The Enchanted Castle (Wordsworth Children's Classics) - Softcover

Edith Nesbit

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1853261297 ISBN 13: 9781853261299

Publisher: Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 1999

Synopsis

When Jerry, Jimmy and Cathy discover a tunnel that leads to a castle, they pretend that it is enchanted. But when they discover a Sleeping Princess at the centre of a maze, astonishing things begin to happen. Amongst a horde of jewels they discover a ring that grants wishes. But wishes granted are not always wishes wanted, so the children find themselves grappling with invisibility, dinosaurs, a ghost and the fearsome Ugli-Wuglies before it is all resolved. This edition of The Enchanted Castle has forty-seven evocative illustrations by H.R. Millar

About this title

Review:

A plot summary makes this story sound ordinary by children's literature standards: the summer adventures of four children who discover an enchanted castle and a magic ring. But Edith Nesbit's adored classic (written in 1907) is so much more than the description suggests. Right from the start, the author plays with the idea of magic, teasing us with a sleeping princess who turns out to be a fake. Elsewhere, the magic is "real" as can be--in fact, though written nearly 100 years ago, The Enchanted Castle prefigures the magical realism of modern novels in the matter-of-fact way it weaves the uncanny into the children's everyday life. And, while few authors are confident enough to parody bad writing, Nesbit does it hilariously (and ever so gently) through one character's tendency to "talk like a book": "'To brush his hair and his clothes... was to our hero but the work of a moment,' said Gerald." Things turn scary when the Ugly Wuglies, fake people made from painted cardboard masks, old clothes, and broomsticks, come to life. But on the whole this book about enchantment--much praised by such luminaries as H.G. Wells and Noel Coward--is, simply, enchanting. (Ages 6 and older) --Richard Farr

About the Author:

Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) was the author of a number of much-loved stories in which ordinary children encounter magical adventures in the everyday world. Her novels include the three-book series Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet, and The Story of the Amulet. Her other books include The Enchanted Castle

About this edition

• Publisher: Wordsworth Editions Ltd
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1853261297
• ISBN 13: 9781853261299
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240