Bookseller Created
Children's Fiction
Give audiobooks, support local bookstores!
Start gifting
Send as gift
Add to Wish List
Almost ready!
In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.
Log in Create account
Shop small, give big!
With credit bundles, you choose the number of credits and your recipient picks their audiobooks—all in support of local bookstores.
Start gifting
Limited-time offer
Get two free audiobooks!
Now’s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, we’ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.
Sign up todayFive Children and It
The Psammead Trilogy: Book #1
Narrator
Johanna Ward
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn more
Length
5 hours 35 minutes
Language
English
Curious to see if people on the other side of the globe walk upside down, Robert, Anthea, Cyril, Jane, and their baby brother start digging a hole to Australia. They don’t get too far, however, before they dig up a furry brown creature with bat’s ears. It is a Psammead, an ancient Sand-fairy. The Sammyadd, as the children call it, grumpily tells them that he is obliged to grant their wishes, because making people’s wishes come true is what Sand-fairies do. However, there is one catch: the wishes come undone at sunset. No matter how carefully the children plan, their wishes keep backfiring, and they realize that you have to be careful what you wish for—you may get it.
Edith Nesbit (1858–1924) lived in England and had dreamed of becoming a poet since she was fifteen years old. After her husband fell ill, it was up to her to support her small family. For the next nineteen years, she wrote novels, essays, articles, poems, and short stories; but it was not until 1899, when The Story of the Treasure Seekers was published, that she achieved great success. Her groundbreaking style of depicting realistic, believable children quickly gained a popularity that has lasted for more than a century.
Johanna Ward (a.k.a. Kate Reading) is an Audie Award–winning narrator and has received numerous Earphones Awards from AudioFile magazine. She is also a theater actor in the Washington, DC, area and has been a member of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company since 1987. Her work onstage has been recognized by the Helen Hayes Awards Society, among others. She and her husband live in Hyattsville, Maryland, with their two children.
Featured in these playlists...
Reviews
“The faithful depiction of the children and the horrendous bish-ups they make with the best of intentions keep Nesbit’s [tale] timeless.”
“The golden standard for magical wishes gone wrong.”
“Their first time in the country is filled with magical escapades for five children in this classic tale of adventure…[A] humorous story about magic in the real world.”
“The perfect children’s story…uniquely satisfying…timeless.”
Expand reviews
Give audiobooks, support local bookstores!
Libro.fm for Business
Start a membership, get two free audiobooks