The Railway Children

The children wave every day to an old gentleman on the morning train, and he becomes an important friend. They befriend Perks, the proud and good-hearted station porter, and have one adventure after another: stopping a train before it hits a landslide by waving red petticoats, rescuing a baby from a burning barge, and helping a boy who breaks his leg in a railway tunnel. They also help a refugee writer from abroad who is searching for his family.

Roberta, the eldest, gradually learns why their father has been taken away and keeps the painful secret to protect her mother. With courage and the help of their new friends, the children work to put things right. The story is warm, funny and occasionally sad, and Nesbit's narrator speaks directly to readers with gentle humour. The book has been loved for more than a century and adapted many times for film and television.

Gentle, warm and timeless, a perfect family read-aloud that celebrates kindness between strangers, loyalty within a family and the courage of children who quietly do the right thing. About 288 pages in the Puffin Classics paperback.