Continuing the series about the Bastable children is The Wouldbegoods, in which the children discover that having money again and living in their Indian Uncle's fancy house in town does not make them automatically desire to be good. I didn't find this nearly as much fun as The Treasure-Seekers. The latter carried on the often amusing conceit that the narrator was anonymous, although Oswald outed himself near the end, as if the reader hadn't already known after a couple of paragraphs. Still, he did come out and admit it – which makes it somewhat trying that the same conceit is carried on here. It's a bit funny to read (listen to) this almost immediately after The Railway Children. That set of kids was well-intentioned, good-hearted, and heroic; this lot is much more lawless and self-absorbed. The very name "Wouldbegoods" is a sign of it: they realize that they are prone to petty criminality as the sparks fly upward, and the two "prissy" girls, Dora and Daisy, propose to form a club to try to improve themselves. It doesn't go terribly well. I hate to say it, being as he (along with his creator) is a birthday-twin, but … I don't like Oswald Bastable in this. He was somewhat endearing in his pompous yet insecure self-praise in TTS, but here he and one or two of the others seem to have a bit more of a mean streak, or perhaps simply carelessness. Oswald will go far, though, with his attributes – or end up hanged. I think part of it was that I missed Albert's Uncle in The Wouldbegoods - hey! Where did his beloved go? And why did I only just think of that? Hm. Anyway. I loved Albert's Uncle in The Treasure Seekers, but while he was nominally the adult in charge here he was locked up in his room writing a great deal. Rather more than might have been wise given the amount of close supervision these children require. Without him, there is less of the second-hand, through-the-lens-of-Oswald's-POV adult reaction which made Treasure Seekers so priceless. I think that's a big part of why the constant string of incidents wore a bit thinner in The Wouldbegoods than in Treasure Seekers: it very soon becomes don't these kids ever learn? combined with Oswald at least must be old enough to know better by now. But they haven't, and he doesn't, and there goes the pig galloping down the road while the sheep vanish in the opposite direction. The one certainty in any given chapter is that there will be breakage.Wouldbegoods is still miles better than most of what's put out today, as far as I've seen; it's still great fun. So: not my favorite, but still – E. Nesbit. That counts for a great deal.
I read a volume that included both The Story of the Treasure Seekers and The Wouldbegoods with an incredible introduction by Noel Streatfeild - if you can find this volume, do read it. I come to Nesbit quite late in life - she wasn't an author I enjoyed as a child. She's a very modern writer - she's certainly the grandmother of modern fantasy for children with books like Five Children and It. The Bastable stories are ancestors to Judy Blume's Fudge books and The Penderwicks The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. You can certainly tell that C.S. Lewis was a devotee of her works; The Bastables and Pevensies might as well have lived down the street from one another (and, as The Magician's Nephew begins, Polly and Digory did live at the same time. Treasureseekers is a bit better book than Wouldbegoods but both are sharp as a knife and incredibly funny. Nesbit's characters differ from modern kids in dress and slang, but for all intents and purposes they could easily fit in among today's literary kids (and surpass almost all of them in wit, knowledge, imagination and creative play). The books are essentially humorous episodes - although a few are quite scary. They are NOT politically correct in the least. In the version I read, the children casually use the "n-word" at least twice. They also try to sell sherry to a tee-totaling clergyman and his wife (my favorite story in the bunch), purchase and shoot a real gun, open a roadside bar... There is one chapter in which a tramp holds them hostage in a tower, which is terrifying. You won't find ANY of these kinds on shenanigans going on in modern books written for children; I don't know whether this is a shame or not, but certainly modern kids don't have the opportunity to find trouble like the Bastables. That's the sad thing. The Bastables were bad kids, but they also had hearts of gold. Loyal, courageous, literal, patriotic, loving, well intentioned. At the end of The Wouldbegoods , Mrs. Pettigrew - who they gave no end of trouble to throughout the book, cries when they leave, and you totally understand why. Nesbit is a genius, the first really modern writer for children, and it's this genius that creates these noble scamps who are both horrid and beloved at the same time. Three cheers for the Bastables!
What do You think about The Wouldbegoods (1996)?
This book is the sequel of 'The Treasure Seekers', which is a brilliant book. In 'The Wouldbegoods', Dora, Oswald, Alice, Dicky, Noel and H.O. are banished to the countryside with Daisy and Denny to live with Albert's uncle, one of their friends. Dora, Alice and Daisy make up a society, and you can probably guess it was called 'The Society of The Wouldbegoods'. In this society, they find that being a Wouldbegood doesn't really help you be good at all...This book is so good, I could read it ten times without getting bored. My favourite part was the chapter about the baby Dora found and adopted. It turned out the baby hadn't been abandoned, and belonged to someone Albert's uncle knew!
—Matilda
This book was a very disappointing sequel to The Treasure Seekers. I had picked up the first book because I had seen the movie and loved it, I found the book equely charming and was very excited when I discovered there was a squel. I did mannage to get through the whole book but it was SO monaotanas. This is how every chapter goes: The kids decided to do something, it turns out its not as good as they thought, Oswald say's it isn't his fault, they get yelled at, end of chapter. Now I did love the devlopment of Albert's Uncles character, that was a lot of fun but that was about the only thing.I know this is targeted twords younger kids but I think it would be better for teenage kids because they'll be able to understand whats right a wrong better. I think all a younger kid would see is that even trying to be good doesn't pay off so you don't have to bother because your a kid for a reason and that reason is to make yourself happy and no one else.
—Mikayla
This wasn't as good as the first book as it didn't have such a clear plot line and it is narrated by Oswald. I still enjoyed certain chapters like the one about the baby! E.Nesbit was certainly ahead of her time and I love the way that she shares a secret with her readers long before the Bastable children realise they have done something wrong... It is quite amusing how they manage to get themselves in to so many scrapes unintentionally. This is good if you like E. Nesbit but still not as good as The Story of the Treasure Seekers.
—Felicity
