The Phoenix and the Carpet

The Phoenix and the Carpet. E. Nesbit. 1904. 224 pages.

It began with the day when it was almost the Fifth of November, and a doubt arose in some breast--Robert's, I fancy--as to the quality of the fireworks laid in for the Guy Fawkes celebration.

The Phoenix and the Carpet is the sequel to Five Children and It. It stars Robert, Anthea, Jane, Cyril, and Lamb. (Though Lamb isn't a big star in the novel, he does manage to steal a few scenes in this one!) If you thought the magical adventures for these children were over--now that they've returned to the city and are far from their Psammead--you'd be wrong. (The Psammead is the "It" from the previous book.) For the delightful-sometimes-dangerous adventures are just beginning. After an "accident" in the nursery ruins the carpet, the carpet is replaced with a magical one. And this magical carpet holds another secret--for within it was an egg. Not just an ordinary egg. No, the Phoenix hatches from this egg--once another "accident" lands it in the nursery fireplace. The children now have THE Phoenix and a magic carpet--so you see the adventures are just beginning. Do you think these children are any wiser this time around? Do you think their wishes will lead them into trouble? Or into trouble that they can't think themselves out of?

Some of my favorite passages:

On this particular Sunday there were fowls for dinner, a kind of food that is generally kept for birthdays and grand occasions, and there was an angel pudding, when rice and milk and orange and write icing do their best to make you happy. (52)

and

Mother was really a great dear. She was pretty and she was loving, and most frightfully good when you were ill, and always kind, and almost always just. That is, she was just when she understood things. But of course she did not always understand things. No one understands everything, and mothers are not angels, though a good many of them come pretty near it. The children knew that mother always wanted to do what was best for them, even if she was not clever enough to know exactly what was the best. (73)

There were many things I loved about this one. I loved the trouble that comes about when the wishing carpet makes its own wish--and brings back one-hundred and ninety-nine Persian cats. Of course, that is only the start of that particular mishap...

I also LOVED Lamb's scenes in this novel. In particular when this little one crawled onto the wishing carpet and started babbling. The carpet, of course, understands all languages--even baby ones--and Lamb and the carpet vanish. This puzzles the children, how will they get their baby brother back?! How can they ever explain to their mom what happened?! I won't tell you how this one resolves, but I just loved it!

I loved this one. I don't know that I love it any more than I do Five Children and It. I just know that I love E. Nesbit. I love her narrative style. I love her descriptions. And I am so very thankful I've discovered her! And I'm looking forward to reading more of her books.

Have you read any Nesbit? Do you have a favorite book? Which do you think I should read next?

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Five Children and It

Nesbit, Edith. 1902. Five Children and It. Puffin Classics. 237 pages.

The house was three miles from the station, but before the dusty hired fly had rattled along for five minutes the children began to put their heads out of the carriage window and to say, 'Aren't we nearly there?' And every time they passed a house, which was not very often, they all said, 'Oh, is this it?' But it never was, till they reached the very top of the hill, just past the chalk-quarry and before you come to the gravel-pit. And then there was a white house with a green garden and an orchard beyond, and mother said, 'Here we are!'

Robert, Anthea (Panther), Jane, Cyril, and Baby (Lamb) have come (along with their parents, of course) to spend some time in the country. But circumstances being what they are--parents in general being more a nuisance in a children's adventure story than anything else--the children are often all on their own except for some slight interference by Martha their nurse-maid. It is while they are exploring the gravel-pit that the children--much to their surprise--discover a sand fairy, a Psammead. (He is quite a character!) The children are granted a wish a day (thereabouts)...and thus the adventures begin.

I daresay you have often thought what you would do if you had three wishes given you, and have despised the old man and his wife in the black-pudding story, and felt certain that if you had the chance you could think of three really useful wishes without a moment's hesitation. These children had often talked this matter over, but, now the chance had come suddenly to them, they could not make up their minds. (17)

They may have their wish a day, but their wish ends at sunset. And as they discover, this is a VERY good thing!

This one is a funny adventure novel starring brothers and sisters who know how to get in and out of trouble and then some! I'm so happy I finally read this one. It was such a joy to read.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Edward and the Eureka Lucky Wish Company

Todd, Barbara. 2009. Edward and the Eureka Lucky Wish Company. Illustrated by Barbara Todd. Kids Can Press.

Would you spend your three wishes better than Edward? Want to see how not to do it? Meet Edward a kid who is about to have some of his wishes come true. But as you might have guessed, what he "wishes" for and what he gets are often two different things. Wishes have a way of taking on a life of their own and being so opposite of what you actually want. What does Edward want most? For his "Sky-Hopper 2000" to really fly instead of being an ordinary bike.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Yes Day!

Rosenthal, Amy Krouse. 2009. Yes Day!. Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld. HarperCollins.

This is an oh-so-fun, slightly-gimmicky (but in a good way) book about the best day of the year. (And it isn't even Christmas or Halloween.) It is Yes Day! The day of the year when parents always, always, always answer yes to their kids requests.

Our narrator is a little boy--a rather cute little boy in a striped shirt. What does this little boy's wish fulfillment look like? Eating pizza for breakfast. Getting to put whatever he wants in the cart at the grocery store. Getting to have a food fight. NOT cleaning his room. Having his friend come over for dinner. The requests keep coming and coming.

This one is fun and satisfying.


© Becky Laney of Young Readers