'I love her books - particularly the Five Children and It sequence' Neil Gaiman
Due to a misadventure with a firework, a replacement carpet is needed for the children's room. An old Persian rug is found and as it is unfurled, a glowing stone egg rolls out, which the children place on the mantelpiece. When the egg accidentally falls into the fire, a very strange thing happens: out hatches a marvellous flame-coloured bird. And if that weren't enough of a surprise, the bird (who turns out to be a very vain phoenix) tells them that their carpet is magic: it will take them anywhere they wish to visit - over the London streets to tropical islands and Indian bazaars. Guiding them throughout their adventures (though he's more often a hindrance than a help) is their new friend, the phoenix.
'Nesbit opened the door in the magic wardrobe, pointed the way to platform nine and three quarters. She even had a hand in building the Tardis. And these are among her minor achievements. She is also simply the funniest writer we have ever had' Frank Cottrell-Boyce
'My all-time favourite classic children's author' Jacqueline Wilson

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.