Think that authors in the past had no sense of humor?  Think again.

E. (Evelyn) Nesbit was most famous for her fantasy stories, but there is no magic (of the fantasy kind) in this series of humorous stories is about the escapades of a group of siblings as they try to make money for their family when they fall on hard times, “improve” their behavior by forming a club to perform good deeds (which end up being just the opposite), and generally get themselves into one well-meaning scrape after another.

The stories are told from the point of view of Oswald, the oldest of the boys in the family, and part of the humor is that Oswald thinks that he’s being subtle in his narration when he definitely isn’t.  In the first book, he starts off trying to be mysterious about who is really narrating the story, but he quickly gives himself away by talking about himself in the first person, bragging about his accomplishments, and generally flattering his own character as much as possible.

Generally, fans of the series think that the first book is the best one, with the others being not quite as good.  Part of the criticism is that the humor in the books seems to be frequently intended more for the adults reading the stories to children than to the children themselves. Much of the humor relies on the children’s relative innocence about life and the misconceptions they have about the way things work because they base many of their ideas on fiction books they’ve read. When they try to do things that would only work in stories, it all goes wrong because real life is different. Adults will often see the ways things are about to go wrong immediately. The Bastable children books are full of references to books that children would have read during the late Victorian era and around the turn of the 20th century, which is also interesting to book lovers.

There are also some issues with racial language in the books, although some of this has been revised in more recent reprintings of the books. All of the books are public domain and available on Project Gutenberg, but you’re more likely to encounter the issues with inappropriate words, including the n-word, in the public domain versions online. If you want to avoid that, I recommend looking for physical copies with recent printing dates. The ones that libraries have are generally safe these days.

The first book in the series is the best known, and it has been made into a movie. Personally, I didn’t like the movie quite as well because it focused on the more serious parts of the story and less on the humor.

Books in the Series:

The Story of the Treasure Seekers (1899)

When their family falls on hard times, the Bastable children come up with wild schemes to restore their family’s fortunes.  This book is public domain and available on Project Gutenberg.

The Wouldbegoods (1901)

The Bastable children are at it again!  After their latest escapades go too far, the children are sent off to the country for a while.  There, they make a couple of new friends and form a club to perform good deeds and try to improve themselves.  Of course, their attempts at good deeds don’t go as planned and end up causing more problems than they solve.  This book is public domain and is available on Project Gutenberg.

New Treasure Seekers (1904)

The further adventures of the Bastable children.  This book is public domain and is available on Project Gutenberg.

Oswald Bastable and Others (1905)

A collection of short stories.  This book is public domain and is available on Project Gutenberg.