The Story of the Amulet
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This classic tale combines thrilling time-travel adventures with timeless lessons about courage, family, and the value of history, making it a captivating read for both children and adults.
Edition details
Book Summary
Four siblings reunite with a magical sand-fairy, the Psammead, and acquire a half-amulet that grants them the power to travel through time. Their quest to find the missing half leads them on adventures through ancient civilizations, teaching them about history, courage, and the true meaning of family.
Cyril, Robert, Anthea, and Jane find the Psammead in a pet shop and rescue it. The Psammead helps them purchase a half-amulet from a mysterious shop, which can transport them through time. They seek help from a learned gentleman to read its inscription and learn they must travel into the past to find the missing half. Their adventures take them to Ancient Egypt, Babylon, Atlantis, and even the future. They face dangers, including battles, a shipwreck, and encounters with powerful rulers. Along the way, they befriend a poor orphan girl, help a queen understand modern poverty, and learn valuable lessons about selflessness and cooperation. The climax occurs when the two halves of the amulet merge, granting the children their heart's desire: the return of their parents. The story blends magic with everyday life, emphasizing the power of knowledge and the importance of family.
Reading guide
Go deeper in The Story of the Amulet
Character guides, themes, chapter companions — plus Character Web, narrative arc, and theme heatmap teasers that unlock fully beside the text in BetterReads.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
Anthea
Anthea is the child who smooths things over — coaxing the Psammead down from its sand-bath, hushing Jane before a wish goes wrong, and gently steering the others when Cyril's cleverness outruns their patience. She is also the one the learned gentleman calls in to hear her 'dreams' of Babylon, a conversation that leaves her flushed with a secret she can't quite explain. Her steadiness matters because the Amulet's quest needs someone willing to wash off the glue and try again.
Cyril
Cyril is the brother who grabs Jane's hand before a wish can carry them off to Egypt, reasoning that they daren't leave home in case the Queen of Babylon arrives that very minute. He is impatient with enchanted logic — 'I wish people would teach you magic at school like they do sums' — and stung when adults doubt him. His restless cleverness drives the children forward even when the Amulet refuses to cooperate.
Jane
Jane is the child who consents to stop painting only because Chinese white gives you a queer feeling in the throat, and who blurts the question that cracks a scene open — 'Whatever are you doing?' — when the others hang back. She is fond of rhinoceroses, plaintive about being left out, and the first to cry 'Then we've found it!' when the Amulet gleams on a sailor's chest. Her frankness keeps the adventures from becoming merely clever.
Robert
Robert is the one who says 'I see' and means it, who asks whether the Amulet will work both ways, and who remembers — too late — that the Queen of Babylon couldn't lift anything from the Museum's glass cases. He is eager to prove himself, quick to shout 'Oh, glorious!' at a glimpse of the joined charm, and honest about his own confusion. His enthusiasm gives the quest its momentum, even when his memory lets it down.
The Psammead
The Psammead is bound to the children by an old wish that servants never notice it, which is why old Nurse walks past the sand-bath without a glance. It is sharp-tongued and grudging — 'You must have bolted your breakfast most unwholesomely' — yet it remembers being glad to jump into Anthea's arms and does so again. Its magic is the engine of the book, but its real gift is the uncomfortable accuracy with which it names the children's motives.
The Priest
The priest belongs to the world the Amulet opens — Babylon, its temples, its learned men, its careful ceremonies — and he treats the children's arrival as something to be weighed rather than merely wondered at. He is the counterweight to the learned gentleman of Fitzroy Street, a figure whose authority comes from living inside the history the children only glimpse through a charm. His presence raises the stakes of every visit to the past, because he understands what the Amulet is for.
Power of Knowledge and History
The children's adventures are driven by their desire to learn about ancient civilizations, and the Amulet's magic allows them to travel through time, emphasizing that understanding the past is key to solving present problems.
Family and Separation
The story begins with the children separated from their parents due to illness and work, and their quest for the Amulet is motivated by a wish to reunite their family, highlighting the emotional weight of familial bonds.
Wish Fulfillment and Consequences
The Psammead's ability to grant wishes often leads to unexpected and troublesome outcomes, teaching the children that getting what you want without careful thought can create more problems than it solves.
Courage and Personal Growth
The children repeatedly face dangerous and unfamiliar situations in the past and future, learning to overcome fear, resolve conflicts among themselves, and act bravely for the sake of others.
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