Reviews with content warning for Racism - Five Children and It: BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Five Children and It: BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation by E. Nesbit

9 reviews

xabbeylongx's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

~~SPOILERS AHEAD~~

Book Review:

This book was a simple book to read, and I read it in less than an hour.

The overall word to describe this book is just that: ‘simple’. As it should be for a children’s book. The characters are simple, easy to understand and also quite realistic. Same with the plot. A lot of fantasy elements to the story, which are quite prevalent to the audience it is made for. I liked the moral of the story, in that ‘the grass isn’t always greener’, and they also learn how to solve problems by themselves, and are faced with different moralistic dilemmas. The story itself was told in a very intriguing way, and the narrator had really good, really interesting dialogue.

In truth, I found this book a little repetitive, but that might be because I am not the intended audience for the book. Also, there were a few sexist and racist ideologies I wasn’t a fan of, and it made me quite uncomfortable, especially for a children’s book. I know it was written in a different era, but still, it took the enjoyment out of the book for me, unfortunately.

Book Summary:

When they arrive in London, six children are left alone with the servants, as the parents go off to visit a sickly relative. Five of the younger children, Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and ‘The Lamb’ are playing and come across a Psammead. They are almost like sand fairies, and they grant wishes, but these wishes only last until sunset. They find him burrowed in gravel, and they ask him for wishes. They have various different wishes granted, like having being rich, having everyone in the world want their baby (‘The Lamb’), and also having wings, but all their wishes backfire. The money they get is currency that they can’t use, various people try to steal ‘The Lamb’, and then their wings disappear while they’re on top of a tall tower, and they can’t get down!

Despite this, they go back every day to ask for wishes… sometimes once, sometimes twice! Each time a wish is granted, they are faced with problems that they have to solve, that sometimes questions their morality - such as stealing and lying! Eventually, everything goes back to the way it was, when the parents return and almost get arrested for stealing the Queen’s jewels, and they know to leave the Psammead alone from now on, having exhausted him of all their wishes.

Content Warnings

tatinha's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Content Warnings

sepptb's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

Content Warnings

euphemiajo's review

Go to review page

adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Content Warnings

joctrem's review against another edition

Go to review page

fast-paced

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

1.0

These children are insufferable

Content Warnings

rachelp's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content Warnings

rworrall78's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

It's clear that E Nesbitt was a funny writer, and in many ways ahead of her time. It's all so clear that a book this old has serious problems for a modern reader. There is racism, search a terrible class structure and on a less contentious level the language for children use is just massively dated.

All that said, the story is clever and wise. I just really struggled to see past those other things.

Content Warnings

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

One of the less racist, less sexist children’s books from the early 1900s I’ve read so far (there is insensitive rep of Native Americans and there’s some toxic masculinity related to fighting and not crying)! This is a fun story about magic and all the ways wishes can go awry. I realized I must have seen a TV adaptation of this book as a kid, because some of the chapters were extremely familiar.

Content Warnings

laralarks's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

NO.

Content Warnings

More...