Edith Nesbit

Born August 15, 1854 in London, England
Died May 4, 1924 in Kent, England

If you like your children's authors to be moral paragons, vignettes of virtue and models of rectitude, you are going to need to give Edith Nesbit a pass. In doing so, though, you will be cutting your kids off from some of the best gems in children's literature. The politest gloss to put on it is that Edith Nesbit lived an unconventional life. Closer to the truth would be to say that her life was something of a mess.

Nesbit lived and worked in that late Victorian and Edwardian period of intellectual and social effervescence in England, when, what today would be called the chattering classes, began to experiment with new social mores and patterns of living that at first seemed refreshingly liberating from the seemingly unremitting and unglamorous pursuit of gradual personal -improvement-through-deeds so prevalent in the Victorian era. There was a desire to fix the world and make it a better place by blazing new trails. Sort of Woodstock comes to Literary England.

Nesbit was born the youngest of a family of six children in 1854 in London. Her father, an agricultural chemist who ran what now might be termed a technical school, died when she was three years old. She was sent away to boarding school and then joined her mother and sister shuttling around Europe for the next several years, seeking some respite for her sister's illness. She lived and was educated in France, Germany, and Spain before they returned to Britain in 1872, settling initially in Kent and then moving to London.

There she met a philandering but apparently very attractive, Hubert Bland, whom she married in 1880. Nesbit was many months pregnant when they wed. She then discovered that Bland had an ongoing relationship (which would last a further ten years) with another woman, also pregnant. Shortly after they wed, Bland's business partner embezzled most of the funds from his business and ran off. Bland meanwhile came down with smallpox and in one way or another was commercially incapacitated for a number of years.

This left Nesbit in the position of suddenly being, like the mother figures in a number of her later children's stories, the sole provider for the family. She filled this financial void by becoming a writer of verse, short stories and articles for the many magazines prevalent in those times. For the better part of twenty years she turned out a massive volume of stories, publishing her first book in 1885. While some of this work was for children, much of it was for adults or was verse. It was not unusual for her to write half a dozen or more books in a year. With few exceptions, this torrent was not particularly distinguished and is only remembered now in the context of her later work in children's literature.

Meanwhile, her home life remained distinctive. A close friend came to stay with Nesbit following a miscarriage. This friend, in turn, became pregnant by Nesbit's husband, not once but twice. By agreement on the part of all parties, Nesbit raised all five children (her own three with Bland as well as their two siblings) as her own and it was only much later that this complex arrangement was revealed, despite the fact that the close friend lived with them as an "Aunt". Oh what a tangled web we weave . . .

And yet from this morass of personal chaos, Nesbit snatched two rabbits from the hat. Unprecedented in her pedestrian literary track record, and as if from nowhere, in 1899, Nesbit published the first of a series of books that over the next decade were to cement her position as one of a handful of pivotal children's authors. The Story of the Treasure Seekers is the tale of the Bastable children. It was a popular, commercial and literary success.

With her Bastable stories (The Story of the Treasure Seekers, The Wouldbegoods, and The New Treasure Seekers) Nesbit did something not really done before. She put the children in the center of the stage, not acted upon but as the actors, the real protagonists with their own story to tell. On the one hand these stories very much reflect a Victorian past with an emphasis on behaving well, being responsible, etc. You can also see a Victorian flavor in the stories in the fact that there is a distinctly sentimental element. That being said, in our much more jaded century, that fillip of sentimentality actually has a nice ring to it, especially as it only shows up in moderation.

Nesbit's twist to her stories was that she decanted these moral expectations through the mind and behavior of children. The stories are narrated by the children (though it is not immediately obvious that that is the case) with a knowing, and sometimes jaundiced, perspective of the adults around them. This style of narration was a huge innovation compared to what had gone before. Suddenly, child readers had peers within the text; children with similar pleasures, frustrations, incomprehensions of what was expected of them, and with similar - often flawed - reasoning. What is a transparently knot-headed course of action by the children in the story seems perfectly sensible when you are shown their reasoning.

Beyond representing the puzzlement with which children often view the world of the adult, and showing the child's reasoning that so often leads them into a course of action completely bewildering to an adult, Nesbit also introduced her children as flawed characters and not little models of perfection that just need a little buffing and polishing here and there. They make bad decisions, they make mistakes, they break things, they quarrel with one another, repeatedly, etc. This mold-breaking innovation, seeing and representing the world through the eyes of children, was much emulated by future writers and you can see Nesbit's influence in Enid Blyton, Edward Eager, C.S. Lewis, Noel Streatfeild, Noel Coward, E.M. Forster and others. Though not one of the Bastable series, and in fact probably better known in the USA than that series, Nesbit's The Railway Children, was very much in the same vein as the other three.

As if one innovation were not enough, Nesbit then added a further development with a new series of stories starting with Five Children and It published in 1902. In this series, (Five Children and It , The Phoenix and the Carpet, and The Story of the Amulet), Nesbit took her earlier model of the Bastables (independent children operating outside the direct supervision of adults (and much perplexed by the adult world and its peculiar expectations and customs) and added an element of magic and fantasy to it. It was not a wild deus ex machina type of fantasy, just a narrow little one - in fact almost small enough to be believable in the imagination of a child.

Meet the Psammead, an ancient and irascible sand-fairy whom the children unearth in a gravel pit. The wonderful feature of the Psammead is that it has to grant the children with a wish each day with the caveat that the wish and its immediate effects expire at sundown. This wish is the engine that drives all their adventures as the children learn to be careful of that for which they wish.

Nesbit was something of a bridge between past and future. With her emphasis on good behavior and doing the right thing, coupled with the strong but selective use of sentimentality in her stories, she was very much a product of the Victorian era. However, through her portrayal of children as real and central to her stories and her use of magic and fantasy, she presaged much of the wonderful children's stories yet to come.

Two other Nesbit books continue to engage children today, The Enchanted Castle and The House of Arden published in 1907 and 1908 respectively. In both these tales, in some ways similar to the others, there is an increasing awareness of darkness and of the complexity of magic. Not horror stories by any means nor depressing, but they have a tension and strain in them that sets them apart from the earlier tales and appeal because they are more complex.

Part of the beauty of Nesbit's work is that it does have broad appeal. In all the books mentioned there are children ranging from very young up to fifteen or so. They therefore have the attraction that, if you are reading to an audience of children not of the same age, everyone will usually find someone in the story with whom to associate. Her writing also deepened and became more complex over the decade of 1900-1910, so you can find stories that range from light and direct to more complex all depending on the tastes of the child reading.

To a degree, Nesbit was a cipher onto which later literary critics are able to project a very wide range of divergent images and interpretations. She was unconventional in the extreme in her personal deportment, but very much a patriot and moralist. She eschewed the intrusion of strong messages and religion into her stories and, yet, she was an enthusiastic political activist (and early co-founder of the Fabian Society). She traveled amongst the leading literary lights of her time such as H.G. Wells and Bernard Shaw. She wrote a mass of unmemorable verse and adult books and regarded herself as primarily a poet, but she is remembered really only for her innovative children's stories.

After the passing of her husband, Bland, in 1914, Nesbit married Thomas Tucker, a retired marine engineer in 1917. With this marriage, Nesbit found a far greater level of stability and affection than she had experienced in her earlier life. Nesbit passed away May 4, 1924 following complications from an extended bout of bronchitis.

While relatively little-known in the US she remains notably popular in the UK and her books are a delight to share with children.

Picture Books

Jack And the Beanstalk by Edith Nesbit and illustrated by Matt Tavares Suggested

Independent Readers

Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit and illustrated by H.R. Millar Highly Recommended

Lionel And The Book Of Beasts by Edith Nesbit and illustrated by Michael Hague Suggested

Melisenda by Edith Nesbit and illustrated by P. J. Lynch Suggested

The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit and illustrated by C.E. Brock Highly Recommended

Shakespeare's Stories for Young Readers by Edith Nesbit Suggested

The Best of Shakespeare by Edith Nesbit Suggested

The Book of Dragons by Edith Nesbit and illustrated by H. R. Millar & Herbert Granville Fell Suggested

The Children's Shakespeare by Edith Nesbit and William Shakespeare and illustrated by Rolf Klep Suggested

The Enchanted Castle by Edith Nesbit and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky Recommended

The House of Arden by Edith Nesbit Recommended

The Magic World by Edith Nesbit Suggested

The Phoenix and the Carpet by Edith Nesbit and illustrated by H. R. Millar Highly Recommended

The Story of the Amulet by Edith Nesbit and illustrated by H. R. Millar Recommended

The Story of the Treasure Seekers by Edith Nesbit and illustrated by Gordon Browne & Lewis Christopher Edward Baumer Highly Recommended

William Shakespeare, Stories from Twenty Plays - by Edith Nesbit and Shakespeare Suggested

The Wouldbegoods - by Edith Nesbit Recommended

Bibliography

The Prophet's Mantle by Edith Nesbit 1885
Lays and Legends by Edith Nesbit 1886
Spring [ Summer, Autumn, Winter] Songs and Sketches by Edith Nesbit 1886
The Lily and the Cross by Edith Nesbit 1887
The Star of Bethlehem by Edith Nesbit 1887
Eventide Songs and Sketches by Edith Nesbit 1887
Morning Songs and Sketches by Edith Nesbit 1887
Leaves of Life by Edith Nesbit 1888
The Better Part and Other Poems by Edith Nesbit 1888
Easter-Tide: Poems by Edith Nesbit 1888
The Time of Roses by Edith Nesbit 1888
By Land and Sea by Edith Nesbit 1888
Landscape and Song by Edith Nesbit 1888
The Message of the Dove: An Easter Poem by Edith Nesbit 1888
Lilies and Heartsease: Songs and Sketches by Edith Nesbit 1888
The Lilies 'round the Cross: An Easter Memorial by Edith Nesbit 1889
Corals and Sea Songs by Edith Nesbit 1889
Life's Sunny Side by Edith Nesbit 1889
Songs of Two Seasons by Edith Nesbit 1890
The Voyage of Columbus, 1492: The Discovery of America by Edith Nesbit 1892
Sweet Lavender by Edith Nesbit 1892
Listen Long and Listen Well by Edith Nesbit 1893
Sunny Tales for Snowy Days by Edith Nesbit 1893
Told by Sunbeams and Me by Edith Nesbit 1893
Our Friends and All about Them by Edith Nesbit 1893
Something Wrong by Edith Nesbit 1893
Grim Tales by Edith Nesbit 1893
Flowers I Bring and Songs I Sing by Edith Nesbit 1893
Fur and Feathers: Tales for All Weathers by Edith Nesbit 1894
Hollow Tree House and Other Stories by Edith Nesbit 1894
Lads and Lassies by Edith Nesbit 1894
Tales That Are True, for Brown Eyes and Blue by Edith Nesbit 1894
Tales to Delight from Morning till Night by Edith Nesbit 1894
Hours in Many Lands: Stories and Poems by Edith Nesbit 1894
The Butler in Bohemia by Edith Nesbit 1894
A Family's Novelette by Edith Nesbit 1894
The Girl's Own Birthday Book by Edith Nesbit 1894
Doggy Tales by Edith Nesbit 1895
Pussy Tales by Edith Nesbit 1895
Tales of the Clock by Edith Nesbit 1895
Dulcie's Lantern and Other Stories by Edith Nesbit 1895
Treasures from Storyland by Edith Nesbit 1895
The King's Highway by Edith Nesbit 1895
Holly and Mistletoe: A Book of Christmas Verse by Edith Nesbit 1895
A Pomander of Verse by Edith Nesbit 1895
Rose Leaves by Edith Nesbit 1895
The Poet's Whispers: A Birthday Book by Edith Nesbit 1895
As Happy as a King by Edith Nesbit 1896
In Homespun by Edith Nesbit 1896
Tales Told in Twilight: A Volume of Very Short Stories by Edith Nesbit 1897
Diana Forget by Edith Nesbit 1897
The Children's Shakespeare by Edith Nesbit 1897
Royal Children of English History by Edith Nesbit 1897
Dog Tales, and Other Tales by Edith Nesbit 1898
Songs of Love and Empire by Edith Nesbit 1898
A Book of Dogs, Being a Discourse on Them, with Many Tales and Wonders by Edith Nesbit 1898
Winter-Snow by Edith Nesbit 1898
Pussy and Doggy Tales by Edith Nesbit 1899
The Secret of the Kriels by Edith Nesbit 1899
The Story of the Treasure Seekers, Being the Adventures of the Bastable Children in Search of a Fortune by Edith Nesbit 1900
The Book of Dragons by Edith Nesbit 1900
Nine Unlikely Tales for Children by Edith Nesbit 1901
The Wouldbegoods, Being the Further Adventures of the Treasure Seekers by Edith Nesbit 1901
The Town in the Library by Edith Nesbit 1901
To Wish You Every Joy by Edith Nesbit 1901
Thirteen Ways Home by Edith Nesbit 1901
The Revolt of the Toys and What Comes of Quarrelling by Edith Nesbit 1902
Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit 1902
The Red House by Edith Nesbit 1902
Playtime Stories by Edith Nesbit 1903
The Rainbow Queen and Other Stories by Edith Nesbit 1903
The Literary Sense by Edith Nesbit 1903
The Story of the Five Rebellious Dolls by Edith Nesbit 1904
The New Treasure Seekers by Edith Nesbit 1904
Cat Tales by Edith Nesbit 1904
The Phoenix and the Carpet by Edith Nesbit 1904
Pug Peter: King of Mouseland, Marquis of Barkshire, D.O.G. P.C. by Edith Nesbit 1905
Oswald Bastable and Others by Edith Nesbit 1905
The Philandrist; or, The Lady Fortune-Teller by Edith Nesbit 1905
The Rainbow and the Rose by Edith Nesbit 1905
The Story of the Amulet by Edith Nesbit 1906
The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit 1906
The Incomplete Amorist by Edith Nesbit 1906
Man and Maid by Edith Nesbit 1906
The Enchanted Castle by Edith Nesbit 1907
The Magician's Heart by Edith Nesbit 1907
Twenty Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare: A Home Study Course by Edith Nesbit 1907
The House of Arden by Edith Nesbit 1908
Ballads and Lyrics of Socialism, 1883-1908 by Edith Nesbit 1908
Jesus in London: A Poem by Edith Nesbit 1908
The Old Nursery Stories by Edith Nesbit 1908
Harding's Luck by Edith Nesbit 1909
Cinderella (produced in London, 1892) by Edith Nesbit 1909
Daphne in Fitzroy Street by Edith Nesbit 1909
Salome and the Head: A Modern Melodrama by Edith Nesbit 1909
These Little Ones by Edith Nesbit 1909
The Magic City by Edith Nesbit 1910
Fear by Edith Nesbit 1910
The Wonderful Garden; or, The Three C's by Edith Nesbit 1911
Dormant by Edith Nesbit 1911
Ballads and Verses of the Spiritual Life by Edith Nesbit 1911
My Sea-Side Book by Edith Nesbit 1911
The Magic World by Edith Nesbit 1912
Unexceptional References by Edith Nesbit 1912
Garden Poems by Edith Nesbit 1912
Wet Magic by Edith Nesbit 1913
Our New Story Book by Edith Nesbit 1913
Wings and the Child; or, The Building of Magic Cities by Edith Nesbit 1913
Children's Stories from English History by Edith Nesbit 1914
Battle Songs by Edith Nesbit 1914
The Incredible Honeymoon by Edith Nesbit 1916
The New World Literary Series, Book Two by Edith Nesbit 1921
The Lark by Edith Nesbit 1922
Many Voices by Edith Nesbit 1922
Hubert Bland, Essays by Edith Nesbit 1922
To the Adventurous by Edith Nesbit 1923
Five of Us--and Madeline by Edith Nesbit 1925
Long Ago When I Was Young by Edith Nesbit 1966
The Conscience Pudding by Edith Nesbit 1970
The Last of the Dragons, and Some Others by Edith Nesbit 1972
The Princess and the Hedgehog by Edith Nesbit 1974
The Old Nursery Stories by Edith Nesbit 1975
Septimus Septimusson by Edith Nesbit 1976
Fairy Stories by Edith Nesbit 1977
The Princess and the Cat by Edith Nesbit 1977
The Ice Dragon by Edith Nesbit 1977
Belinda and Bellament by Edith Nesbit 1982
E. Nesbit's Tales of Terror by Edith Nesbit 1983
The Cockatoucan by Edith Nesbit 1987
The Book of Beasts by Edith Nesbit 1988
In the Dark: Tales of Terror by Edith Nesbit 1988
Melisenda by Edith Nesbit 1989
Man-size in Marble by Edith Nesbit 1997
The Best of Shakespeare by Edith Nesbit 1997
Contributor to A Feast of Good Stories by Edith Nesbit 1997
Jack and the Beanstalk by Edith Nesbit 2006
Lionel and the Book of Beasts by Edith Nesbit 2006
Shakespeare's Stories for Young Readers by Edith Nesbit 2006
The Enchanted Castle and Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit