The Three Children who lived near the Railway

The Railway Children is written by Edith Nesbit and it was started as a serial novel in London Magazine during 1905. Then it got published as a book in 1906. It also got adapted as a film and that film got famous in 1970. In this novel, we can learn about the western community during the 19th century like how they live and how they communicate with each other. And also this book is appropriate for English learners because the lines are simple and the way it expresses the story is good enough for beginner readers to read. I was started my reading journey of English stories by reading this book. The storyline is also quite interesting and it can give us a lot of emotions about the family.

Storyline of the railway children

The story tells us about the three children named Bobbie, Peter and Phyllis who got the perfect family and perfect life in London. In the story, the father is always patient and a family man, the mother is also the great mother who always cares for her children well beings, and is a great wife. One day everything changes their father got arrested by the government. And the family need to move to the village to avoid the other misunderstanding. The mother decided to keep her husband’s condition from the children since she knows that the children love their father so much. After they move out of their own house they met with the country lifestyle which they are unfamiliar with, but these three children never show their discomfort to their mother because they think it can make their mother sad. They never ask about their father even though they are dying to know about what happened to him. They never complained about the changes they met in this new lifestyle. After some time they got familiar with that new lifestyle and they started to make things that can amaze the readers. They care for their mother when she got sick and they also try to find a way on their own to get what they needed. They can handle the situation pretty well whenever they are met with problems. Despite their young age they are well-mannered and behave like an adult. They are kind-hearted and they never fail to help others who needed help. As children, they never lose their hope and finally, they got their wish.

The thoughts that I got by reading this story

By reading this story I got four things as lessons.

1. Don’t be afraid of the changes

Yes, in our lifetime we will meet with a lot of changes and that is the sure thing. Life is somewhat a mystery for us. Those changes can lead us to the good or worse. There is a saying that I like from the series I watch. It’s okay to be scared we just have to do it anyway. If we are afraid of changing and do nothing but thinking the past. It can create a lot of problems for us. In the worse case, we can get depression. Past is just the past. We can’t do anything about it apart from keeping that as a memory and moving on. We need to enjoy every little thing we get in the present just like the three children in the story who can cope with the sudden change of their fate.

2. Honesty is the best way to build the good relationship

In the story, we can see the three children build their relationship with the porter from the station by telling their side of the story to him. In the second chapter Peter accidentally took some of the coals from the station to make his home keep warming. Finally, he admitted to the porter and the other two girls also try to beg for his forgiveness. And then their relationship with the porter is got better since they are apologize for their mistake and also their mistake is not intentional. In this case, I am not saying stealing something from someone is good. The children do not lie to the porter and also they never hesitate to tell him the truth. The point is If we do something wrong we need to admit our mistake and we need to apologize to the one who became the victim of our reckless actions. That’s the right thing to do.

3. Always care for the others

In this story, the three children always care for others even though those people are not in their families. They even care for the strangers which they first met. They always reach out to the ones who need their help. If you read the story you can see their efforts. And they never expect their help as in return. Even though they lost their happy life in London they never stopped their kindness to others. Kindness can give us peace in our hearts. If you don’t believe try giving a piece of bread to the stray dog then you can feel the nameless happiness that comes from your heart.

4. Never Lose Hope

In the story, the children always believe that someday they can meet with their father again. In this case, they did. Because they never lose their hope to reunite the family even after they learned that their father is accused as a spy. And they believed in their father and this is not his doing. And they believed the truth will come out someday. In the final part, the real culprit was found and their father came back to them. The mother and the children never lost their hope in their father and they wait for him. Just like this, we also have to stay strong about our hope. In my opinion, everything can happen if we are still alive and keep trying. This is our hope right. So if we are decided to not forget and keep believing then someday it will happen in the real life.

If you want to read another inspiring life story, you can also check out our another summary book.

Final thoughts about this book

In a conclusion, reading this book can make me think that family is important for us and we need to appreciate that. Just think about it, there is someone who can always rely on and who always believes in you, and having them as your back can make us feel happy and powerful. So always appreciate having your family beside you.