Having read Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet and The Story of the Amulet I was excited to return to the lives of the Psammead and the Pembertons.
First, I commend Kate Saunders on her incredible job at recreating E Nesbit’s amazing characters and world. The re-imagining of the setting as the start of the Great War was a really clever idea which flowed seamlessly from the original trilogy. Now that the children are nine years older, and with the addition of Edie, as well as the occasional absence of Robert and Cyril, the book feels like both a continuation of Nesbit’s stories and Saunders’ own creation.
It was satisfying to learn more about the Psammead through his efforts to regain his powers. Because the original trilogy was based mainly around the dilemmas created by the wishes granted by the sand-fairy, the absence of that power makes the Psammead feel less like a plot device and more like a fully fleshed character. Saunders gives him a dark back story, to both match the grim war setting and contrast with the cheery atmosphere of the Nesbit books. The Psammead’s past is repeated in the younger children’s visits to their older siblings. When asked how many people he killed, the Psammead responds “a few thousand, numbers don’t matter”, just as thousands died in the first world war. Various events throughout the book remind the Psammead of his past cruelty and make him change his ways. It was strange to think that, through the original books, the Psammead had all these secrets bottled up inside him while the children were having fun flying around and being 11 feet tall.
The description of this book as heart-wrenching is absolutely correct. With the world war setting and such beloved characters for anyone who has read the first books, the reader is left waiting for Cyril’s next letter as expectantly as the Pembertons who are left behind. The children’s characters were brought to the forefront instead of just their reactions to the power the sand-fairy could give them.
The language of the time (particularly the descriptions of various people as “A1 Bricks”) is all the more powerful for its unusualness to the modern ear. The strange terminology almost forces the reader to take note of how positively the children feel about those characters, and this makes their emotions very easy to understand. Along with Saunders’ gripping style the reader can empathise with the characters easily. This jolly language also contrasts with the grim world war setting, bringing into stark relief the horror of the first world war.
This book is perfect for any age range. It is simple and fun enough for younger children to enjoy, and without too much violence, but also deep enough for a teenager or adult to enjoy.
Kate Saunders’ Five Children on the Western Front, shortlisted for the Guardian children’s fiction prize 2015, is available from the Guardian bookshop.
Congratulations to Wilkie Dickinson-Sparkes, aged 16, for his Young Critics award 2015-winning review.
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