In 1914, on the eve of the First World War, Cyril is off to fight, Anthea is at art college, Robert is a Cambridge scholar, and Jane is at high school when the sand fairy, Psammead, suddenly reappears, and his magic has a more serious purpose than when the siblings were children.

Sequel to: Five children and it, by Edith Nesbit, first published in 1905. "Originally published in hardcover by Faber & Faber Limited, Bloomsbury House, London, in 2014."