Five Children and It

Five children, Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and their baby brother, the Lamb, are spending the summer in the Kent countryside when, digging in a gravel pit, they uncover a Psammead, a grumpy, furry sand-fairy with eyes on long horns like a snail's, who can grant one wish a day. Each wish lasts until sunset, and each goes wrong: they wish to be beautiful and their own servant will not let them in, wish for gold and cannot spend it, wish for wings and end up stranded on a church tower.

Published in 1902, E. Nesbit's book was one of the first to bring magic into the everyday world of ordinary modern children, who argue, make mistakes and must get themselves out of trouble, and it influenced writers from C. S. Lewis to J. K. Rowling. The story continues in The Phoenix and the Carpet. From here, try The Railway Children.