If you could have anything you wanted, what would it be? Quickly now, off the top of your head. You get one wish, immediately. What is it?

Okay, now that you’ve made your wish, think it through very carefully and try to imagine all the ways it might go wrong. Because your wish won’t turn out the way that you think. Wishes never do, you know. The creature granting the wish always finds a way to twist your words so they mean something a bit different than you thought, people will react to your changed state of affairs in ways you haven’t predicted, and there will be repercussions you haven’t yet imagined. So think hard about your wish. How might it go wrong?

That’s the tale in this book. Four siblings (and their baby brother) find a fairy and learn the hard way that having your wishes come true isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be. The Psammead is bound to grant them one wish a day, but the wishes always end with nightfall and none of them work as hoped. Each time the children try to plan carefully, but only end up getting themselves (and others) into trouble.

While you may be familiar with this kind of story, realize that this one was written over a hundred years ago by one of the earliest authors who wrote books for children. In some ways it’s a bit old fashioned, but her witty, sometimes snarky writing certainly portrays characters that ring true regardless of place or time. So true, in fact, that part of the fun is slapping your forehead at how dumb they are with their wishes and imagining how you might do better. Could you? Try this enjoyable read and find out.

The house was deep in the country, with no other house in sight, and the children had been in London for two years, without so much as once going to the seaside even for a day by an excursion train, and so the White House seemed to them a sort of fairy palace set down in an earthly paradise. For London is like prison for children, especially if their relations are not rich.

Of course there are the shops and the theatres, and Maskelyne and Cook’s, and things, but if your people are rather poor you don’t get taken to the theatres, and you can’t buy things out of the shops; and London has none of those nice things that children may play with without hurting the things or themselves--such as trees and sand and woods and waters. And nearly everything in London is the wrong sort of shape--all straight lines and flat streets, instead of being all sorts of odd shapes, as things are in the country. Trees are all different, as you know, and I am sure some tiresome person must have told you that there are no two blades of grass exactly alike. But in streets where the blades of grass don’t grow, everything is like everything else. This is why so many children who live in towns are so extremely naughty. They do not know what is the matter with them, and no more do their fathers and mothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, tutors, governesses, and nurses; but I know. And so do you now. Children in the country are naughty sometimes, too, but that is for quite different reasons. . . .

The best part of it all was that there were no rules about not going to places and not doing things. In London almost everything is labeled “You mustn’t touch,” and though the label is invisible it’s just as bad, because you know it’s there, or if you don’t you jolly soon get told.

A cute, fanciful story, but the language and vocabulary are antiquated and maybe difficult for children to follow meaningfully. Otherwise, it is a nice, easy read if you have a few hours to spare!

3.5 An imaginative children’s book, I would have loved it as a kid. It reminds me of the princess and the goblin books. It does contain some sexist and racial issues (the whole chapter with the “redskins” was highly racist) but seeing as this is an older book I can forgive that somewhat as the rest of the book is charming

I feel like the 3 stars might be unfair. See, I was dieting while trying to read this book, and the children's unfortunate luck of missing dinner and feeling starving in every single adventure was torture for me. I couldn't read it without my stomach growling, and it made me testy.

Other than that, this was a light read that I think would still appeal to kids today. As with Nesbit's Castle book, I can absolutely see the bits that inspired the Chronicles

This was a great little read with my son. Written by Edith Nesbit--the first modern children's fabulist, the story follows 4/5 children and their adventures with the wish-granting Pssamead (sand fairy). Somehow their wishes never quite work out right and cause all sorts of mayhem. We finished and then watched the modern movie--a true disappointment. The only similarity was the children's names and two wishes although they worked out quite differently. I'll read more by her. We have the Enchanted Castle so I might try that next.

I read this for summer book club with my son. He loved it. Wishing is something he and his sisters talk about a lot, so I think that ingrigued him. It was a fun book written at the turn of the last century. Even though the vocabulary was a bit different, the story holds up well.

So, I feel slightly ashamed that I had never read this story before despite it being a children’s classic, but at least I can say that I’ve gotten around to it now! Even if I did just listen to the audiobook instead.

The basic premise of the story is that five children come across a creature that has the power to grant wishes that only last until the sun goes down. This soon goes south for the children as they learn that they need to be way more specific when making their own wishes in order for them to gain anything from them.

All in all, quite a cute story and I’m glad I finally got around to it.