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Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) is perhaps most famous for writing The Railway Children and Five Children and It, but she was extremely prolific and wrote or collaborated on more than sixty children's books. Nesbit is today recognised as one of the most influential and innovative children's writers that ever lived, and is cited as an inspiration by many contemporary authors, including J. K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, Jacqueline Wilson, Kate Saunders and Frank Cottrell-Boyce. Even C. S. Lewis acknowledged the debt his Narnia series owed to her work - particularly the Bastable and Psammead trilogies.
E. Nesbit belongs with those writers of children's books who are successful because of their skills as storytellers. Indeed, she was one of the first. She speaks to the reader, and it's almost as though you can hear her voice -- Quentin Blake Endlessly surprising and inventive ... She is also simply the funniest writer we have ever had, while being the one who could most easily and sweetly break your heart with a phrase. Just try saying Daddy oh my Daddy without catching your breath. She made the magic worlds feel as near as the Lewisham Road and she bathed the Lewisham Road in magic -- Frank Cottrell-Boyce I love E. Nesbit * Neil Gaiman * My all-time favourite classic children's author * Jacqueline Wilson *
