THE PHOENIX AND THE CARPET

That evening, Mother read to them from a book called <i>The Phoenix and the Carpet</i>, which she had had since she was a little girl. Like all the best children's books, it was written to be read aloud; you immediately knew that Mrs. Nesbit had read it aloud to her own children, and every now and then she had put in a little joke for her husband, who was pretending to do something important but was really listening too. <br /><br />Mrs. Nesbit had a wonderful imagination, and she also had a strong moral sense; so strong, in fact, that she knew, without even stopping to consider the question, that it is most inconsiderate to put improving thoughts into children's books without first making them amusing. Both the children and their parents thought she wrote very well. The children just said that her books weren't boring, like most of the old books that Mother sometimes tried to read to them, while the grown-ups explained it in a more complicated way, using words like Ironic Detachment and Economy of Phrase. It is very rare to find all these excellent qualities combined in one person: almost as rare as to find a Phoenix's egg hidden inside a magic carpet, but not quite.<br />

4.5<br /><br />Inače volim čitati serijale redom, ali kako je prvi dio „Petero djece i Pjesko“ bio nedostupan, a htjela sam vidjeti kakve su ovo dogodovštine s Feniksom i Čarobnim sagom, odlučila sam ipak uzeti drugi dio na čitanje. Malo me bilo strah koliko su povezani, koliko se nadopunjuju nastavci, ali ispalo je da sam drugi dio bez ikakvog problema čitala ne znajući ništa unaprijed. Baš mi je drago zbog toga! <br /><br />Više o utiscima pročitajte klikom na link: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://knjige-u-svom-filmu.webador.com/recenzije-stranih-knjiga/905874_recenzija-knjige-feniks-i-carobni-sag-five-children-2">https://knjige-u-svom-filmu.webador.c...</a>

I loved this book and the series as a young girl. This book transported me with its imaginative plot and made me want to be one of the lucky children on a magic carpet!<br /><br />It's one of those timeless children's books that I hope children may still read today. Up there with books like The Famous Five by Enid Blyton and the Trixie Belden series. <br /><br />One of my all time favourite books as an avid younger reader. 5 magical stars for entertainment, great plot, magic and characters.

Did not like this book as much as 'Five Children and It'. I felt the children had better adventures in the first book with the Psammead than they did with the Phoenix or the carpet....I guess they made better wishes in the first book than the second.

Sadly, classism, sexism and racism did dampen my enjoyment of this otherwise fantastic children's book.

This is the second book in the Five Children series, but actually the last one I read, after the Amulet and then Five Children and It. I think this was the strongest book in the series with the most interesting plotline, and I recommend the whole series as a nice bit if early 20th-century sci fi/fantasy.

Fine, and a fun premise, but a little overrated for Nesbit. The plot is episodic and bumpy. The protagonists are rather spoiled, semi-neglected, un-self-aware children who don't experience character growth during the story. The Phoenix is an interesting fellow, but entirely too passive to drive the show through enigmatic magnetism or, apparently, any motivating desires of his own. Both the Phoenix and the Carpet seemed to have shown up solely to entertain a set of mildly bored children. Would have worked better if Nesbit had presented the story as the children's make-believe; as fantasy, it's a cup of weak tea.

<i>"I daresay they're not real cats," said Jane madly, "Perhaps they're only dream-cats."<br />"I'll dream-cat you, my lady," was the brief response of the force."</i><br /><br /><br /><br />In regards to this book, I'm going to write something so groundbreaking that I would be willing to bet lots and lots of metaphorical pounds on the fact that <i>no one</i> has ever said, written or even <i>thought</i> about this idea when they closed the pages of Ms Nesbit's wonderful book. <br /><br /><input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="a321849a-7306-4ed7-893d-f8a580611034" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="a321849a-7306-4ed7-893d-f8a580611034">I wish <i>I</i> had a Phoenix and a magic carpet</label><br /><br />I'm going to change the world with this 'ere noggin.

While I really enjoyed the writing style of the book, especially the arch little comments on human behaviour, it was hard for me to get past the casual "oh those poor childish savages" racism inherent in books from this era.<br /><br />I think when the Spawn read this, we'll have a little talk about the racism in books by writers like Nesbit, Blyton and Kipling, and what it says about humanity (and hopefully how we've moved on, at least a little.)

Delightful shenanigans with four children who are left home alone suspiciously often. I had considered only giving it four stars, due to frequent references to savages and naive notions about burglars. Not to mention comments that it's unmanly for boys to cry. But I just can't help myself. It's just too wonderful for four stars. Many thanks go to the Librivox narrator, Helen Taylor, for her beautiful reading.