The Railway Children

by E. Nesbit, C. E. Brock (Illustrator)

Overview

Three children, forced to alter their comfortable lifestyle when their father is taken away by strangers, move with their mother to a simple cottage near a railway station where their days are filled with excitement and adventure. First published in 1906, this beloved children's classic has charmed generations of readers and more recently, has delighted TV and motion picture audiences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780349009315
Publisher:	Little, Brown Book Group
Publication date:	10/12/2017
Series:	Virago Modern Classics , #289
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	12 - 16 Years

About the Author

E. Nesbit (Author)
Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) 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.

Read an Excerpt

They were not railway children to begin with. I don't suppose they had ever thought about railways except as a means of getting to Maskelyne and cook's, the Pantomime, Zoological Gardens and Madame Tussaud's. They were just ordinary suburban children, and they lived with their Father and Mother in an ordinary red-brick-fronted villa, with coloured glass in the front door, a tiled passage that was called a hall, a bathroom with hot and cold water, electric bells, French windows, and a good deal of white paint, and 'every modern convenience', as the house-agents say.There were three of them. Roberta was the eldest. Of course, Mothers never have favourites, but if their Mother had a favourite, it might have been Roberta. Next came Peter, who wished to be an Engineer when he grew up; and the youngest was Phyllis, who meant extremely well.Mother did not spend all her time in paying dull calls to dull ladies, and sitting dully at home waiting for dull ladies to pay calls to her. She was almost always there, ready to play with the children, and read to them, and help them to do their home-lessons. Besides this she used to write stories for them while they were at school, and read them aloud after tea, and she always made up funny pieces of poetry for their birthdays  and for other great occasions, such as the christening of new kittens, or the furnishing of the dolls house, or the time when they were getting over the mumps.These three lucky children always had everything they needed: pretty clothes, good fires, a lovely nursery with heaps of toys, and a Mother Goose wallpaper. They had a kind and merry nursemaid, and a dog who was called James and who was their very own. They also had a Father who was just perfect - never cross, never unjust, and always ready for a game - at least, if at any time he was not ready, he always had an excellent reason for it, and explained the reason to the children so interestingly and funnily that they felt sure he couldn't help himself.You will think that they ought to have been very happy. And so they were, but they did not know how happy till the pretty life in Edgecombe Villa was over and done with, and they had to live a very different life indeed...  

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Railway Children"
by .
Copyright © 2011 E. Nesbit.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Young Readers Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

1 The Beginning of Things 1

2 Peter's Coalmine 24

3 The Old Gentleman 52

4 The Engine-Burglar 76

5 Prisoners and Captives 103

6 Saviours of the Train 122

7 For Valour 143

8 The Amateur Fireman 167

9 The Pride of Perks 188

10 The Terrible Secret 211

11 The Hound in the Red Jersey 231

12 What Bobbie Brought Home 257

13 The Hound's Grandfather 277

14 The End 300

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"They were not railway children to begin with. I don't suppose they had ever thought about railways except as a means of getting to Maskelyne and Cook's, the Pantomime, Zoological Gardens, and Madame Tussaud's. They were just ordinary suburban children, and they lived with their Father and Mother in an ordinary red-brick-fronted villa, with colored glass in the front door, a tiled passage that was called a hall, a bathroom with hot and cold water, electric bells, French windows, and a good deal of white paint, and 'every modern convenience', as the house-agents say."

Editorial Reviews

It has the power to move even the hardest heart. Edith Nesbit has surely brought the liveliness through words as if it were a real story. The best thing about the story is that no one is the bad-bad-guy. No one is a miscreant. I think very few stories have it. A must-read book for people of all ages . . .—Guardian

I love her books

My all-time favourite classic children's author

Edith Nesbit is endlessly surprising and inventive . . . She is also simply the funniest writer we have ever had, while being the one who could most easily and sweetly break your heart with a phrase. Just try saying "Daddy, oh my Daddy" without catching your breath

By turns sweet and serious, this much loved classic is above all a celebration of kindness and hope

From the Publisher