Five Children and It: This 1902 3-part fantasy features an irritable Psammead whom Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and their baby brother dig up in a sand pit. Then the magic begins. The sand-fairy does not like granting wishes, and his misshapen body with bat's ears and snail's eyes bloats when he does. The wishes, lasting only until sunset, all take unexpected, funny turns.

Five Children and It
To Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and their baby brother, the house in the country promises a summer of freedom and play. But when they accidentally uncover an accident Psammead, or Sand-fairy, who has the power to make wishes come true, they find themselves having the holiday of a lifetime, sharing one thrilling adventure after another. Asleep since dinosaurs roamed the earth, the ill-tempered, odd--looking Psammead --with his spider-shaped body, bat's ears, and snail's eyes --grudgingly agrees to grant the children one wish per day. Soon, though the children discover that their wishes have a tendency to turn out quite differently than expected.

The Phoenix and the Carpet
Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and their baby brother, the Lamb, are playing in the nursery with fireworks when they inadvertently burn the rug. The replacement carpet, a secondhand item of unknown origins, contains a stone egg that falls into the fireplace and miraculously hatches a phoenix.

The friendly phoenix explains that the magic carpet can transport the children to any location around the globe, but only three times a day. Fantastic and bizarre events follow, as the children and their new friend undertake local adventures in Edwardian-era London as well as expeditions to a French castle, an Indian bazaar, and a remote desert island. 

The Story of the Amulet
The children are living with an elderly nurse who established a boardinghouse in Central London. She lives with a studious Egyptologist who has filled his bedsit with ancient artifacts. Children know the scholar and become friends with him and call him Jimmy. In a shop full of unusual merchandise children find the Psammead. It had been captured by a trapper, who failed to recognize him as a magical being. The terrified creature cannot escape, but it can only grant the wishes of others, not for himself. Using a ruse, the children convince the retailer to sell them the "Mangy old monkey" and liberate their old friend.