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The Psammead Trilogy #2
The Phoenix and the Carpet
After they discover a mysterious phoenix egg wrapped in a magic wish carpet, Robert, Anthea, Cyril, and Jane embark on a series of adventures in which anything is possible
289 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1904
About the author
E. Nesbit
993 books950 followers
Edith Nesbit
(married name Edith Bland; 15 August 1858 – 4 May 1924) was an English author and poet; she published her books for children under the name of E. Nesbit.
She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later connected to the Labour Party.
Edith Nesbit was born in Kennington, Surrey, the daughter of agricultural chemist and schoolmaster John Collis Nesbit. The death of her father when she was four and the continuing ill health of her sister meant that Nesbit had a transitory childhood, her family moving across Europe in search of healthy climates only to return to England for financial reasons. Nesbit therefore spent her childhood attaining an education from whatever sources were available—local grammars, the occasional boarding school but mainly through reading.
At 17 her family finally settled in London and aged 19, Nesbit met Hubert Bland, a political activist and writer. They became lovers and when Nesbit found she was pregnant they became engaged, marrying in April 1880. After this scandalous (for Victorian society) beginning, the marriage would be an unconventional one. Initially, the couple lived separately—Nesbit with her family and Bland with his mother and her live-in companion Maggie Doran.
Initially, Edith Nesbit books were novels meant for adults, including The Prophet's Mantle (1885) and The Marden Mystery (1896) about the early days of the socialist movement. Written under the pen name of her third child 'Fabian Bland', these books were not successful. Nesbit generated an income for the family by lecturing around the country on socialism and through her journalism (she was editor of the Fabian Society's journal, Today).
In 1899 she had published The Adventures of the Treasure Seekers to great acclaim.
She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later connected to the Labour Party.
Edith Nesbit was born in Kennington, Surrey, the daughter of agricultural chemist and schoolmaster John Collis Nesbit. The death of her father when she was four and the continuing ill health of her sister meant that Nesbit had a transitory childhood, her family moving across Europe in search of healthy climates only to return to England for financial reasons. Nesbit therefore spent her childhood attaining an education from whatever sources were available—local grammars, the occasional boarding school but mainly through reading.
At 17 her family finally settled in London and aged 19, Nesbit met Hubert Bland, a political activist and writer. They became lovers and when Nesbit found she was pregnant they became engaged, marrying in April 1880. After this scandalous (for Victorian society) beginning, the marriage would be an unconventional one. Initially, the couple lived separately—Nesbit with her family and Bland with his mother and her live-in companion Maggie Doran.
Initially, Edith Nesbit books were novels meant for adults, including The Prophet's Mantle (1885) and The Marden Mystery (1896) about the early days of the socialist movement. Written under the pen name of her third child 'Fabian Bland', these books were not successful. Nesbit generated an income for the family by lecturing around the country on socialism and through her journalism (she was editor of the Fabian Society's journal, Today).
In 1899 she had published The Adventures of the Treasure Seekers to great acclaim.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 320 reviews
April 26, 2010
That evening, Mother read to them from a book called The Phoenix and the Carpet, which she had had since she was a little girl. Like all the best children's books, it was written to be read aloud; you immediately knew that Mrs. Nesbit had read it aloud to her own children, and every now and then she had put in a little joke for her husband, who was pretending to do something important but was really listening too.
Mrs. Nesbit had a wonderful imagination, and she also had a strong moral sense; so strong, in fact, that she knew, without even stopping to consider the question, that it is most inconsiderate to put improving thoughts into children's books without first making them amusing. Both the children and their parents thought she wrote very well. The children just said that her books weren't boring, like most of the old books that Mother sometimes tried to read to them, while the grown-ups explained it in a more complicated way, using words like Ironic Detachment and Economy of Phrase. It is very rare to find all these excellent qualities combined in one person: almost as rare as to find a Phoenix's egg hidden inside a magic carpet, but not quite.
Mrs. Nesbit had a wonderful imagination, and she also had a strong moral sense; so strong, in fact, that she knew, without even stopping to consider the question, that it is most inconsiderate to put improving thoughts into children's books without first making them amusing. Both the children and their parents thought she wrote very well. The children just said that her books weren't boring, like most of the old books that Mother sometimes tried to read to them, while the grown-ups explained it in a more complicated way, using words like Ironic Detachment and Economy of Phrase. It is very rare to find all these excellent qualities combined in one person: almost as rare as to find a Phoenix's egg hidden inside a magic carpet, but not quite.
July 26, 2023
I loved this book and the series as a young girl. This book transported me with its imaginative plot and made me want to be one of the lucky children on a magic carpet!
It's one of those timeless children's books that I hope children may still read today. Up there with books like The Famous Five by Enid Blyton and the Trixie Belden series.
One of my all time favourite books as an avid younger reader. 5 magical stars for entertainment, great plot, magic and characters.
It's one of those timeless children's books that I hope children may still read today. Up there with books like The Famous Five by Enid Blyton and the Trixie Belden series.
One of my all time favourite books as an avid younger reader. 5 magical stars for entertainment, great plot, magic and characters.
May 16, 2022
4.5
Inače volim čitati serijale redom, ali kako je prvi dio „Petero djece i Pjesko“ bio nedostupan, a htjela sam vidjeti kakve su ovo dogodovštine s Feniksom i Čarobnim sagom, odlučila sam ipak uzeti drugi dio na čitanje. Malo me bilo strah koliko su povezani, koliko se nadopunjuju nastavci, ali ispalo je da sam drugi dio bez ikakvog problema čitala ne znajući ništa unaprijed. Baš mi je drago zbog toga!
Više o utiscima pročitajte klikom na link: https://knjige-u-svom-filmu.webador.c...
Inače volim čitati serijale redom, ali kako je prvi dio „Petero djece i Pjesko“ bio nedostupan, a htjela sam vidjeti kakve su ovo dogodovštine s Feniksom i Čarobnim sagom, odlučila sam ipak uzeti drugi dio na čitanje. Malo me bilo strah koliko su povezani, koliko se nadopunjuju nastavci, ali ispalo je da sam drugi dio bez ikakvog problema čitala ne znajući ništa unaprijed. Baš mi je drago zbog toga!
Više o utiscima pročitajte klikom na link: https://knjige-u-svom-filmu.webador.c...
December 28, 2018
Did not like this book as much as 'Five Children and It'. I felt the children had better adventures in the first book with the Psammead than they did with the Phoenix or the carpet....I guess they made better wishes in the first book than the second.
December 15, 2015
Sadly, classism, sexism and racism did dampen my enjoyment of this otherwise fantastic children's book.
November 6, 2019
This is the second book in the Five Children series, but actually the last one I read, after the Amulet and then Five Children and It. I think this was the strongest book in the series with the most interesting plotline, and I recommend the whole series as a nice bit if early 20th-century sci fi/fantasy.
December 26, 2020
Fine, and a fun premise, but a little overrated for Nesbit. The plot is episodic and bumpy. The protagonists are rather spoiled, semi-neglected, un-self-aware children who don't experience character growth during the story. The Phoenix is an interesting fellow, but entirely too passive to drive the show through enigmatic magnetism or, apparently, any motivating desires of his own. Both the Phoenix and the Carpet seemed to have shown up solely to entertain a set of mildly bored children. Would have worked better if Nesbit had presented the story as the children's make-believe; as fantasy, it's a cup of weak tea.
July 29, 2011
"I daresay they're not real cats," said Jane madly, "Perhaps they're only dream-cats."
"I'll dream-cat you, my lady," was the brief response of the force."
In regards to this book, I'm going to write something so groundbreaking that I would be willing to bet lots and lots of metaphorical pounds on the fact that no one has ever said, written or even thought about this idea when they closed the pages of Ms Nesbit's wonderful book.
I'm going to change the world with this 'ere noggin.
"I'll dream-cat you, my lady," was the brief response of the force."
In regards to this book, I'm going to write something so groundbreaking that I would be willing to bet lots and lots of metaphorical pounds on the fact that no one has ever said, written or even thought about this idea when they closed the pages of Ms Nesbit's wonderful book.
I'm going to change the world with this 'ere noggin.
January 22, 2012
While I really enjoyed the writing style of the book, especially the arch little comments on human behaviour, it was hard for me to get past the casual "oh those poor childish savages" racism inherent in books from this era.
I think when the Spawn read this, we'll have a little talk about the racism in books by writers like Nesbit, Blyton and Kipling, and what it says about humanity (and hopefully how we've moved on, at least a little.)
I think when the Spawn read this, we'll have a little talk about the racism in books by writers like Nesbit, Blyton and Kipling, and what it says about humanity (and hopefully how we've moved on, at least a little.)
July 3, 2015
Delightful shenanigans with four children who are left home alone suspiciously often. I had considered only giving it four stars, due to frequent references to savages and naive notions about burglars. Not to mention comments that it's unmanly for boys to cry. But I just can't help myself. It's just too wonderful for four stars. Many thanks go to the Librivox narrator, Helen Taylor, for her beautiful reading.
July 25, 2008
Delightful Edwardian flying carpet larks. Second book in the 'Five Children and It' trilogy. The endearing 'n' pompous Phoenix is one of my favourite characters in literature.
*wipes tear*
*wipes tear*
March 31, 2013
Oh my! What's going on? It was one of my childhood favorites! OMG. These children are just beyond obnoxious. Their family is described as of moderate means, but they act like completely spoiled brats.
"'Is that being kind to servants and animals, like the clergyman said?' asked Jane."
They don't care for anyone else except themselves and their family. All the others are tools, or plainly invisible to them anyway. There is one nasty scene when they get home by mistake, when only the servants are supposed to be there, and discover the servants are actually away, enjoying their free time. Thebrats CHILDREN are completely appalled that the servants haven't been chained next to the family's precious pots and pans. With the help of the magical Phoenix or maybe the carpet, I don't remember, they succeed in blackmailing placating the servants:
"'There's nothing like firmness,' Cyril went on, when the breakfast things were cleared away and the children were alone in the nursery. 'People are always talking of difficulties with servants. It's quite simple, when you know the way. We can do when we like now and they won't peach. I think we've broken THEIR proud spirit. Let's go somewhere by carpet.'"
Ahaha. Well I never. You are nothing without your magical gizmos, CHILDREN. Your story ends when they leave you. Buh-bye.
"'Is that being kind to servants and animals, like the clergyman said?' asked Jane."
They don't care for anyone else except themselves and their family. All the others are tools, or plainly invisible to them anyway. There is one nasty scene when they get home by mistake, when only the servants are supposed to be there, and discover the servants are actually away, enjoying their free time. The
"'There's nothing like firmness,' Cyril went on, when the breakfast things were cleared away and the children were alone in the nursery. 'People are always talking of difficulties with servants. It's quite simple, when you know the way. We can do when we like now and they won't peach. I think we've broken THEIR proud spirit. Let's go somewhere by carpet.'"
Ahaha. Well I never. You are nothing without your magical gizmos, CHILDREN. Your story ends when they leave you. Buh-bye.
September 10, 2023
I enjoyed this little story but would not recommend it to those who are allergic to dated tales. Society has changed since Ms Nesbit wrote this (or one would hope it has - in GB I am no longer sure): the story is set within a rigid class system and in a world where it is a girls' job to darn carpets while boys are heroes! But that would not stop me listening to it again and finding it relaxing!
March 2, 2022
My kids are less generous with stars than I am lol. They give this one 3.5 stars, mostly due to the fact that they think the children should have had more sense. 😆
November 30, 2023
Perhaps if I had read this first, I would have liked it more, because I wouldn’t have been comparing it to Five Children & It the entire time. It was just too tall of an order, even for Nesbit, to match her cleverness and humor in the first book.
Still, this is a good story and certainly has its moments, like the cook becoming queen, the Persian cats and the burglar.
Ages: 7+
Content Considerations: shut up, idiot, crikey, and other similar words are used. There is magic, in the form of wishing, that is used throughout book. At the beginning of the story, the children burn incense and sweet smelling things which starts off the magic. The children often bicker and on occasion say something rather impertinent to an adult though they are mostly well-meaning.
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Still, this is a good story and certainly has its moments, like the cook becoming queen, the Persian cats and the burglar.
Ages: 7+
Content Considerations: shut up, idiot, crikey, and other similar words are used. There is magic, in the form of wishing, that is used throughout book. At the beginning of the story, the children burn incense and sweet smelling things which starts off the magic. The children often bicker and on occasion say something rather impertinent to an adult though they are mostly well-meaning.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! And be sure to check out my bio page to learn a little about me and the Picture Book/Chapter Book Calendars I sell on Etsy!
February 10, 2020
Another lovely magical family friendly book in the Five Children series. Full of more adventures, magic, wishes and magical creatures. Plus Five Children getting up to more antics and seemingly forever hungry.
November 27, 2015
I love the Phoenix, he is as vain as Hercule Poirot, but his self-esteem fades as the stories progress. I love his pedantic, precise voice, and the way he washes up the teacups. I agree with another reviewer that the cat episode is almost too painful to be entertaining. Another thing that strikes me when reading as an adult - how affectionate the family is. They are always hugging each other (though the boys think this is a bit soppy), they have warm and loving parents and an adorable baby brother. As a child reader, I think I just wanted to get on with the adventures. (And we think the Victorians were cold and distant with their children. Perhaps that was us!) The family are middle-class but not well off; their house is shabby, and they live in Camden Town, rather too near Kentish Town. And yes, we weren't so politically correct in 1904. There are working class characters: the policeman is rather frightening, the burglar is appealing (while claiming it's his first job, honest), but the servants are not sympathetically portrayed. The cook does mellow under the tropical sun, however. I'm trying to protect Nesbit (who was quite a leftie and a "new woman"), but I'm afraid she fell into the "servant joke" common in her day. For more background, read Alison Light's Mrs Woolf and the Servants and Virginia Nicholson's Among the Bohemians. At least the children knew how to lay a fire and wash up.
February 24, 2024
More adventures of the Five Children. I enjoy the character of the Phoenix and his willingness to help the children out of the troubles their wishes cause. The Psammead was always too grumpy.
May 19, 2022
4 i pol⭐
Puuuuuno bolja i zabavnija od prethodne!
Puuuuuno bolja i zabavnija od prethodne!
December 12, 2016
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Rating: 2.5 Stars
' "I must get rid of that carpet at once," said mother.
But what the children said in sad whispers to each other, as they pondered over last night's events, was -
"We must get rid of that Phoenix." '
When I first read Five Children and It, I had been entranced by how the children played together, took care of each other and got into all their scrapes. However, when I got down to reading the sequel it felt like something had changed. Back in their home, does it make sense when I say they seemed more annoying?
There's the first problem of course, where due to the time period the sexism and racism is very much present. Anthea can sew and do chores and make fires for the sibling while hurting herself, but when she's in a bad mood and doesn't agree with Cyril?
' "Ah", he said, "that's all women are fit for - to keep safe and warm, while the men do the work and run dangers and risks and things."
Oh shut up, Cyril.
In addition to this, the children seem more reliant on the magical elements in the story now. Phoenix usually has to save the day, if not carpet. And if all goes wrong there's also Psammead. I get they are children, but with three wishes and a Phoenix in the sequel versus just a sand fairy and wish a day, I don't understand why they need to rely on them so much. And the ending I just wasn't a very happy human.
On the good side though, this story hasn't changed in the way it's told. It's still carefree and fast paced, and I'm sure I would have liked it if I was a child. I'd just recommend people who read the Five Children and It and leave be, because honestly I feel like you'd better preserve the magic then.
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Rating: 2.5 Stars
' "I must get rid of that carpet at once," said mother.
But what the children said in sad whispers to each other, as they pondered over last night's events, was -
"We must get rid of that Phoenix." '
When I first read Five Children and It, I had been entranced by how the children played together, took care of each other and got into all their scrapes. However, when I got down to reading the sequel it felt like something had changed. Back in their home, does it make sense when I say they seemed more annoying?
There's the first problem of course, where due to the time period the sexism and racism is very much present. Anthea can sew and do chores and make fires for the sibling while hurting herself, but when she's in a bad mood and doesn't agree with Cyril?
' "Ah", he said, "that's all women are fit for - to keep safe and warm, while the men do the work and run dangers and risks and things."
Oh shut up, Cyril.
In addition to this, the children seem more reliant on the magical elements in the story now. Phoenix usually has to save the day, if not carpet. And if all goes wrong there's also Psammead. I get they are children, but with three wishes and a Phoenix in the sequel versus just a sand fairy and wish a day, I don't understand why they need to rely on them so much. And the ending I just wasn't a very happy human.
On the good side though, this story hasn't changed in the way it's told. It's still carefree and fast paced, and I'm sure I would have liked it if I was a child. I'd just recommend people who read the Five Children and It and leave be, because honestly I feel like you'd better preserve the magic then.
╚❀✿❀✿❀✿❀✿❀✿❀✿❀✿❀✿❀✿❀✿╝
May 5, 2018
I'm glad I went back after reading The Story of the Amulet to the other two books in the series, even though I think "Amulet" is the best of the three. I think they get better as they go on, with the first feeling more like a series of mini-adventures and the third having more of a connected plot.
This one is in the middle: The children have both a phoenix (The Phoenix, more correctly) and a wishing carpet that will take them anywhere (or, as they later learn, bring them things from far away). And so they do go on a series of adventures which, much like the last book, bring a host of remarkably mundane problems. (English children wishing for riches in the first decade of the 20th century would do well to consider the suspicions of society at large about the source of those riches. I can only imagine it would be even worse today with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.)
What sets this above Edith Nesbit - Five Children and It: Psammead #1 in my heart is the Phoenix. Unlike the Psammead, the Phoenix is a friendly character (albeit with a low tolerance for activity) who often genuinely helps the children out. His knack for setting things on fire gives the children a bit of a problem when they realize they can't keep him around, but don't want to hurt his feelings.
It was also nice to see Robert, the more hoplitic of the boys, be the one who bonds the most closely with The Phoenix.
A great series. Looking forward to reading it to the family.
This one is in the middle: The children have both a phoenix (The Phoenix, more correctly) and a wishing carpet that will take them anywhere (or, as they later learn, bring them things from far away). And so they do go on a series of adventures which, much like the last book, bring a host of remarkably mundane problems. (English children wishing for riches in the first decade of the 20th century would do well to consider the suspicions of society at large about the source of those riches. I can only imagine it would be even worse today with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.)
What sets this above Edith Nesbit - Five Children and It: Psammead #1 in my heart is the Phoenix. Unlike the Psammead, the Phoenix is a friendly character (albeit with a low tolerance for activity) who often genuinely helps the children out. His knack for setting things on fire gives the children a bit of a problem when they realize they can't keep him around, but don't want to hurt his feelings.
It was also nice to see Robert, the more hoplitic of the boys, be the one who bonds the most closely with The Phoenix.
A great series. Looking forward to reading it to the family.
December 24, 2010
I heard (in a book about little-known classics) that this was a great Christmastime read-aloud. It did take place around Christmastime, but it's not about Christmas at all. Our family loved the first book of this trilogy (Five Children and It), and the Phoenix and the Carpet was almost as good. Nine-year-old Josh loved this book and can't wait to read the third book together. I enjoy E. Nesbit's writing; she is so clever and entertaining and we laughed through this book. Here's a part we enjoyed (describing when Robert was hiding the bird in his coat):
"Robert pretended that he was too cold to take off his greatcoat, and so sat sweltering through what would otherwise have been a thrilling meal. He felt that he was a blot on the smart beauty of the family, and he hoped the Phoenix knew what he was suffering for its sake. Of course, we are all pleased to suffer for the sake of others, but we like them to know it -- unless we were the very best and noblest kind of people, and Robert was just ordinary." (p. 209)
"Robert pretended that he was too cold to take off his greatcoat, and so sat sweltering through what would otherwise have been a thrilling meal. He felt that he was a blot on the smart beauty of the family, and he hoped the Phoenix knew what he was suffering for its sake. Of course, we are all pleased to suffer for the sake of others, but we like them to know it -- unless we were the very best and noblest kind of people, and Robert was just ordinary." (p. 209)
July 29, 2015
If you liked Five Children and It (which of course you did, how could you not?) you will also like the reprise of the same family having adventures in The Phoenix and the Carpet, except this time instead of a Psammead they have adventures with…wait for it…a phoenix and a magic carpet. We really love these siblings now, and had great fun with this book as a bedtime read-aloud. I was wiser in my choice of a more sustainable voice for the Phoenix but the chapters in the book do run long. A few times I got away with reading only a half chapter, but the last night we were all so intent on finding out what happens that I read 68 straight pages and that, my friends, was a lot. Worth it though–this book is great fun and highly recommended.
{Read more reviews of read alouds and books for kids (and adults!) on A Spirited Mind}
{Read more reviews of read alouds and books for kids (and adults!) on A Spirited Mind}
February 28, 2023
If Five Children and It is a delightful reward for good children and a joy to read, The Phoenix and the Carpet is more like a punishment for bad kids and a drag to read.
July 12, 2023
Somehow this one didn’t come off as charming as the original. It felt like more of the same, only primarily without the sand fairy (he’s only ever off-stage in this story) and with a phoenix and a flying carpet replacing it. Although I did find the phoenix occasionally amusing and was sad (like Robert) to see it go at the end.
It had amusing narration and dialogue, like the first book, though not on quite the same ratio. Still, here are a few selections for your enjoyment:
“Anthea was rummaging in the corner-drawers of her mind for a very disagreeable answer,”
And:
“I think we ought to test them,” he said.
“You young duffer,” said Cyril, “fireworks are like postage-stamps. You can only use them once.”
And:
“We’ve got the pleasure of memory,” said she. “Just think of last holidays.”
“I don’t want to think about the pleasures of memory,” said Cyril; “I want some more things to happen.”
“We’re very much luckier than anyone else, as it is,” said Jane. “Why, no one else ever found a Psammead. We ought to be grateful.”
“Why shouldn’t we go on being, though?” Cyril asked—“lucky, I mean, not grateful. Why’s it all got to stop?”
“Perhaps something will happen,” said Anthea, comfortably. “Do you know, sometimes I think we are the sort of people that things do happen to.”
“It’s like that in history,” said Jane: “some kings are full of interesting things, and others—nothing ever happens to them, except their being born and crowned and buried, and sometimes not that.”
“I think Panther’s right,” said Cyril: “I think we are the sort of people things do happen to. I have a sort of feeling things would happen right enough if we could only give them a shove. It just wants something to start it. That’s all.”
And:
“You are a sensible child,” said the Phoenix, “and I will not vanish or anything sudden. And I will tell you my tale. I had resided, as your book says, for many thousand years in the wilderness, which is a large, quiet place with very little really good society, and I was becoming weary of the monotony of my existence. But I acquired the habit of laying my egg and burning myself every five hundred years—and you know how difficult it is to break yourself of a habit.”
“Yes,” said Cyril; “Jane used to bite her nails.”
“But I broke myself of it,” urged Jane, rather hurt, “You know I did.”
And:
“ So that evening the Phoenix snugged inside the waistcoat of Robert’s Etons—a very tight fit it seemed both to Robert and to the Phoenix—and was taken to the play.
Robert had to pretend to be cold at the glittering, many-mirrored restaurant where they ate dinner, with father in evening dress, with a very shiny white shirtfront, and mother looking lovely in her grey evening dress, that changes into pink and green when she moves. Robert pretended that he was too cold to take off his greatcoat, and so sat sweltering through what would otherwise have been a most thrilling meal. He felt that he was a blot on the smart beauty of the family, and he hoped the Phoenix knew what he was suffering for its sake. Of course, we are all pleased to suffer for the sake of others, but we like them to know it unless we are the very best and noblest kind of people, and Robert was just ordinary.”
It had amusing narration and dialogue, like the first book, though not on quite the same ratio. Still, here are a few selections for your enjoyment:
“Anthea was rummaging in the corner-drawers of her mind for a very disagreeable answer,”
And:
“I think we ought to test them,” he said.
“You young duffer,” said Cyril, “fireworks are like postage-stamps. You can only use them once.”
And:
“We’ve got the pleasure of memory,” said she. “Just think of last holidays.”
“I don’t want to think about the pleasures of memory,” said Cyril; “I want some more things to happen.”
“We’re very much luckier than anyone else, as it is,” said Jane. “Why, no one else ever found a Psammead. We ought to be grateful.”
“Why shouldn’t we go on being, though?” Cyril asked—“lucky, I mean, not grateful. Why’s it all got to stop?”
“Perhaps something will happen,” said Anthea, comfortably. “Do you know, sometimes I think we are the sort of people that things do happen to.”
“It’s like that in history,” said Jane: “some kings are full of interesting things, and others—nothing ever happens to them, except their being born and crowned and buried, and sometimes not that.”
“I think Panther’s right,” said Cyril: “I think we are the sort of people things do happen to. I have a sort of feeling things would happen right enough if we could only give them a shove. It just wants something to start it. That’s all.”
And:
“You are a sensible child,” said the Phoenix, “and I will not vanish or anything sudden. And I will tell you my tale. I had resided, as your book says, for many thousand years in the wilderness, which is a large, quiet place with very little really good society, and I was becoming weary of the monotony of my existence. But I acquired the habit of laying my egg and burning myself every five hundred years—and you know how difficult it is to break yourself of a habit.”
“Yes,” said Cyril; “Jane used to bite her nails.”
“But I broke myself of it,” urged Jane, rather hurt, “You know I did.”
And:
“ So that evening the Phoenix snugged inside the waistcoat of Robert’s Etons—a very tight fit it seemed both to Robert and to the Phoenix—and was taken to the play.
Robert had to pretend to be cold at the glittering, many-mirrored restaurant where they ate dinner, with father in evening dress, with a very shiny white shirtfront, and mother looking lovely in her grey evening dress, that changes into pink and green when she moves. Robert pretended that he was too cold to take off his greatcoat, and so sat sweltering through what would otherwise have been a most thrilling meal. He felt that he was a blot on the smart beauty of the family, and he hoped the Phoenix knew what he was suffering for its sake. Of course, we are all pleased to suffer for the sake of others, but we like them to know it unless we are the very best and noblest kind of people, and Robert was just ordinary.”
June 17, 2013
The common advice to would-be fiction authors is to “write about what you know”. A phoenix and a flying carpet aren’t of course really within one’s everyday experience, but at heart the events that take place and many of this fantasy’s settings are taken from real life, a fair few of which hark back to Nesbit’s own childhood in the Victorian period.
The reminiscences in Long Ago When I Was Young, though only first published as a collection in 1966, were serialised before Nesbit embarked on her career as a children’s writer and partly the spur for her successful forays into publishing. A significant number of the incidents in The Phoenix and the Carpet can be directly traced to the memories she presents in Long Ago. A mysterious keep-like stone structure that appears in ‘The Topless Tower’ and ‘Doing Good’ is based on the same building that the young Edith encountered in France, as recounted in the chapter entitled ‘In Auvergne’. ‘Doing Good’ also highlights themes that she had previously visited within ‘In the Dark’ and ‘Mummies at Bordeaux’. And ‘Two Bazaars’ may well be partly based on the bazaar that Edith experiences in ‘Lessons in French’.
We will have already met the children of this novel in Five Children and It, where they spend their summer holidays in the country ‘at a white house between a sand pit and a gravel pit’. Then they encountered a sand-fairy, the Psammead; now, in early November, they discover an egg rolled up in a carpet, replacement for a previous one in their Camden Town home ruined by a firework on Bonfire Night.
The five children are now mostly four – Cyril (called Squirrel), Robert (rather more prosaically called Bobs), Anthea (Panther) and Jane (Puss). Hilary is the remaining child (the toddler maintains the animal theme by being referred to as The Lamb), though he only appears occasionally and then to unwittingly cause mayhem. (The animal theme continues when the Phoenix hatches, and again later when more creatures make their appearances – Persian cats and, bizarrely, a cow.) The two boys are typically well-mannered and well-meaning but liable to make unwise decisions. Anthea may most resemble the author – tomboyish but creative – while Jane, the youngest of the four, is more ‘girly’ and, well, wimpish, prone to burst into tears at the merest hint of danger. (Mind you, danger, real or potential, does always seem to be round the corner.) But, as Nesbit says, even though ‘boys never cry, of course,’ Cyril and Robert are also susceptible to emotion, making faces ‘in their efforts to behave in a really manly way’.
The Phoenix itself is a marvellous creation. Vain and garrulous, he tells the children about the magic Persian carpet which grants three wishes a day. They use it to transport themselves to various more or less exotic places, from France to the Middle East, from the City of London to a desert island. In keeping with their original serial publication, the chapters at first appear episodic and unrelated to each other, merely recounting separate adventures where the siblings get themselves into scrapes. But as the story progresses Nesbit starts to weave in themes from earlier chapters – the cook, the ‘topless tower’, the absent-minded curate – and naturally the overall motif of fire runs brightly through the narrative pattern, with dire consequences for the flammable flying carpet. From that first Guy Fawkes Night through the rebirth of the Phoenix from the flames, the setting alight of an increasingly frayed carpet and a visit to the Phoenix Fire Office in Lombard Street we arrive at the potentially catastrophic conflagration at the Garrick Theatre. Ironically, the last takes place at a dramatisation of Charles Kingsley’s The Water-Babies (a genuine production from 1902), and water becomes another underlying theme, as with the visit to the tropical island to alleviate the Lamb’s whooping cough or the booby-trap with a pail of water balanced on a door.
The Phoenix and the Carpet is more than just a re-run of Five Children and It with the bird and the rug substituting for the Psammead and a succession of escapades. The children become even more individual in character, especially Robert with his unexpected affection for the Phoenix; and the Phoenix itself is a distinct personage, different from the grumpy Psammead with its unintentionally entertaining if increasingly tedious chatter, inflated sense of self-importance and embarrassing avuncularism. Adults too have their part to play, but mostly they are bemused by the magic played out before their eyes, ascribing the sights they experience and the things they hear to a curious daydream. Which is, as is the way of metafiction, exactly what it is.
Above all, what I most liked is Nesbit’s humour, evident from her asides, her descriptions of the children’s thought-processes and her delight in their convoluted attempts to Do The Right Thing. Modern sensibilities may be upset by some aspects – such as her portrayal of native peoples or Jews – though, this being Nesbit, her teasing tongue-in-cheek tone and her Fabian socialist sympathies suggest she mightn’t necessarily share those common prejudices.
http://wp.me/s2oNj1-phoenix
The reminiscences in Long Ago When I Was Young, though only first published as a collection in 1966, were serialised before Nesbit embarked on her career as a children’s writer and partly the spur for her successful forays into publishing. A significant number of the incidents in The Phoenix and the Carpet can be directly traced to the memories she presents in Long Ago. A mysterious keep-like stone structure that appears in ‘The Topless Tower’ and ‘Doing Good’ is based on the same building that the young Edith encountered in France, as recounted in the chapter entitled ‘In Auvergne’. ‘Doing Good’ also highlights themes that she had previously visited within ‘In the Dark’ and ‘Mummies at Bordeaux’. And ‘Two Bazaars’ may well be partly based on the bazaar that Edith experiences in ‘Lessons in French’.
We will have already met the children of this novel in Five Children and It, where they spend their summer holidays in the country ‘at a white house between a sand pit and a gravel pit’. Then they encountered a sand-fairy, the Psammead; now, in early November, they discover an egg rolled up in a carpet, replacement for a previous one in their Camden Town home ruined by a firework on Bonfire Night.
The five children are now mostly four – Cyril (called Squirrel), Robert (rather more prosaically called Bobs), Anthea (Panther) and Jane (Puss). Hilary is the remaining child (the toddler maintains the animal theme by being referred to as The Lamb), though he only appears occasionally and then to unwittingly cause mayhem. (The animal theme continues when the Phoenix hatches, and again later when more creatures make their appearances – Persian cats and, bizarrely, a cow.) The two boys are typically well-mannered and well-meaning but liable to make unwise decisions. Anthea may most resemble the author – tomboyish but creative – while Jane, the youngest of the four, is more ‘girly’ and, well, wimpish, prone to burst into tears at the merest hint of danger. (Mind you, danger, real or potential, does always seem to be round the corner.) But, as Nesbit says, even though ‘boys never cry, of course,’ Cyril and Robert are also susceptible to emotion, making faces ‘in their efforts to behave in a really manly way’.
The Phoenix itself is a marvellous creation. Vain and garrulous, he tells the children about the magic Persian carpet which grants three wishes a day. They use it to transport themselves to various more or less exotic places, from France to the Middle East, from the City of London to a desert island. In keeping with their original serial publication, the chapters at first appear episodic and unrelated to each other, merely recounting separate adventures where the siblings get themselves into scrapes. But as the story progresses Nesbit starts to weave in themes from earlier chapters – the cook, the ‘topless tower’, the absent-minded curate – and naturally the overall motif of fire runs brightly through the narrative pattern, with dire consequences for the flammable flying carpet. From that first Guy Fawkes Night through the rebirth of the Phoenix from the flames, the setting alight of an increasingly frayed carpet and a visit to the Phoenix Fire Office in Lombard Street we arrive at the potentially catastrophic conflagration at the Garrick Theatre. Ironically, the last takes place at a dramatisation of Charles Kingsley’s The Water-Babies (a genuine production from 1902), and water becomes another underlying theme, as with the visit to the tropical island to alleviate the Lamb’s whooping cough or the booby-trap with a pail of water balanced on a door.
The Phoenix and the Carpet is more than just a re-run of Five Children and It with the bird and the rug substituting for the Psammead and a succession of escapades. The children become even more individual in character, especially Robert with his unexpected affection for the Phoenix; and the Phoenix itself is a distinct personage, different from the grumpy Psammead with its unintentionally entertaining if increasingly tedious chatter, inflated sense of self-importance and embarrassing avuncularism. Adults too have their part to play, but mostly they are bemused by the magic played out before their eyes, ascribing the sights they experience and the things they hear to a curious daydream. Which is, as is the way of metafiction, exactly what it is.
Above all, what I most liked is Nesbit’s humour, evident from her asides, her descriptions of the children’s thought-processes and her delight in their convoluted attempts to Do The Right Thing. Modern sensibilities may be upset by some aspects – such as her portrayal of native peoples or Jews – though, this being Nesbit, her teasing tongue-in-cheek tone and her Fabian socialist sympathies suggest she mightn’t necessarily share those common prejudices.
http://wp.me/s2oNj1-phoenix
January 25, 2023
At the same time a perfect escapist children’s story and a troubling example of gentle racist, sexist and classist historic values.
April 24, 2017
Oh how I would love to enjoy this book as much as I did as a child!
This is a really fun little book about a group of children who come across a phoenix egg and a magic carpet. They go on all sorts of grand adventures and get into no end of trouble. There are moral lessons and plenty of funny moments and the writing is made specifically to be read aloud, but...
I'm not comfortable reading this book to my children without prefacing it with "this book is old and says a lot which isn't nice nor accurate." Fortunately, even if I don't, my daughter is likely to point out many of them to me.
This book was written in 1904 and shows vast amounts of sexism, classism, and racism. There are a lot of little phrases which said today would be offensive. The representation of the non-white characters are generally pretty negative, especially with the natives who somehow become ruled by the white cook who doesn't speak their language and believes it's all a dream. The servants are all crooks and liars. The factory worker children are all filled with hate and part of gangs.
The children themselves are greedy and lazy and selfish and never really learn their lesson.
I enjoyed rereading it and will probably read it to my daughter at some point, but I will preface it and will use the questionable sections as ways to talk about the problems they show.
This is a really fun little book about a group of children who come across a phoenix egg and a magic carpet. They go on all sorts of grand adventures and get into no end of trouble. There are moral lessons and plenty of funny moments and the writing is made specifically to be read aloud, but...
I'm not comfortable reading this book to my children without prefacing it with "this book is old and says a lot which isn't nice nor accurate." Fortunately, even if I don't, my daughter is likely to point out many of them to me.
This book was written in 1904 and shows vast amounts of sexism, classism, and racism. There are a lot of little phrases which said today would be offensive. The representation of the non-white characters are generally pretty negative, especially with the natives who somehow become ruled by the white cook who doesn't speak their language and believes it's all a dream. The servants are all crooks and liars. The factory worker children are all filled with hate and part of gangs.
The children themselves are greedy and lazy and selfish and never really learn their lesson.
I enjoyed rereading it and will probably read it to my daughter at some point, but I will preface it and will use the questionable sections as ways to talk about the problems they show.
June 22, 2014
Don't read this expecting fantasy. It is more like farce or a comic, but Nesbit never fails to invent human characters and that is primarily what I really get out of her books. Even when including such an exotic animal as the Phoenix, she imbues him with a humorous sense of dignity and ceremony that causes no end of trouble for the children.
Every once in a while Nesbit writes a gem. One of my favorite insightful and thought-provoking ones was: "He felt that he was a blot on the smart beauty of the family, and he hoped the Phoenix knew what he was suffering for its sake. Of course, we are all pleased to suffer for the sake of others, but we like them to know it unless we are the very best and noblest kind of people, and Robert was just ordinary."
The stories are fairly self-contained, but also very funny. The ending to the Two Bazaars was nothing short of brilliant and The Temple is buckets of laughter. The Mews From Persia is a bit too painful and realistic to be funny at times. A lot of this book is quite memorable and the clergymen come off quite nice.
Oh, and 'Whirling Worlds' is the game where you swing the baby round and round by his hands. Good thing to know.
Every once in a while Nesbit writes a gem. One of my favorite insightful and thought-provoking ones was: "He felt that he was a blot on the smart beauty of the family, and he hoped the Phoenix knew what he was suffering for its sake. Of course, we are all pleased to suffer for the sake of others, but we like them to know it unless we are the very best and noblest kind of people, and Robert was just ordinary."
The stories are fairly self-contained, but also very funny. The ending to the Two Bazaars was nothing short of brilliant and The Temple is buckets of laughter. The Mews From Persia is a bit too painful and realistic to be funny at times. A lot of this book is quite memorable and the clergymen come off quite nice.
Oh, and 'Whirling Worlds' is the game where you swing the baby round and round by his hands. Good thing to know.
July 25, 2019
Whilst I've put this in my Childhood Favourites folder, I never actually read it as a child, but I've begun a project to read all the books in my childhood bookshelves...
It is important to note, this book has not aged well. When reading to a modem child, you would need to prepare a discussion afterwards about why we don't call people of colour 'savages', or talk to servants as though they were subhuman anymore.
That said, it is an innovative adventure story of its time, and would be an interesting one to read with an older child, if only to talk about how children's books have changed over the last hundred-odd years!
It is important to note, this book has not aged well. When reading to a modem child, you would need to prepare a discussion afterwards about why we don't call people of colour 'savages', or talk to servants as though they were subhuman anymore.
That said, it is an innovative adventure story of its time, and would be an interesting one to read with an older child, if only to talk about how children's books have changed over the last hundred-odd years!
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