This book was a simple book to read, and I read it in less than an hour. 

The overall word to describe this book is just that: ‘simple’. As it should be for a children’s book. The characters are simple, easy to understand and also quite realistic. Same with the plot. A lot of fantasy elements to the story, which are quite prevalent to the audience it is made for. I liked the moral of the story, in that ‘the grass isn’t always greener’, and they also learn how to solve problems by themselves, and are faced with different moralistic dilemmas. The story itself was told in a very intriguing way, and the narrator had really good, really interesting dialogue. 

In truth, I found this book a little repetitive, but that might be because I am not the intended audience for the book. Also, there were a few sexist and racist ideologies I wasn’t a fan of, and it made me quite uncomfortable, especially for a children’s book. I know it was written in a different era, but still, it took the enjoyment out of the book for me, unfortunately. 

 

When they arrive in London, six children are left alone with the servants, as the parents go off to visit a sickly relative. Five of the younger children, Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and ‘The Lamb’ are playing and come across a Psammead. They are almost like sand fairies, and they grant wishes, but these wishes only last until sunset. They find him burrowed in gravel, and they ask him for wishes. They have various different wishes granted, like having being rich, having everyone in the world want their baby (‘The Lamb’), and also having wings, but all their wishes backfire. The money they get is currency that they can’t use, various people try to steal ‘The Lamb’, and then their wings disappear while they’re on top of a tall tower, and they can’t get down! 

Despite this, they go back every day to ask for wishes… sometimes once, sometimes twice! Each time a wish is granted, they are faced with problems that they have to solve, that sometimes questions their morality - such as stealing and lying! Eventually, everything goes back to the way it was, when the parents return and almost get arrested for stealing the Queen’s jewels, and they know to leave the Psammead alone from now on, having exhausted him of all their wishes.