The Story of the Amulet

Name: The Story of the Amulet
Author: Edith Nesbit

The Story of the Amulet is a children's fantasy novel by Edith Nesbit, published in 1905. The story follows three children who find an amulet that gives them incredible powers. However, they soon realize that the amulet has a dark history and is cursed, leading to a thrilling adventure filled with magic, mystery, and danger.

By Edith Nesbit · First published 1905 · Genre: Children's Fantasy, Adventure, Children's Literature · 14 chapters · 87,812 words

First lines

There were once four children who spent their summer holidays in a white house, happily situated between a sandpit and a chalkpit. One day they had the good fortune to find in the sandpit a strange creature. Its eyes were on long horns like snail's eyes, and it could move them in and out like telescopes. It had ears like a bat's ears, and its tubby body was shaped like a spider's and covered with thick soft fur -- and it had hands and feet like a monkey's. It told the children -- whose names were Cyril, Robert, Anthea, and Jane -- that it was a Psammead or sand-fairy. (Psammead is pronounced Sammy-ad.) It was old, old, old, and its birthday was almost at the very beginning of everything. And it had been buried in the sand for thousands of years. But it still kept its fairylikeness, and part of this fairylikeness was its power to give people whatever they wished for. You know fairies have always been able to do this.

What this Textopian page supports

The Story of the Amulet is listed on Textopian as a novel by Edith Nesbit, dated 1905 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Work type: Novel
Author: Edith Nesbit
Date: 1905 CE
Language: English
Genres: Children's Fantasy, Adventure, Children's Literature, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction
Length: 87,812 words
Structure: 14 chapters, 2,390 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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Work identity for The Story of the Amulet by Edith Nesbit
Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Discussion starters

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How does this novel by Edith Nesbit fit its genre, period, or classroom use?
Where does Children's Fantasy first become important in the reading?

Similar titles

Genres

Children's Fantasy — The book features time travel, ancient Egypt, creature's magic, and other supernatural elements as the children embark on fantastical adventures, which is a classic trait of Children's Fantasy.
Adventure — The story involves the children using the amulet to travel through time and space on various adventurous exploits, thereby fitting the Adventure genre.
Children's Literature — The Story of the Amulet is explicitly written for children and features young protagonists, hence, it falls under the Children's Literature genre.
Historical Fiction — Although elements of fantasy are predominant, the book also includes depictions of past civilizations and historical settings, earning it a place in the Historical Fiction genre.