
Five Children and It
by E. Nesbit
- First published
- 1902
- Reading level
- Easy
- Price
- Free
About the book
"Five Children and It" by E. Nesbit is a children's fantasy novel published in 1902. When five siblings discover a grumpy, ancient sand-fairy called the Psammead in a gravel pit, they're granted one wish per day—but there's a catch. Each wish vanishes at sunset, and every desire goes hilariously and dangerously wrong. From unwanted beauty to unspendable riches, from inconvenient wings to a besieged castle, the children learn that getting what you wish for isn't always what you want.
- Siblings
- Wishes
- Fairies
- Great Britain
Updated September 2026. Public domain in the USA. Text and summary from Project Gutenberg eBook #17314. Five Children and It on Wikipedia.











