Other editions of book The Wouldbegoods

The Wouldbegoods, a sequel to The Treasure Seekers, reacquaints us with the six Bastable children: Dora, Oswald, Dicky, Alice, Noël, and H.O. Again, the story is told by you-may-not-know-who, and the children find all sorts of ways in which to amuse themselves in the country during the summer holidays."Children are like jam," says the Indian uncle, "all very well in the proper place, but you can't stand them all over the shop - eh, what?" Well, the children do their best, but they do get themselves into trouble, right from the beginning, when their latest brainwave is to create a jungle in the garden.

After a more-than-usually unruly episode, they good-intentions-but-somehow-struggling Bastable children swear a heavy vow to be good at all costs. But their carefully laid plans to unleash virtuous behavior sends them spiraling into deeper misbehavior than ever before...Illustrated to enhance the reading experience, this Edith Nesbit classic is formatted for Kindle devices and the Kindle for iOS apps.

"Children are like jam: all very well in the proper place, but you can't stand them all over the shop—eh, what?" These were the dreadful words of our Indian uncle. They made us feel very young and angry; and yet we could not be comforted by calling him names to ourselves, as you do when nasty grown-ups say nasty things, because he is not nasty, but quite the exact opposite when not irritated. And we could not think it ungentlemanly of him to say we were like jam, because, as Alice says, jam is very nice indeed—only not on furniture and improper places like that. My father said, "Perhaps they had better go to boarding-school." And that was awful, because we know father disapproves of boarding-schools. And he looked at us and said, "I am ashamed of them, sir!" Your lot is indeed a dark and terrible one when your father is ashamed of you. And we all knew this, so that we felt in our chests just as if we had swallowed a hard-boiled egg whole. At least, this is what Oswald felt, and father said once that Oswald, as the eldest, was the representative of the family, so, of course, the others felt the same. And then everybody said nothing for a short time. At last father said: "You may go—but remember—" The words that followed I am not going to tell you. It is no use telling you what you know before—as they do in schools. And you must all have had such words said to you many times. We went away when it was over. The girls cried, and we boys got out books and began to read, so that nobody should think we cared. But we felt it deeply in our interior hearts, especially Oswald, who is the eldest and the representative of the family. We felt it all the more because we had not really meant to do anything wrong. We only thought perhaps the grown-ups would not be quite pleased if they knew, and that is quite different. Besides, we meant to put all the things back in their proper places when we had done with them before any one found out about it. But I must not anticipate (that means telling the end of a story before the beginning. I tell you this because it is so sickening to have words you don't know in a story, and to be told to look it up in the dicker). We are the Bastables—Oswald, Dora, Dicky, Alice, Noël, and H. O. If you want to know why we call our youngest brother H. O. you can jolly well read The Treasure Seekers and find out. We were the Treasure Seekers, and we sought it high and low, and quite regularly, because we particularly wanted to find it. And at last we did not find it, but we were found by a good, kind Indian uncle, who helped father with his business, so that father was able to take us all to live in a jolly big red house on Blackheath, instead of in the Lewisham Road, where we lived when we were only poor but honest Treasure Seekers. When we were poor but honest we always used to think that if only father had plenty of business, and we did not have to go short of pocket-money and wear shabby clothes (I don't mind this myself, but the girls do), we should be quite happy and very, very good. And when we were taken to the beautiful big Blackheath house we thought now all would be well, because it was a house with vineries and pineries, and gas and water, and shrubberies and stabling, and replete with every modern convenience, like it says in Dyer & Hilton's list of Eligible House Property. I read all about it, and I have copied the words quite right. It is a beautiful house, all the furniture solid and strong, no casters off the chairs, and the tables not scratched, and the silver not dented; and lots of servants, and the most decent meals every day—and lots of pocket-money. But it is wonderful how soon you get used to things, even the things you want most. Our watches, for instance.

The Bastable children are up to yet more adventures in this sequel to The Story of the Treasure Seekers—a delightful classic that will charm children and adults alike The Bastable children have been banished to the country in disgrace—following a particularly damaging reenaction of a jungle scene featuring expensive stuffed animals and a garden hose. The gang of six, Dora, Oswald, Dicky, Alice, Noel, and Horace Octavius (H.O.), decides to turn over a new leaf. Spurred on by Dora's urgings, the children found "The Society of the Wouldbegoods"—aiming to mend their ways by being good whenever possible. But the schemes they undertake to try to be good and make themselves useful never seem to quite go as planned. Even when they are attempting to be well behaved, they seem unable to endear themselves to adults, instead, among other things, they cause a fire, some flooding, get held hostage, and find time to purchase a pistol along the way. It seems that despite their best intentions, they are destined to leave a trail of destruction in their wake—and to be, frankly, naughty.

“The Wouldbegoods” is a 1901 novel by English author Edith Nesbit that continues the story of the Bastable children and is a squeal to “The Story of the Treasure Seekers”. As a result of bad behaviour, Oswald, Dora, Dicky, Alice, Noel, and Horace Octavius Bastable are sent off to the countryside, where they promise to utterly reform themselves. However, their intention of performing good deeds seems to land them in as much trouble as before, and sometimes even more so. Edith Nesbit (1858 – 1924) was an English poet and author. She is perhaps best remembered for her children's literature, publishing more than 60 such books under the name E. Nesbit. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, which had a significant influence on the Labour Party and British politics in general. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

*This Book is annotated (it contains a detailed biography of the author). *An active Table of Contents has been added by the publisher for a better customer experience. *This book has been checked and corrected for spelling errors.This publication is an Illustrated Edition.Sent away to the country after a particularly unruly episode, the well-meaning but wayward Bastable children solemnly vow to reform their behavior. But their grand schemes for great and virtuous deeds lead to just as much mayhem as their ordinary games, and sometimes more.