The Magic World (1909) is a collection of twelve children’s fantasy stories by English writer Edith Nesbit. Using elements of magic and mystery familiar to readers of her beloved Bastable and Psammead Trilogies, Nesbit crafts tales of wonder and adventure for children and adults alike.
In “The Cat-hood of Maurice,” a young boy learns firsthand the consequences of mistreating the family cat. One day, Maurice attaches an empty sardine can to Lord Hugh’s tail, terrifying and traumatizing the poor cat. When his father gets home, Maurice is told that he will be spending the next week at Dr. Strongitharm’s school for wayward boys. At the last moment, Maurice discovers Lord Hugh in his room, who reveals to the boy a magic word that will turn him into a cat. In “Accidental Magic,” a boy named Quentin is sent to school in Salisbury. Immensely interested in archaeology and history, Quentin is excited to learn that he will be able to visit Stonehenge while at school. After getting in a fight with a bully, Quentin runs away in fear of expulsion and escapes through the fields toward Stonehenge. There, he searches for the fabled altar stone, where, exhausted and scared, he falls asleep. When he wakes up, he finds he has been transported to the lost world of Atlantis, where the people call him the “Chosen of the Gods,” but fail to reveal what it is he is chosen for.
This edition of Edith Nesbit’s The Magic World is a classic of English children’s literature reimagined for modern readers.
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Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) was an English writer of children’s literature. Born in Kennington, Nesbit was raised by her mother following the death of her father―a prominent chemist―when she was only four years old. Due to her sister Mary’s struggle with tuberculosis, the family travelled throughout England, France, Spain, and Germany for years. After Mary passed, Edith and her mother returned to England for good, eventually settling in London where, at eighteen, Edith met her future husband, a bank clerk named Hubert Bland. The two―who became prominent socialists and were founding members of the Fabian Society―had a famously difficult marriage, and both had numerous affairs. Nesbit began her career as a poet, eventually turning to children’s literature and publishing around forty novels, story collections, and picture books. A contemporary of such figures of Lewis Carroll and Kenneth Grahame, Nesbit was notable as a writer who pioneered the children’s adventure story in fiction. Among her most popular works are The Railway Children (1906) and The Story of the Amulet (1906), the former of which was adapted into a 1970 film, and the latter of which served as a profound influence on C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series. A friend and mentor to George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells, Nesbit’s work has inspired and entertained generations of children and adults, including such authors as J.K. Rowling, Noël Coward, and P.L. Travers.
