Five-Children-and-It

FiveChildrenandItFiveChildrenandItisachildren'snovelbyEnglishauthorEdithNesbit,firstpublishedin1902;itwasexpandedfromaseriesofstoriespublishedintheStrandMagazinein1900underthegeneraltitleThePsammead,ortheGifts.ItisthefirstofatrilogywhichincludesThePhoenixandtheCarpet(1904)andTheStoryoftheAmulet(1906).Thebookhasneverbeenoutofprintsinceitsinitialpublication.Childrenalwayshavemanywishes.ThestorybeginswhenagroupofchildrenmovefromLondontothecountrysideofKent.Whileplayinginagravelpit,thesefivechildrenfoundasand-fairyknownasthePsammeadwhohastheabilitytograntwishes.Itallowedthemtomakeonewishaday.Thechildren'sfirstwishistobeasbeautifulastheday.Unfortunately,theirnursemaidcan’trecognizethemandshutthemoutofthehouse.Thesecondwishistobecomerich.Theyfindagravel-pitfullofgoldcoinswhichweredifferentfromEnglishmoney.Butnoshopacceptsthem,sotheycan’tbuyanything.Whatwasworse,amancalledthepolicebecausehethoughttheyhavestolenthegold.Theirthirdwishistohavebeautifulwings.Finally,theycan’tgetofffromtheroof.Theforthwishofthesechildrenisbecomebiggerthanbaker’sson.Hetaughthimalesson,butlatterhefoundheneedsmorefoodbecauseheistoobig.Theydecidedtoshowhimtopeoplesothattheycanmakealotofmoney.Atlasttheyescapedattheendoftheday.Obviouslyallthewishesgocomicallywrong.Finally,thechildrenaccidentallywishtheycouldgiveawealthywoman'sjewelrytotheirmother,butlattertheyfoundpeoplewillthinktheirmotherit.WhentheirmothercamebackshethoughtMartha’sboyfriendstoleitandshewanttocallthepolice.Sotheymadeawishandstopher.Allthewishesaboveareaboutthemselves.Butatlast,thesechildrenmakeawishforthePsammead.Theyshowtheirappreciationtoitandwantittohaveagoodsleep.Ihavelearnedthreelessonsfromthestory.First,weneedtoberealisticanddon'tdependonothers.Second,donotblindlypursuetheunrealisticthing.Third,weshouldbemoreconsiderateofothers'feelings.