother buys a new carpet for the nursery which mysteriously contains a stone egg. When the egg falls into the fire by accident, nobody can possibly imagine what adventures will be unleashed.

Edith Nesbit's classic story of three children whose lives are turned upside down when their father suddenly goes away and they have to move to the country. They are captivated by the local railway and make friends with the local station staff and the old gentleman who travels daily on the train.The children experience all kinds of adventures, but the biggest adventure is the one which they do not even understand themselves... the reason for their father's absence and the mysterious quest to bring him home. A captivating story for all ages.

Twenty more stories in this popular series by Edith Nesbit, Hans Christian Anderson, Abby Phillips Walker, The Brothers Grimm, L. Frank Baum, Frank Stockton, Henry Beston, Nathaniel Hawthrone, Olive Thorn Miller, Ignas Kunos, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, and Anna R. Annan.

When the children dug a hole in the gravel-pit, they were very surprised at what they found. "It" was a Psammead, a sand-fairy, thousands of years old. It was a strange little thing - fat and furry, and with eyes on long stalks. It was often very cross and unfriendly, but it could give wishes - one wish a day. "How wonderful!" the children said. But wishes are difficult things. They can get you into trouble. An Oxford Bookworms Library reader for learners of English.

Edith Nesbit is best known as the author of children's classics, such as The Railway Children. She was also a renowned author of ghost stories and othertales of terror, the macabre and the supernatural. In this collection of spine-chilling narratives, Nesbit presents us with a truly masterful set of tales of love which reaches out beyond the grave, ghosts, eerie incarnations, evil deeds and uncanny happenings. Perfect bedtime listening.... if you dare!

This edition of Romeo and Juliet is an adaptation of Shakespeare's eponymous play, the incredible romantic story full of passion and wisdom retold in plain modern English, capturing the very essence and key elements of the original Shakespeare's drama.

The Mystery of the Semi-Detached was first published in 1893 in E. Nesbit’s “Grim Tales”, a collection of romantic horror stories. A young man is perplexed when his lover fails to show up for a half-clandestine meeting and passes her house on the way home. Upon arrival, he finds the front door ajar and the suburban semi-detached in eerie darkness. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight that awaited him in his sweetheart’s bedroom.

While exploring the beach, four adventurous children make the acquaintance of a very odd creature: a sand fairy. When they have adapted to the brusque and forthright demeanor of the fairy, they discover that he has unusual powers, which he can be persuaded to demonstrate. As a result, the children enjoy many bizarre adventures, some of which are dangerous, but all of which are entertaining. Five Children and It is the first volume of a trilogy.

This collection of short stories contains several gothic tales to bear macabre and chilling witness to writers as diverse as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Elizabeth Gaskell, Edgar Allan Poe, Wilkie Collins, and Edith Nesbit. These tales are designed to unsettle you, just a little, while you sit back and take in their words as they lead you on a walk to places you’d perhaps rather not visit on your own. Our stories are "The Wedding Knell" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Old Nurse's Story" by Elizabeth Gaskell, and more.

When four siblings journey to the seashore for a holiday, one of them unwittingly summons the sister of a mermaid who is captured by a circus, and the children set out to save the imprisoned being. After a daring midnight rescue, the children’s reward is an incredible journey beneath the waves and into the hidden kingdom of the mermaids. But they soon find themselves in a race against time as they struggle to prevent a war and save their new underwater companions!

A fascinating collection of short stories by some of the greatest Victorian female writers. This anthology covers every theme from spirits and the occult to love and sexuality to sentimentality and romance to social observation and critique. 'The Operation' by Violet Hunt, 'Satan's Circus' by Eleanor Smith, 'A Dream of Wild Bees' by Olive Schreiner, 'A Dill Pickle' by Katherine Mansfield, 'Squirrel in a Cage' by E. M. Delafield, 'Afterward' by Edith Wharton, 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman....

Amelia is constantly overshadowed by her beautiful cousin, Ernestine. When two men both fall for Ernestine, they dare each other to stay in an ominous vine-covered pavilion, and it is up to Amelia to come to the rescue in this eerie feminist tale.

The third installment of Edith Nesbit's Psammead Trilogy continues to follow the lives of the original five children and their magical endeavors. The children once again encounter the Psammead, but this time they also discover an ancient amulet that contains time-traveling powers and fuels their adventure throughout the novel. As the children experience different civilizations through time, they meet a multitude of new characters and explore many notable locales such as Atlantis before the flood, Babylon, and the Tin Islands.

Originally written as a magazine serial, Railway Children tells the story of a family whose life is upturned when the father is accused of espionage and imprisoned. The man’s wife and three children move to a house near a railroad and befriend their new neighbors, who are able to help reunite the family and prove the father’s innocence.

The New Treasure Seekers is the third of Edith Nesbit’s delightful books about the six Bastable siblings in search of treasure to restore their family's failed fortune. The best efforts of the well-meaning children - Oswald (a master of the malapropism), Dora, Dickey, Alice, Noël, and Horace Octavius - go spectacularly astray.

Edith Nesbit re-tells the stories of William Shakespeare's plays, making them accessible to children, while evoking the drama and excitement of the originals.

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. In this volume we come up against the definition of Northern Europe. There are many, each with plausibility and each so obvious. So, here’s ours.

A compilation of some of the greatest retellings of Shakespeare's love stories by Nesbit and Lamb, with historical context and discussion questions by Marie Henley.

Twelfth Night centres on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola, disguised as Cesario, falls in love with Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with the Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her, thinking she is a man.