Friday's Finds - Railway Children

Edith Nesbit (1858–1924) was a writer and poet whose most famous work is Railway Children. Her works have inspired many others. The modern child may be more familiar with Magic By the Lake. But it is the wonderful works of Nesbit that prompted Edward Eagar to write his fun series. Take your child back on in time and share with them the original ideas. Other writers such as Arthur Ransome were also strongly influenced by Nesbit.

In Railway Children, Roberta, Peter, and Phyllis have a series of fantastic but non-magical adventures while they try to make sense of their father's mysterious disappearence. The story, like the slightly more modern Swallows and Amazons, is particularly appealing to many parents because it portrays realistic children having realistic adventures. Some may argue the realistic comment with me but there is no magic involved. The adventures the children have are all activities that occur in reality. People get saved from fires, homeless people need help, and travellers need to rescued from rockslides. Granted a family of children is not likely to be doing all these things but that is what makes fiction fun. The illustrations are beautiful, classic drawings that pull even a young child into the story.

So that is my find for this Friday. What is yours?