ABSTRACT
The group of child characters is so central in E. Nesbit’s work that it is considered one of her contributions to children’s literature. The Psammead is E. Nesbit’s most original creation, and as he has a part to play in three of her books, it is important to try to understand what it is that has been discovered in this hole in the gravel-pit that was once a seashore. The phoenix, immortal bird that arises out of its own ashes, would seem to be an appropriate symbol for E. Nesbit’s renewal of creative spirit after her many misfortunes. The whole amulet, the Psammead tells them, would give generativity, integration, their heart’s desire. Finally, Edith’s beloved son Fabian, very much like herself in personality, had a tonsillectomy just before his sixteenth birthday. Great waves break upon the land, a volcano begins to erupt, and they escape at the last nick of time.
