E. Nesbit - The Railway Children, etc.

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zaidi
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E. Nesbit - The Railway Children, etc.

Post by zaidi »

This is how I got The Railway Children: We had a book fair at our school. As I looked at the books I found this railway children book but it was little expensive and plus I didn't want to bother my mummy about asking for money and the main reason I wanted to buy this book was because I read Anita and Tony planning to go see a play regarding this topic. So I was very keen to get it. Suddenly a friend of mine was talking and I told her which book I wanted to have and she said " she already has it" and I was so happy.So she gave me the book. So EB society does have a great impact at out lives.

Now coming back to this book. I found it very interesting though I've only done two chapters.
How many of you've read it?I think most of you must have!
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Re: The Railway Children - E. Nesbit

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I hope you enjoy reading The Railway Children, Zaidi. It's a heartwarming story. Another good "realistic" family story by E. Nesbit is The Story of the Treasure Seekers, though it's quite different in tone from The Railway Children. The story is written as if it's being told by one of the main child characters, and the boy's observations and comments are very funny. There are two or three sequels. E. Nesbit also wrote some brilliant fantasy books, The Story of the Amulet and The Enchanted Castle being favourites of mine. The Story of the Amulet is the third book in a trilogy. The first volume, Five Children and It, is a little flat, I think, but the second (The Phoenix and the Carpet) is witty and clever and The Story of the Amulet, an inventive time-travel story, is sublime. The Enchanted Castle is very imaginative and quite scary in places.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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Re: The Railway Children - E. Nesbit

Post by Danger Bird »

A lot of these books are free on Kindle, and I presume for other e-readers too.
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Re: The Railway Children - E. Nesbit

Post by Fiona1986 »

I love The Railway Children. I had an audio-book of it as a child (I think it was based on the film rather than the book as I'm sure the burning boat incident wasn't on it), and have watched the film versions many times. I got the book for my iphone (through amzazon) for about 80p recently. It was being offered free, but I think what's for free must rotate as there was no free copy when I went back a few weeks later having downloaded the kindle app for my phone.
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Re: The Railway Children - E. Nesbit

Post by Kate Mary »

My favourite E Nesbit books are "The House of Arden" and "Harding's Luck". The House of Arden tells the story of two children Edred and Elfrida Arden who inherit the decrepit Arden Castle and search for the lost family fortune that will allow them to rebuild it and with the help of magical Mouldiwarp travel back in time to look for clues. Harding's luck is the sequel which tells of a disabled boy, Dickie Harding who travels back into the past and meets Edred and Elfrida. Brilliant stories well worth seeking out, and as Danger bird says available free online.

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Re: The Railway Children - E. Nesbit

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Kate Mary wrote:My favourite E Nesbit books are "The House of Arden" and "Harding's Luck".
I like those very much too. Wonderfully imaginative once again, though for me the Mouldiwarp doesn't quite have the appeal of the Phoenix or the Psammead. And I think I found the overlap between The House of Arden and Harding's Luck a little confusing, though I can't remember why. I'll have to read them again!

There are some titles I've only ever read once. Of those, The Magic City was particularly unusual and interesting - especially when I learnt that E. Nesbit herself used to like building miniature cities from household objects (things like saucers, vases, candlesticks, cotton reels, etc). I struggled to get through Wet Magic and can't recall much about it now, and The Wonderful Garden had some memorable parts but didn't live up to the enticing title.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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Re: The Railway Children - E. Nesbit

Post by Moonraker »

I have just downloaded The Story of the Treasure Seekers on your recommendation, Anita! A great advantage of the Kindle is all of the free books out there to download. :D
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Re: The Railway Children - E. Nesbit

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

I've never read The Railway Children, but have seen the film version many, many times, the old version with Jenny Agguter as the older girl, and the new version with her playing their mother.

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Re: The Railway Children - E. Nesbit

Post by Pippa-Stef »

Jemima plays Roberta in the one where Jenny Agguter plays the mother! :D
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Re: The Railway Children - E. Nesbit

Post by zaidi »

I don't find downloading books any advantage because I don't find it comfortable to read a whole book on internet.I like to get in to my warm blanket and then read a book.
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Re: The Railway Children - E. Nesbit

Post by Danger Bird »

Which you can do with a Kindle.

I wouldn't want to read a book on a computer or tablet as the screen would hurt my eyes. But reading on a Kindle is a wonderful experience and as Moonraker stated, their are hundreds of free books available.
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Re: The Railway Children - E. Nesbit

Post by Lucky Star »

Last weekend I took a flight and, while hanging around in the departures lounge waiting to board, I wandered into the airport's branch of Dixons, the electronics shop. While looking around at all the gadgets I couldn't afford and wouldn't know how to operate anyway another man came in holding a Kindle. "Can you tell me what's wrong with this" he asked the salesgirl in rather desperate tones, "all my books have just vanished".

I edged a little closer to have a listen to this cautionary tale. It transpired that the Kindle had simple erased all of his books and would now do nothing more than keep attempting to connect itself to some website. The man was hoping that some of Dixons' experts could figure out what was up. No way! The first girl called another girl who called a rather geeky looking guy who called a young man who seemed to be the manager - all gazed at the kindle, took turns holding and shaking it, pressed its buttons and hmmed and haw'ed. No solutions were forthcoming.

I can't tell you the end of this tale unfortunately as I was the only other person oin the shop and it was becoming a bit obvious that I was eavesdropping so I had to wander casually away (all nonchalent like :lol: ) and leave. But I can still hear that poor man's plaintive cry of "all my books have vanished" ringing in my ears and I remember thinking "that doesn't happen with a wooden shelf and a large pile of paperbacks". :wink:
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Re: The Railway Children - E. Nesbit

Post by chloe1 »

Lucky Star wrote:
Danger Bird wrote: reading on a Kindle is a wonderful experience and as Moonraker stated, their are hundreds of free books available.
But I can still hear that poor man's plaintive cry of "all my books have vanished" ringing in my ears and I remember thinking "that doesn't happen with a wooden shelf and a large pile of paperbacks". :wink:
As a Kindle hater I love you quite alot for that little story :)

I was brought up on the earlier Railway children film and still adore it (although I thought the laer version was a bit pants to be honest) but I only recently read the book. I loved it and I thought the film was superbly scripted from the book. Infact the burning boat scenario seemed a little far fetched and one dramatic event too many and I am glad they cut it out of the film.
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Re: The Railway Children - E. Nesbit

Post by Moonraker »

Lucky Star wrote: But I can still hear that poor man's plaintive cry of "all my books have vanished" ringing in my ears and I remember thinking "that doesn't happen with a wooden shelf and a large pile of paperbacks". :wink:
The would in a fire or a burglary! All your purchases are stored on the Amazon website, so all is not lost!
As a Kindle hater I love you quite alot for that little story
No need to hate the Kindle. Just don't buy one! :D
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Re: The Railway Children - E. Nesbit

Post by Danger Bird »

Why do you hate the Kindle?
It's just another means of reading books.
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