The Railway Children: With an Introduction From Jacqueline Wilson (Puffin Classics) Hardcover

— And something wonderful did happen exactly four days after she had said this.I wish I could say it was three days after, because in fairy tales it is always threedays after that things happen. But this is not a fairy story, and besides, it reallywas four and not three, and I am nothing if not strictly truthful.Edith Nesbit had her tongue well in her cheek, of course, as she came to the end of her children's classic, published 110 years ago in 1906. After all, this story of three children forced into sudden poverty with their mother when their father is arrested has its full share of romance: the children thrive in their new environment next to a railway cutting, they make friends everywhere they go, and by a wonderful coincidence one of these friends turns out to be exactly the person who can help them. And yet, the enduring strength of the book has less to do with its romance than its truth. This is a real family, under real conditions, talking as people really talked—a far cry from the magical time-travel of THE STORY OF THE AMULET which preceded it.Though equally fascinated by steam trains, I did not read the book as a child. I ordered it now as a footnote to Helen Dunmore's recent novel EXPOSURE, which takes THE RAILWAY CHILDREN as its narrative frame—something I naturally didn't know until it was pointed out by friends. Dunmore's focus is primarily on why the father was arrested; with Nesbit, this is simply a fact that the reader must conjecture in the opening pages; it is not until quite close to the end that we hear any details (and discover that the case is very close to Dunmore's). But I think she is right to say nothing up front; it reproduces exactly the child's feeling of being carted off to new places and situations without understanding the adult reason behind it. It also gives a clear foundation for their resilience: their task is simply to help their mother get the new cottage in order, take chores off her hands, and make the most of their new environment.The three children are Roberta (12), Peter (10), and Phyllis (8). But the author explains on page 30:— I am tired of calling Roberta by her name. I don't see why I should. No one elsedid. Everyone else called her Bobbie, and I don't see why I shouldn't.So we get to know them by boys' names: Bobbie, Peter, and Phil. This matches the children's active independence, yet Nesbit does not turn the girls into tomboys; her gender balance is carefully thought out, and breaks the usual pattern of an elder boy leading the girls. Peter is there for physical strength and mechanical ingenuity, but Roberta is the one with the most responsibility, the one closest to her mother, the thinker, and in many ways the protagonist of the book. It is she who suggests that they get up early on their first morning, light the fire, lay the table, and put the kettle on for breakfast. After which, they go outside, discover the railway, and lose track of time:— They had made an excellent fire, and had set the kettle on it at about half past five.So that by eight the fire had been out for some time, the water had all boiled away,and the bottom was burned out of the kettle. Also they had not thought of washingthe crockery before they set the table.But their mother is nothing if not resilient too, and soon the children are off to visit the little rural station and make the first of their many friends. Even here, Nesbit values truth. Very few of the adults who come to help them fall in love with their cuteness at first sight; the children make mistakes and have to work on repairing them. Peter makes friends with the Station Master only after he has been caught "mining" coal from the heap outside the station and has duly apologized. Perks, the porter who tells them so much about trains, is as easily offended as befriended, and the children risk upsetting him when they plan something nice for his birthday. The bargee whom they encounter on the nearby canal behaves like an aggressive bully, and it is only when they help him in an unexpected crisis that they see his good side. I was also struck by the fact that while the book is naturally full of adventures, they are mostly of a small and believable kind. The biggest of them, when they save a train from crashing, is not saved for some grand climax, as another author might do, but placed before the half-way point in the book. It is the simplicity and naturalness of the book that makes it great—not its romance but its truth.In reviewing THE STORY OF THE AMULET, I pointed out Nesbit's occasion tendency to insert herself into the story as a moralist, generally to advance her socialist beliefs. There is much less of that here. A Russian emigré who shows up in the village turns out to be a celebrated leftist writer, but little else is made of it. There is one slightly awkward scene where the local doctor tell Peter how to treat girls, but in general the life-lessons are introduced subtly in the everyday course of events; this is indeed an improving book to read, but the kids will never know it! Of course, Nesbit does introduce herself frequently into the action as author, with charming effect as in my first two quotations above. The mother who spends her days writing stories for sale while the children roam free in the countryside is Nesbit herself, who passed through some hard times of her own. Which leads to a delightful example of what we would now call meta-fiction:— "I say," said Peter, musingly, "wouldn't it be jolly if we all were in a book and you werewriting it? Then you could make all sorts of jolly things happen, and make Jim's legs getwell at once and be all right tomorrow, and Father come home soon and — "Little does Peter know, they are already in a book, and their mother is indeed making all sorts of jolly things happen. But she is not doing it the easy way. And that is what makes this more than a footnote to a later novel, more than a charming period piece, but a true classic, as satisfying now as in the year it was written.

When a family must step away from the life they've always known, for circumstances out of their control, they try to make the best of it. Bobbie, Peter, and Phyllis have grown up affluent, raised by parents who make time for them and servants who feel like family. One day all of that changes. After a late night visit from strange men, their father goes away and soon they do as well. Moving with their mother to the country, they find a whole new perspective on life.The children are children - sometimes at their most kind and others saying just the wrong thing for not knowing any better. But at heart they were raised right and usually do the right thing. They get off to many adventures while their mother is uncharacteristically distracted by the family's troubles. Following along with them is great fun. Their capacity for helping others is quite heartwarming, as is their family dynamic. Travel back to a simpler time and see hardship through the eyes of a child, who can't quite grasp the why of it but can find the joy in life regardless.

I was buying this for a gift and luckily had it sent to my home first. There were no illustrations, other than the cover. The type was small and the pages formatted in a way that looked tall and narrow. Not inviting to a child. More like a college textbook. Very disappointing.

I first came across the Railway Children while at boarding school when I watched one of the several films made of the book written, by Edith Nesbit and first published in 1906. The story of three children and their mother living in a small, quaint farm cottage in the almost idyllic English countryside near a railway track conjured up images of a forgotten better time we all dream of and Nesbit's writing and understanding of the period makes this a successful read. I had never read the book until now, many years on, however as in the case of many books adapted to the screen, there was no disconnect between the two and my memories of the movie I loved, were awakened by the story in the book. Yes, it is worth reading and also for teens who are keen to read a good book from long ago.

Obviously this book is very much of it's time. It's charming, innocent, extremely sexist and I say, frightfully unrealistic. I expected the jeopardy to be much less mild and the emotions to be less monotone. It was disjointed. Each chapter could almost have been a short story and the overarching plot just wasn't strong enough to hold it all together, even for a children's book.I'm a regular YA reader and I'm an Enid Blyton fan so I wasn't approaching The Railway Children blindly but I was disappointed, it's overly twee with multiple happy endings to each subplot from contrived circumstances. I just didn't get the hype.

This book is a firm favourite of mine in my childhood and I have read it as an adult also. It never ceases to charm and make me smile. Yes you can see it is dated but that does not spoil the book and you do fall in love with the children, just like the characters fall in love with them in the book. Considering it is free I truly recommend to read to children or encourage book-worm children to read it too. Also there is the 1970 film with Jennifer Agutter and Bernard Cribbins and there is the 2000 film remade to take a look out for some family viewing.

The film was the first film I was taken to see as a child by my mother. I have seen it a few times since and it is one of my favourites. I was therefore unsure whether to read the book in case it was a let down but I needn't have worried. It is a wonderful nostalgic read, very well written with lovely characters that I fell in love with. Full of charm and a delight.

I bought this to re-read something I loved as a child, and it still gave me great pleasure ~ a classic! A heart-rending story of a family beset with problems but striving to overcome them, and coping in the end. The film is excellent of course, but cannot quite include all that the book reveals, so this excellent read is a necessity.

These children's lives are turned upside down by the imprisonment of their father, and their ensuing comparative poverty. Each child responds differently but each eventually benefits from enduring this trial on their faith in their father, and establishing a lifestyle very different from their former status. It's a "feel good" tale, with a happy ending, set in the time period of steam trains, tutors, and no forensics to assist in criminal trials.