E. Nesbit (1858 - 1924) wrote some of the best-loved children's books of the turn-of-the-century, including The Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet, and The Railway Children. Edith Nesbit was friends with many of the great literary figures of her day, including George Bernard Shaw, William Morris, and Laurence Housman. H. G. Wells once wrote to her that 'every self-respecting family will buy [your books]- and I knock my forehead on the ground at your feet in the vigour of my admiration of your easy artistry.'