The Secret Life of Children’s Books

Episode
Five Children and It - Ep1
Broadcast Info
2016 (29 mins)
Description
Edith Nesbit is probably best known these days for The Railway Children but her earlier book Five Children and It was even more influential its blend of magic and the everyday paving the way for the Narnia stories and Harry Potter. A classic fantasy story about a group of siblings who discover a creature that can grant wishes, Nesbit’s warm, witty children’s fable was shaped by her own troubled family life. In this film, actress and Nesbit fan Samantha Bond discovers how a rootless childhood and terrible personal tragedy influenced Five Children & It, delving into the origins and legacy of a book that can be arguably said to have kickstarted modern children’s fiction.
Samantha Bond reveals how Edith Nesbit’s guilt over the death of her young son Fabian led her to create a new kind of children’s fiction a blend of magic and realism that paved the way for the children’s fantasy fiction genre, from the Narnia stories to Harry Potter. Edith Nesbit is probably best known for The Railway Children but her earlier book Five Children and It was even more influential its blend of magic and realism paving the way for the Narnia stories and Harry Potter. In this film, actress and Nesbit fan Samantha Bond delves into the origins and legacy of the book that can be arguably said to have kickstarted modern children’s fiction.
Samantha discovers how the book was born out of Edith’s rootless childhood and the struggle to bring up her own family. She reveals the bohemian ménageatrois behind the book’s image of a happy family. And she finds out about the terrible tragedy that coloured Edith’s imagination and which gave birth to a new kind of children’s fiction. Samantha meets children’s author Jacqueline Wilson and the prizewinning author Kate Saunders, who have both published updated and reversioned stories inspired by Nesbit’s work, the Chair of the E Nesbit Society, and the film features contributions from archivists at the British Library. Samantha also visit places of significance in Nesbit’s life to discover how her work came about, and the influences which inspired her to create some of the most bestloved children’s classics.
Genre
Arts; Literature; Writing; History
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How to cite this record

The Open University, "The Secret Life of Children’s Books". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ou/search/index.php/prog/225876 (Accessed 24 Nov 2025)