Five Children and It

by E. (Edith) Nesbit

"Five Children and It" by E. Nesbit is a children's fantasy novel published in 1902. When five siblings discover a grumpy, ancient sand-fairy called the Psammead in a gravel pit, they're granted one wish per day—but there's a catch. Each wish vanishes at sunset, and every desire goes hilariously and dangerously wrong. From unwanted beauty to unspendable riches, from inconvenient wings to a besieged castle, the children learn that getting what you wish for isn't always what you want.