While playing in the gravel pit in the countryside Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and their baby brother Lamb come to lay their hands upon a Psammead a sand fairy who can grant wishes. And he indeed allows them one wish a day! But "It" - as the Psammead is called is a little grumpy, a little malevolent. So the children should pick their wishes wisely - or else, every wish will turn to stone at the end of the day. E. Nesbit s Five Children and It is the first book in her most beloved Psammead trilogy and has never been out of print since its first publication in 1906