Edith Nesbit

The Phoenix and the Carpet Edith Nesbit

This is the middle volume of a trilogy that begins with Five Children and It and concludes with The Story of the Amulet. It deviates from the other two novels insofar as it includes only a brief mention of the Psammead, a magical creature introduced in the first volume, and depicts the five children as living with both of their parents in the family home in London. In the other two volumes, circumstances have forced the children to spend protracted periods away from their home and their father. A continuing theme throughout The Phoenix and the Carpet is the element of fire.