The Wonderful Garden (1911) by

E. Nesbit, as usual, transports us back to the hazy summer days of a well-to-do Edwardian childhood, liberally spiced with magic, humour and lessons learned. Published exactly 100 years ago, this is one of her least-known children's books, out of print for many years, and with no text available online at the time of recording. Yes, it's dated. Yes, it's politically incorrect. But it is delightful nonetheless. As Gore Vidal once wrote: "...though a reading of E. Nesbit is hardly going to change the pattern of a nation, there is some evidence that the child who reads her will never be quite the same again, and that is probably a good thing