Five Children and It begins with a group of children that move from London to the countryside of Kent. The five children — Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and their baby brother, known as the Lamb — are playing in a gravel pit when they uncover a rather grumpy, ugly, and occasionally malevolent Psammead or sand-fairy, who has the ability to grant wishes. The Phoenix and the Carpet follows the further adventures of Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and the Lamb. Their mother buys the children a new carpet to replace one from the nursery that they have destroyed in an accidental fire. The children find an egg in the carpet, which hatches into a talking Phoenix. The Phoenix explains that the carpet is a magic one that will grant them three wishes a day. In The Story of the Amulet the children re-encounter the Psammead. However, as it no longer grants wishes to the children, its capacity is mainly advisory in relation to the children's other discovery, the Amulet, thus following a successfully established formula.
