The railway children - E. Nesbit

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.

I love her books
Neil Gaiman

My all-time favourite classic children's author
Jacqueline Wilson

Edith Nesbit is endlessly surprising and inventive . . . She is also simply the funniest writer we have ever had, while being the one who could most easily and sweetly break your heart with a phrase.
Just try saying "Daddy, oh my Daddy" without catching your breath
Frank Cottrell-Boyce

By turns sweet and serious, this much loved classic is above all a celebration of kindness and hope
Kiran Millwood Hargrave