In this story, five siblings encounter an ancient magical creature in a gravel pit. The Psammead, as it calls itself, grants each of them a wish per day, with the restriction that it ends at sunset. As expected, all of the childrenโs wishes go comically wrong, and itโs up to them to solve the problems they created.
E. Nesbitโs enduring popularity is due in large part to the way she addresses children. Like Lewis Carrol and Kenneth Grahame, she engages children seriously, tapping into their imagination without any condescension. C. S. Lewis admired her, and the grumpy (but kind) sand-sorcerer Psamathos in Roverandom, a story J. R. R. Tolkien wrote for his own children, bears a striking resemblance to the Psammeadโindeed, an early version of the story featured the creature itself!
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