The Railway Children

WITH ALL THE ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS BY C. E. BROCK, REPRODUCED FROM THE ORIGINAL EDITION

When their father is suddenly taken away, the children's lives change overnight. Unable to afford their London home, the family must move to a small cottage in the Yorkshire countryside. Hiding their sadness from their mother, Roberta, Peter and Phyllis roam the fields all day. Every morning they can be seen waving as the 9.15 train roars past, imagining that it will can carry their love to their father, wherever he may be. The trio become a familiar sight and their bravery and quick-thinking avert a railway disaster.

There is a kind old gentleman passenger never fails to wave back - little do the children realise how much his friendship will mean to them, especially in solving the mystery to their father's disappearance.

This collection of the best in children's literature, curated by Virago, will be coveted by children and adults alike. These are timeless tales with beautiful covers, that will be treasured and shared across the generations. Some titles you will already know; some will be new to you, but there are stories for everyone to love, whatever your age. Our list includes Nina Bawden ( Carrie's War, The Peppermint Pig), Rumer Godden ( An Episode of Sparrows), Joan Aiken ( The Serial Garden, The Gift Giving) E. Nesbit ( The Psammead Trilogy, The Bastable Trilogy, The Railway Children), Frances Hodgson Burnett ( The Little Princess,The Secret Garden) and Susan Coolidge ( The What Katy Did Trilogy).

Discover Virago Children's Classics.

About the Author

Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) is perhaps most famous for writing The Railway Children and Five Children and It, but she was extremely prolific and wrote or collaborated on more than sixty children's books. Nesbit is today recognised as one of the most influential and innovative children's writers that ever lived, and is cited as an inspiration by many contemporary authors, including J. K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, Jacqueline Wilson, Kate Saunders and Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

Even C. S. Lewis acknowledged the debt his Narnia series owed to her work - particularly the Bastable and Psammead trilogies.