First Students' Classics

 Edith Nesbit was born in 1858 in Kennington, Surrey (now part of Greater London). Nesbit was an active lecturer and prolific writer on socialism during the 1880s. 

Nesbit’s literary output was tremendous. She published about 40 books for children—novels and story collections. She also published almost as many more books, collaborating with others.

According to some, Nesbit was ‘the first modern writer for children’. She was also credited with having invented the children’s adventure story and made popular an innovative style of children’s fantasy merging realistic, real-world settings with magical objects and adventures. Among Nesbit’s best-known books are The Railway Children, Five Children and It, and The Story of the Treasure Seekers.

Edith Nesbit died on 4 May, 1924 and was buried in the churchyard of St. Mary’s in the Marsh, Kent, England.