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Five siblings--Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and their baby brother "the Lamb"--are looking forward to a dull summer in the English countryside when they unexpectedly discover It. "It" is the Psammead, an ancient and deeply grumpy and sarcastic sand-fairy with the power to grant wishes. Unfortunately, the Psammead has been sleeping at the bottom of the local gravel-pit for several millennia now, and his wish-granting powers are rusty. All he can manage is one wish per day, to be shared among all five children, with all wishes to vanish promptly at sunset. Even this turns out to be far too much as every wish turns into an unexpected disaster.
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Five siblings--Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and their baby brother "the Lamb"--are looking forward to a dull summer in the English countryside when they unexpectedly discover It. "It" is the Psammead, an ancient and ancient, deeply grumpy grumpy, and sarcastic sand-fairy with the power to grant wishes. Unfortunately, the Psammead has been sleeping at the bottom of the local gravel-pit for several millennia now, and his wish-granting powers are rusty. All he can manage is one wish per day, to be shared among all five children, with all wishes to vanish promptly at sunset. Even this turns out to be far too much as every wish turns into an unexpected disaster.
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* GenderEqualEnsemble: The four older children--two boys and two girls--work together as a team and always adventure together, with the Psammead, the Lamb, or (in the next book) the Phoenix joining them only some of the time, and not necessarily being helpful to them when they do.
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* DeathIsCheap: A brief example; the Psammead mentions that back in the past, one boy made a series of bad wishes that resulted in him being punished by his parents by not being allowed to take part in an upcoming trip, and then came to the pit and screamed that he wished he was dead, which resulted in the boy being literally dead for a few hours until sunset that evening.
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* DeathIsCheap: A brief example; the Psammead mentions that back in the past, one boy made a series of bad wishes that resulted in him being punished by his parents by not being allowed to take part in an upcoming trip, and trip. The boy then came to the pit and screamed that he wished he was dead, which resulted in the boy being literally dead for a few hours until sunset that evening.
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* GlassCannon: The carpet turns out to be a version of this. While it is a magic carpet, it was apparently never intended for regular use as an actual ''carpet'', with the result that it rapidly becomes worn and full of holes as the children walk over it on a regular basis. The Phoenix notes that when it was originally used, people would take their shoes off before walking on the carpet to make wishes. This leads to the carpet becoming so worn that at one point [[spoiler:Robert and Jane fall off when their portion of the carpet tears as they're sitting on it]], culminating in their mother planning to give the carpet away with the rubbish.
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* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Phoenix [[spoiler: accidentally sets the theatre on fire]]
* ThePhoenix: A literal one.
* ThePhoenix: A literal one.
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* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The Phoenix [[spoiler: accidentally sets the theatre on fire]]
* ThePhoenix: A literal one. This phoenix is capable of human speech and flight, and is shown enjoying resting in suitably warm fires. Its life span is theoretically five hundred years, but the excitement of life with the children caused it to become worn and exhausted after only a few months. The Phoenix is referred to as "it" in-narrative, and has a male voice in the televised adaptation, but is capable of laying eggs.
* ThePhoenix: A literal one. This phoenix is capable of human speech and flight, and is shown enjoying resting in suitably warm fires. Its life span is theoretically five hundred years, but the excitement of life with the children caused it to become worn and exhausted after only a few months. The Phoenix is referred to as "it" in-narrative, and has a male voice in the televised adaptation, but is capable of laying eggs.
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* AllJustADream: After the Babylon queen visits, things get out of hand and [[spoiler: a lot of people are killed. Someone says that it's all a dream, to which another person replies that he wishes it was a dream... and luckily the Psammead is on hand to grant that wish.]]
* HaveWeMetYet: In one of their trips to the past (not described in detail due to an apparent lack of time), the children apparently met the Phoenix, who doesn't recognise them because it hasn't met them yet.
* IGaveMyWord: The children and an Egyptian priest give their words: the priest by a secret name on a certain altar, and the children ''say'' they will do it, which means the same. [[spoiler:The priest then declares that there is no such name, so he is not bound, but the Psammead knows that there is, and threatens to call upon it.]]
* HaveWeMetYet: In one of their trips to the past (not described in detail due to an apparent lack of time), the children apparently met the Phoenix, who doesn't recognise them because it hasn't met them yet.
* IGaveMyWord: The children and an Egyptian priest give their words: the priest by a secret name on a certain altar, and the children ''say'' they will do it, which means the same. [[spoiler:The priest then declares that there is no such name, so he is not bound, but the Psammead knows that there is, and threatens to call upon it.]]
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* AllJustADream: After the Babylon queen visits, things get out of hand and [[spoiler: a lot of people are killed. Someone says that it's all a dream, to which another person replies that he wishes it was a dream... and luckily the Psammead is on hand to grant that wish.]]
wish]].
* HaveWeMetYet: In one of their trips to the past (not described in detail due to an apparent lack of time), the children apparently met the Phoenix, who doesn't recognise them because it hasn't met themyet.
yet, although it apparently experienced a prophetic trance.
* IGaveMyWord: The children and an Egyptian priest give their words: the priest by a secret name on a certain altar, and the children ''say'' they will do it, which means the same. [[spoiler:The priest then declares that there is no such name, so he is not bound, but the Psammead knows that there is, and threatens to call uponit.]]it]].
* HaveWeMetYet: In one of their trips to the past (not described in detail due to an apparent lack of time), the children apparently met the Phoenix, who doesn't recognise them because it hasn't met them
* IGaveMyWord: The children and an Egyptian priest give their words: the priest by a secret name on a certain altar, and the children ''say'' they will do it, which means the same. [[spoiler:The priest then declares that there is no such name, so he is not bound, but the Psammead knows that there is, and threatens to call upon
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* TimeyWimeyBall: The novel ends with [[spoiler:the children retrieving the completed amulet from the earliest point in its history where it exists, at which point it merges with the fragment they possess already; prior to this, they had already discovered that the amulet would merge with its other self if its past and future selves were brought into contact, despite the fact that the past amulet no longer exists to become the future one.]].
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* TimeyWimeyBall: The novel ends with [[spoiler:the children retrieving the completed amulet from the earliest point in its history where it exists, at which point it merges with the fragment they possess already; prior already. Prior to this, they had already discovered that the amulet would merge with its other self if its past and future selves were brought into contact, despite the fact that this creates a scenario where the past amulet no longer exists to become the future one.]].one]].
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* LovedByAll: A wish results in the Lamb being instantly adored by everyone who sees him, leaving the children to spend their day whisking him away from one kidnapper after another.
