The Wouldbegoods

ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL WRITERS TO HAVE EVER LIVED

“I love E. Nesbit - I think she is great and I identify with the way that she writes. Her children are very real children and she was quite a groundbreaker”

If Britain is to children's fantasy as Brazil is to football, then Edith Nesbit is our Pele - endlessly surprising and inventive. But she is more than that. There were fantasy writers before Edith Nesbit but she is the one that brought the magical and the mundane together in a moment of nuclear fusion. She opened the door in the magic wardrobe, pointed the way to platform nine and three quarters. She even had a hand in building the Tardis. And these are among her minor achievements. 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. She made the magic worlds feel as near as the Lewisham Road and she bathed the Lewisham Road in magic - Frank Cottrell-Boyce

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.

'Nesbit opened the door in the magic wardrobe, pointed the way to platform nine and three quarters. She even had a hand in building the Tardis. And these are among her minor achievements. She is also simply the funniest writer we have ever had' Frank Cottrell-Boyce 'This is the story of one of the most far-reaching and influentially naughty things we ever did in our lives. We did not mean to do such a deed. And yet we did do it.'After being banished to the countryside for creating even more mayhem than usual, the Bastable children vow to mend their ways. Establishing 'The Society of the Wouldbegoods', their first rule is: 'every member is to be as good as possible'. But sometimes it's just not possible to be good - no matter how hard you try. A collection that will be coveted by children and adults alike, this list is the best in children's literature, curated by Virago. These are timeless tales with beautiful covers, that will be treasured and shared across the generations. Some titles you will already know; some will be new to you, but there are stories for everyone to love, whatever your age. Our list includes Nina Bawden ( Carrie's War , The Peppermint Pig ), Rumer Godden ( The Dark Horse , An Episode of Sparrow s), Joan Aiken ( The Serial Garden , The Gift Giving ) E. Nesbit (The Psammead Trilogy, The Bastable Trilogy, The Railway Children ), L. M. Montgomery (The Anne of Green Gables series) and Susan Coolidge (The What Katy Did Trilogy). Discover Virago Children's Classics.

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