The Railway Children

“If everybody thought of everything, there'd be nothing left for anybody else to think about.”pg 164I read [b:Five Children and It 45181 Five Children and It (Five Children #1) E. Nesbit https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327882197l/45181.SY75.jpg 975095]in 5th grade and disliked it. For years I had a bad taste in my mouth when I heard the name E. Nesbit. Then, recently, I read one of her ghost stories in the [b:Weird Women: Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers: 1852-1923 52974605 Weird Women Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers 1852-1923 Leslie S. Klinger https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575591998l/52974605.SX50_SY75.jpg 73796202] collection and thought maybe I should try her again. Here's the thing, I see why this charmed so many people for so long. It's got the total Anne of Green Gables feel to it, and the afterword in my edition compares it to A Little Princess. But it's so....twee. I mean, my teeth hurt while reading it because it's over the top sweet. And I know that is how some people want their stories to be, but for me it's grating. I also wanted to spank Peter for being an idiot. He never once talks to his sister without calling her “silly” or a “prat”. But if one looks at the time this was written, some of it is forgivable. I'd love to overhear a parent explain to their modern children why the Railway Children are running around train tracks and quarries unsupervised but as a child of the 80s ...it's not shocking.