The Psammead Trilogy
Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet, The Story of the Amulet
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The Psammead Trilogy
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Narrated by:
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Cathy Dobson
About this listen
Edith Nesbit was to children in the early 20th century what J.K. Rowling is to today's young generation. Magic, mythical creatures, time travel, charms, words of power... Nesbit's stories have it all.
This recording is the complete collection of Edith Nesbit's Psammead series, comprising three captivating stories:
Five Children and It.The story begins when a group of five children - Robert, Anthea, Cyril, Jane, and their baby brother, the Lamb - move from London to the countryside of Kent. While playing in a gravel pit, they discover a rather grumpy, ugly and occasionally malevolent sand-fairy known as the Psammead who is compelled to grant one wish of theirs per day. The effects of each wish last until sundown. All the wishes granted to the children go hilariously wrong. When they wish to be beautiful, nobody recognises them and they are shut out of the house. When they wish to be rich, they get a stack of gold coins but nobody will take them. When they wish for wings they find themselves stuck on a tall tower at sunset. When they wish that their baby brother was older, he turns into a grown-up and bosses them about. When Robert wishes he was bigger than the baker's boy (who has beaten him in a scrap) he becomes eleven feet tall. There are many more adventures... but you will need to listen and find out for yourselves....
The Phoenix and the Carpet. This is the second story about Robert, Anthea, Cyril, Jane, and their baby brother, the Lamb - who live in London. One day their mother buys a new carpet for the nursery which mysteriously contains a stone egg. When the egg falls into the fire by accident, nobody can possibly imagine what adventures will be unleashed. The egg hatches the Phoenix who reveals that the carpet is in fact a magic wishing carpet, which will take the children on a rollercoaster ride of adventures, scrapes and mishaps. They end up stuck inside a tunnel with buried treasure, on a sunny Southern shore where their cook is made Queen of the Island, having tea with the Rania in India, and even when they are at home in Camden town they mysteriously and unexpectedly become the owners of an unfeasibly large number of cats.
The Story of the Amulet. The magic Psammead is back! This time the four children are stuck in London for the Summer, when they come across the Psammead (or wish-giving sand-fairy), imprisoned in a pet shop. They manage to free him, and he tells them where they can get hold of a magic amulet which will bring them their hearts' desire. Unfortunately when the amulet is secured, it is incomplete. They and the Psammead must travel back into ancient history to see the part of the amulet which was lost. The children experience one breathtaking adventure after another in Babylon, Egypt, the lost city of Atlantis, Tyre...
©1905 Public Domain (P)2013 Red Door AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Psammead Trilogy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dan Tooke
- 28-10-23
Just like story time at school in mrs Z.H.’s class.
A lovely reading of stories i first heard over 50 years ago. A very good rendition.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lucy
- 25-11-19
fantastic
loved every bit of these three stories (the first and last are the best though)
the narrator perfectly matched the tone and language of the time.
I'll never be too old for these books as the childlike imagination of the early 1900's give me the warm fizzles lol,
a very easy listen , would 100% recommend
10/10
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Chris Lilly
- 29-01-15
Cornerstone of Children's Literature
This is a fine, slightly off-kilter performance of a fine, slightly off-kilter set of books. Cathy Dobson has a very warm and confiding style, with an old fashioned quality that fits the Edwardian stories. She also reads with a strange catch in her voice, a little hesitation that was at first irritating, but became very engaging. And what tremendous stories! Constantly surprising, constantly inventive, constantly forcing its audience to question, without ever being preachy - whenever there's the possibility of preaching, they remember it's been a long time since dinner, and scoot off home for mutton fritters(!?!). The Lamb, and the petting of the Lamb, is nauseating, but the story with the grown-up Lamb recontextualises even that character.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Les Dor
- 11-02-20
dated
it is an old book with old ways of thinking got bored very quickly with victorian values lol
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- mumstheword
- 10-06-16
Love this story
I love these story's they are so fun and imaginative so really any one could listen to them.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- K Bright
- 06-03-15
Enjoyable
I enjoyed this trilogy. Only decided to buy this as I'd purchased Five Children on the Western Front (2014) and in a review it was deemed best to know the original story. At times the narrator stumbles over a word or two and at times you can hear her turn the pages.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Michael Hirst
- 26-08-21
Ruined by the performance
For some reason Cathy Dobson, who has a decent speaking voice uses the upward inflection constantly, I was really looking forward to revisiting these books, which I so enjoyed in childhood, but the performance really spoiled this for me.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Gehad Khaled
- 03-11-23
One of my all time favourites listened to it more than five times
The story is really nice and very quickly engaging the performance was a little poor at first but you get used to it .
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs A
- 05-04-16
terrible narration!
love these tales, but the narration was just too much to cope with. very poor!
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Monkeypuzzletree
- 25-12-21
cannot bear the narration
the inflection of the narrator's voice is intolerable .I adore E Nesbit but simply cannot listen to this version.
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1 person found this helpful