Readings Classics: The Phoenix and the Carpet

Description

The Phoenix and the Carpet is a fantasy novel for children, written by E. Nesbit and first published in 1904.

The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904) is a children’s fantasy novel by English writer Edith Nesbit. The second book in Nesbit’s beloved Psammead Trilogy-which also includes Five Children and It (1902) and The Story of the Amulet (1906)–The Phoenix and the Carpet is a tale of curiosity, adventure, and the power of imagination.

Siblings Robert, Anthea, Cyril, Jane, and the Lamb live in London with their parents. As Guy Fawkes Night approaches, they collect a small stockpile of fireworks and, in their excitement, decide to test them out ahead of time. They set off several fireworks in their nursery, accidentally burning the carpet and forcing their parents to replace it. The new rug, purchased secondhand, contains a strange egg which Robert accidentally knocks into the fireplace, hatching a beautiful golden Phoenix. They soon learn that the Phoenix, which is reborn every two thousand years, is capable of fulfilling their wishes, and that the carpet has the power of flight. As the story unfolds, the children embark on increasingly thrilling and dangerous adventures, sometimes requiring the help of their friend the Psammead to make it back home. The Phoenix and the Carpet is a fast-paced, endearing novel, a true work of fantasy from one of history’s finest fabulists. It has been adapted several times for film and television, and remains a popular work for children and adults alike.

With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Edith Nesbit’s The Phoenix and the Carpet is a classic of English children’s literature reimagined for modern readers.

Author Biography

E. Nesbit (Edith Nesbit) was a mischievous child who grew up into an unconventional adult. With her husband, Hubert Bland, she was one of the founder members of the socialist Fabian Society; their household became a centre of the socialist and literary circles of the times. E. Nesbit turned late to children’s writing. Her first children’s book, The Treasure Seekers, was published in 1899 to great acclaim.

Nesbit is perhaps most famous for writing The Railway Children and Five Children and It, but she was extremely prolific and wrote or collaborated on more than sixty children’s books. Nesbit is today recognised as one of the most influential and innovative children’s writers that ever lived, and is cited as an inspiration by many contemporary authors, including J. K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, Jacqueline Wilson, Kate Saunders and Frank Cottrell-Boyce. Even C. S. Lewis acknowledged the debt his Narnia series owed to her work – particularly the Bastable and Psammead trilogies.