The trilogy of Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet and The Story of the Amulet, all involve the same family and their encounters with the magical being the Psammead. The adventures of the five children proved one of the most popular of Nesbit's creations. The Story of the Amulet centres around the purchase of an ancient Amulet which can grant them their heart's desire - the return of their parents - but which first sets them on a journey through time to ancient Babylon, Egypt, and Atlantis. But it begins in an old shop next to the British Museum