The Railway Children

E Nesbit

From Shelf: Children's Classics

Roberta is the eldest daughter of a man unjustly sent to prison, who shows great courage, and who is ultimately reunited with her father when he is vindicated and restored to his family. This book spawned the TV film starring Jenny Agutter as Roberta, and Bernard Cribbins as the railway porter.

Although E. Nesbit regarded her poetry as her most important work, it is her children's books (written 'to keep the house going') that ensured her lasting fame and which are still enjoyed with such affection today. Her readers have their oen favourites, but the film version of THE RAILWAY CHILDREN, with Jenny Agutter as Roberta, the eldest daughter of the man unjustly sent to prison, and the Bernard Cribbins as the friendly railway porter, brought the book to a new generation of readers who love it for Roberta's courage and the satisfaction of the ending when her father is vindicated and restored to his family. The film is regularly shown on British Television.