#psammead

[edgar-allan-possum]

Is... Is this based off of Five Children and It by E. Nesbit?

[vintagerpg]

Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials was well received and won a couple of awards (and a second edition, I think in ’87?). It took a little while for the sequel to emerge: Barlowe’s Guide to Fantasy hit shelves in 1996.

Even though I am not super widely read in either fantasy or science fiction, Barlowe’s fantasy book is the one I really vibe on. Maybe because it allows him to do stuff like Grendel from Beowulf and Gorice from The Worm Ouroboros. Wouldn’t have expected Gideon Winter, the antagonist from Peter Straub’s odd novel Floating Dragon to be included, but he was. Other surprises are the Psammead from Five Children and It and the Saw Horse from Oz.

One of the coolest things about these books is the fold-out size comparison charts. I love a good size-comparison (and again, this is a big feature of those Petersen’s Guides for Call of Cthulhu, and I am sure it came directly from here).

[milfjagger]

posting this on its own as well :) template and idea from @trollmaiden and full guide/sources under cut

"La Belle Dame sans Merci” by Henry Meynell Rheam

by Ayami Kojima 

“The Fairy Lovers” by Theodor Richard Edward von Holst 

Gnomes from the novel The Little Grey Men, written and illustrated by “BB” (Denys Watkins-Pitchford)

Nyform Norwegian troll

“Little Red Mischief” by Amy Brown

Faery from “The Hallow” dir. Corin Hardy, SFX by John Nolan

Ariel from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, illustrated by Jane Ray

The Beast from Over The Garden Wall, created by Patrick McHale

“Morgan Le Fay” by Clive Hicks-Jenkins

Unicorn foal sculpture by SovaeArt https://www.deviantart.com/indigo-ocean/gallery

Faery from Good Faeries, Bad Faeries by Brian Froud

“Dusk” by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

Honeythorn Gump from “Legend” dir. Ridley Scott

Oona from “Legend” dir. Ridley Scott

Flora, Fauna and Merryweather from “Sleeping Beauty”, art direction by Eyvind Earle

Bilbo Baggins from a Dutch edition of JRR Tolkein’s The Hobbit, illustrated by Kees Kelfkens(?)

Selkie depicted on a Faroese stamp

Chortlebones from Bella Sara, illustrated by Lynn Hogan

Huldra from the game “Year Walk” 

The Sprite from Fantasia 2000, segment directed by Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi

and 23 Costume designs for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Robert Courtneidge

As above

Tinker Bell from Peter Pan (2003) dir. PJ Hogan

Hoggle from Labyrinth, designed by Brian Froud and created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop

Mr Tumnus from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe dir. Andrew Adamson

Tom Bombadil from JRR Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings, illustrated by Tim Hildebrandt

The Green Man (source unclear)

Illustration for Terry Pratchett’s The Wee Free Men by Robyn Haley

Truffle from Adventure Quest

 Littlest Pet Shop fairy

Woodland Furby made by me :) Please do not call him cursed

The Psammead from the BBC’s TV adaptation of E Nesbitt's Five Children and It, dir. Marilyn Fox

Thranduil, King of the Wood Elves from The Hobbit, dir. Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass

Nøkken by John Bauer

Gizmo from Gremlins dir. Joe Dante, creature design by Chris Walas

Gollum from JRR Tolkein’s The Hobbit, illustrated by Tove Jansson

Soot Sprite from Spirited Away dir. Hayao Miyazaki

Gonk

“The Junk Lady” from Labyrinth; concept art by Brian Froud

Domovoi by Vladimir Chernickov

Falkor from The Neverending Story dir. Wolfgang Petersen, creature design by Patrick Woodroffe

Cherry Fairy from Webkinz

Titania from Vertigo Comics, illustrated by Matt Dixon

Wind Drifter, My Little Pony G1

[book--brackets]

Summaries under the cut

The Candymakers by Wendy Mass

Four children have been chosen to compete in a national competition to find the tastiest confection in the country. Who will invent a candy more delicious than the Oozing Crunchorama or the Neon Lightning Chew?

Logan, the Candymaker's son, who can detect the color of chocolate by touch alone?

Miles, the boy who is allergic to merry-go-rounds and the color pink?

Daisy, the cheerful girl who can lift a fifty-pound lump of taffy like it's a feather?

Or Philip, the suit-and-tie wearing boy who's always scribbling in a secret notebook?

This sweet, charming, and cleverly crafted story, told from each contestant's perspective, is filled with mystery, friendship, and juicy revelations.

Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce

When his brother catches measles, Tom is sent away for the summer to stay with his uncle and aunt and is thoroughly fed up about it. What a boring summer it's going to be. But then, lying in bed one night, he hears the old grandfather clock in the hall strike the very strange hour of 13 o'clock. What can it mean? As Tom creeps downstairs and opens the door, he finds out...a magical garden, a new playmate, and the adventure of a lifetime.

Things Not Seen by Andrew Clemens

Bobby Phillips is an average fifteen-year-old boy. Until the morning he wakes up and can't see himself in the mirror. Not blind, not dreaming. Bobby is just plain invisible...

There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to Bobby's new condition; even his dad the physicist can't figure it out. For Bobby that means no school, no friends, no life. He's a missing person. Then he meets Alicia. She's blind, and Bobby can't resist talking to her, trusting her. But people are starting to wonder where Bobby is. Bobby knows that his invisibility could have dangerous consequences for his family and that time is running out. He has to find out how to be seen again before it's too late.

Five Children by E. Nesbit

The five children find a cantankerous sand fairy, a psammead, in a gravel pit. Every day 'It' will grant each of them a wish that lasts until sunset, often with disastrous consequences.

Once by Morris Gleitzman

Everybody deserves to have something good in their life. At least Once.

Once I escaped from an orphanage to find Mum and Dad.

Once I saved a girl called Zelda from a burning house.

Once I made a Nazi with a toothache laugh.

My name is Felix. This is my story.

The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver

Six thousand years ago. Evil stalks the land. Only twelve-year-old Torak and his wolf-cub companion can defeat it. Their journey together takes them through deep forests, across giant glaciers, and into dangers they never imagined.

In this page-turning, original, and spectacularly told adventure story, Torak and Wolf are joined by an incredible cast of characters as they battle to save their world, in this first book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness.

All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

It's the turn of the century in New York's Lower East Side and a sense of adventure and excitement abounds for five young sisters - Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte and Gertie. Follow along as they search for hidden buttons while dusting Mama's front parlor, or explore the basement warehouse of Papa's peddler's shop on rainy days. The five girls enjoy doing everything together, especially when it involves holidays and surprises. But no one could have prepared them for the biggest surprise of all!

Matt Cruse by Kenneth Oppel

Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the Aurora, a huge airship that sails hundreds of feet above the ocean, ferrying wealthy passengers from city to city. It is the life Matt's always wanted; convinced he's lighter than air, he imagines himself as buoyant as the hydrium gas that powers his ship. One night he meets a dying balloonist who speaks of beautiful creatures drifting through the skies. It is only after Matt meets the balloonist's granddaughter that he realizes that the man's ravings may, in fact, have been true, and that the creatures are completely real and utterly mysterious.

A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

In this mischievous and utterly original debut, Hansel and Gretel walk out of their own story and into eight other classic Grimm-inspired tales. As readers follow the siblings through a forest brimming with menacing foes, they learn the true story behind (and beyond) the bread crumbs, edible houses, and outwitted witches.

Fairy tales have never been more irreverent or subversive as Hansel and Gretel learn to take charge of their destinies and become the clever architects of their own happily ever after.

Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris

Christian is gaga for Princess Marigold. But he's just a commoner, and no match for royalty. Heck, he lives in a cave with a troll! And now he's discovered another reason to put his love-soggy heart on Queen Olympia is scheming to take over the kingdom--and she'll bump off her own daughter to do it. Can Christian foil her diabolical plans?

[fiction-quotes]

She loved any library, big or little; there was something about all that knowledge, all those facts waiting patiently to be found that never failed to give her a shiver. When friends couldn't be found, the books were always waiting with something new to tell. Life that was getting too much the same could be shaken up in a few minutes by the picture in a book of some ancient temple newly discovered deep in a rain forest, a fuzzy photo of Uranus with its up-and-down rings, or a prismed picture taken through the faceted eye of a bee.

And though she would rather have died than admit it – no respectable thirteen-year-old ever set foot down there – she still loved the children's library too. Nita had gone through every book in the place when she was younger, reading everything in sight – fiction and nonfiction alike, fairy tales, science books, horse stories, dog stories, music books, art books, even the encyclopedias.

Bookworm, she heard the old jeering voices go in her head, four eyes, smart-ass, hide-in-the-house-and-read. Walking encyclopedia. Think you're so hot. “No,” she remembered herself answering once, “I just like to find things out!” And she sighed, feeling rueful. That time she had found out about being punched in the stomach.

She strolled between shelves, looking at titles, smiling as she met old friends – books she had read three times or five times or a dozen. Just a title, or an author's name, would be enough to summon up happy images. Strange creatures like phoenixes and psammeads, moving under smoky London daylight of a hundred years before, in company with groups of bemused children; starships and new worlds and the limitless vistas of interstellar night, outer space challenged but never conquered; princesses in silver and gold dresses, princes and heroes carrying swords like sharpened lines of light, monsters rising out of weedy tarns, wild creatures that talked and tricked one another...

I used to think the world would be like that when I got older. Wonderful all the time, exciting, happy. Instead of the way it is...

  —  So You Want to Be a Wizard (Diane Duane)

[kwebtv]

The Phoenix & the Carpet - BBC - November 16, 1997 - December 21, 1997

Drama (6 episodes)

Running Time: 30 minutes

Stars:

David Suchet as the Phoenix

Francis Wright as the Psammead

Jessica Fox as Anthea Bastable

Ben Simpson as Cyril Bastable

Charlotte Chinn as Jane Bastable

Ivan Berry as Robert Bastable

Miriam Margolyes as Cook

Lesley Dunlop as Eliza

Christopher Biggins as Tonks

Shaun Dingwall as Burglar

Gemma Jones as Mrs Bibble

Jean Alexander as Lily

Kim Vithana as Oriental Princess

Zina Badran as a Lady

Miranda Pleasence as Miss Peasmarsh

Nicola Redmond as Amelia

Ian Keith as Father

Mary Waterhouse as Mother

[rosiewitchescottage]

I'm going to Narnia, to Prydain, Hogwarts, St Clares, Mallory Towers and other schools.

I'm having hilarious, wild adventures with a sweet little girl called Arabel and her psycho raven Mortimer.

I'm flying on a magic carpet with a phoenix or getting wishes from a psammead.

I'm exploring Secret Gardens, Enchanted Castles and Magic Cities.

I'm friends with talking animals, magical beings and regular people having extraordinary adventures.

I'm doing just fine.

[booksformks]

Book Review: The Phoenix and the Carpet

The Phoenix and the Carpet (The Psammead Trilogy, #2)by E. Nesbit 5 out of 5 stars Four children discover a strange egg in their new nursery carpet, and when the egg is accidentally dropped in the fire, it hatches a beautiful Phoenix. The Phoenix reveals that the new carpet is actually a magic carpet that can take them anywhere in the world. Although they have some fun adventures, more often��

[englishbookscomtr]

Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit ⭐⭐⭐ English Books

🍀 For more English Books : https://www.englishbooks.com.tr 🍀 

 🍀 Buy now at Amazon : https://amzn.to/3JEMWw8 🍀 

 ⭐ Rediscovering Childhood Magic ⭐ 

 " Five Children and It" by Edith Nesbit is a timeless classic of children's literature that continues to captivate readers with its enchanting blend of fantasy, adventure, and imagination. Originally published in 1902, Nesbit's novel has since become a beloved favorite among generations of readers, offering a delightful journey into the magical world of childhood. Set in Victorian England, the story follows five siblings—Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and their baby brother, known simply as the Lamb—as they embark on a series of extraordinary adventures after discovering a mysterious creature called the Psammead, or sand-fairy, in a gravel-pit near their home. The Psammead has the remarkable ability to grant the children one wish per day, leading to a string of whimsical and often comical escapades. At the heart of " Five Children and It" lies Nesbit's skillful portrayal of childhood wonder and imagination. Through the eyes of the young protagonists, readers are transported to a world where the ordinary becomes extraordinary, and the impossible becomes possible. Nesbit's imaginative storytelling invites readers to suspend disbelief and embrace the magic of childhood, reminding us of the joy and innocence that accompany the discovery of the unknown. One of the novel's enduring strengths is its richly drawn characters, each with their own distinct personalities and quirks. From the practical Cyril to the dreamy-eyed Anthea, Nesbit's characters are relatable and endearing, capturing the essence of childhood in all its complexity. As the siblings navigate the challenges and delights of their magical encounters, they learn valuable lessons about friendship, responsibility, and the power of imagination. Nesbit's prose is characterized by its warmth, wit, and charm, making " Five Children and It" a joy to read for children and adults alike. Her evocative descriptions bring the English countryside to life, from the sun-dappled fields to the bustling streets of London, creating a vivid backdrop for the children's adventures. Nesbit's language is accessible yet rich in detail, allowing readers to immerse themselves fully in the enchanting world she has created. While " Five Children and It" is often compared to the works of contemporary authors such as Edward Eager, Nesbit's novel stands out for its pioneering approach to children's literature. As one of the first authors to introduce elements of magic into everyday settings, Nesbit broke new ground in the genre, paving the way for generations of writers to come. Her influence on the landscape of children's literature is immeasurable, and " Five Children and It" remains a testament to her enduring legacy. In conclusion, "Five Children and It" by Edith Nesbit is a timeless classic that continues to enchant readers with its whimsical storytelling and timeless themes. Through its magical adventures and endearing characters, Nesbit's novel celebrates the boundless imagination of childhood and reminds us of the enduring power of storytelling. Whether read aloud to young listeners or enjoyed independently by older readers, " Five Children and It" is sure to spark the imagination and capture the hearts of audiences of all ages. So, have you embarked on this magical journey with Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and the Lamb? Share your thoughts and memories of " Five Children and It" in the comments below and rediscover the magic of childhood through the pages of Edith Nesbit's beloved classic.

[cherdakyeda]

Wonderful creature, @murderbeast! For some reason it feels familiar - as if it's some sort of weird combination of the Woozy from Frank L. Baum's Oz books, the Psammead from Edith Nesbit's "Five Children and It", and Cheburashka

posts this

[agendaculturaldelima]

#ProyeccionDeVida

🎥 Cine al Aire Libre. Historias desde el Reino Unido, presenta:

🎬 “CUATRO CHICOS Y ESTO (¡Pide un deseo!)” [Four Kids and It]

🔎 Género: Fantástico / Cine Familiar

⏰ Duración: 109 minutos

✍️ Guión: Simon Lewis

📕 Libro: Jacqueline Wilson

🎵Música: Anne Nikitin

📷 Fotografía: John Pardue

🗯 Argumento: Un grupo de niños que pasa unos días de vacaciones en la ciudad de Cornwall descubren en la playa a un ser mágico con el poder de hacer sus sueños realidad..

👥 Reparto: Michael Caine (Psammead), Paula Patton (Alice), Matthew Goode (David),  Russell Brand (Tristan), Teddie-Rose Malleson-Allen (Ros), Billy Jenkins (Robbie) y Ashley Aufderheide (Smash).

📢 Dirección: Andy De Emmony

© Productoras: Dan Films, Deadpan Pictures & Kindle Entertainment

🌎 Pais: Reino Unido

📅 Año: 2020

📽 Proyección:

📆 Jueves 08 de Febrero

🕖 7:30pm.

🏡 Centro Cultural Británico (jr. Bellavista 538 – Miraflores)

🚶‍♀️🚶‍♂️ Ingreso libre 

😺🐶🐱🐭 A tener en cuenta: El lugar cuenta con Espacio Pet Friendly.

[thecreaturecodex]

Psammead

Image © Wayne Barlowe

[Hey, a monster Barlowe illustrated from a book I’ve actually read! Of course, I last read Five Children and It when I was in single digits, but still. There have been a lot of filmed adaptations and spinoffs, but none of them have the psammead actually look like it does in the book. Most of them go for a more ET ugly-cute vibe, and all of them cut out the eyestalks, which is what I remember most vividly from my childhood.

Picking a CR for the psammead was somewhat of a challenge. In the book, there’s zero indication that It is a combatant, but creatures that can grant wishes, no matter how temporary, are typically mid-to-high CR. Although I toyed with giving It studied combat, the image of It slitting throats with its claws would probably make E. Nesbitt roll over in her grave. Instead, I took a page from the nereid’s book and gave it a powerful summoning ability. In the original, It talks about how he used to grant wishes to dinosaurs, which usually entailed food, so that seemed thematically more appropriate.]

Psammead CR 8 LN Fey This small strange creature is roughly mammalian, with fur and whiskers. It has eyes set on long, mobile stalks and oversized, bat like ears. Its body is pot-bellied, with long limbs—the arms are somewhat longer than the legs.

Psammeads are also called “sand fairies”, but their appearance is rather startlingly different from more traditional fairies. They are ancient, able to hibernate for literally millions of years beneath the sand. Their primary pastime is granting wishes, which they do with the full knowledge that such effects are temporary. When granting wishes, a psammead swells up like a balloon, as their tiny bodies are not used to containing such magical power. Psammeads usually use their wish-granting abilities in order to teach didactic lessons, and are known to twist the wishes in an uncharitable direction in order to achieve these goals. As they are immune to magical mind control and quite stubborn regardless, attempting to coerce a psammead into granting a wish it doesn’t want to is a fool’s errand.

A psammead has extraordinarily keen senses, and can use a combination of vibrations, echolocation and scent to detect almost all foes. Psammeads are physically weak, but magically strong, and avoid combat whenever possible. If enemies persist in pursuing them, a psammead will summon primeval beasts and earth elementals to defend itself. 

Although they are commonly found on beaches, psammeads hate water. They are vulnerable to cold and prone to hypothermia when getting wet, and so stay well above the high tide line. Psammeads are happier in deserts, where they may socialize with other desert fey such as hiderigami. They date back to an era when mammals laid eggs as a matter of course, and do so on the rare occasions they see fit to reproduce. Psammeads tend to a friendly, but somewhat condescending, attitude, and prefer the company of children to adults and solitude to either.

Psammead         CR 8 XP 4,800 LN Tiny fey Init +8; Senses blindsight 30 ft., low-light vision, Perception +18, tremorsense 60 ft. Defense AC 24, touch 21, flat-footed 17 (+2 size, +4 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 insight, +3 natural) hp 91 (14d6+42) Fort +7, Ref +13, Will +13 DR 10/cold iron; Immune charm, compulsion effects; SR 19 Defensive Abilities insightful defense; Weakness vulnerable to cold Offense Speed 15 ft., burrow 10 ft. Melee 2 claws +13 (1d4-2) Space 2 ½ ft.; Reach 0 ft. Spell-like Abilities CL 14th, concentration +18 Constant—speak with animals 3/day—stone tell, summon nature’s ally VI, temporary wish Statistics Str 7, Dex 18, Con 17, Int 18, Wis 19, Cha 18 Base Atk +7; CMB +9; CMD 24 Feats Alertness, Defensive Combat Training, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Nimble Moves, Stealthy, Weapon Finesse Skills Bluff +18, Diplomacy +18, Escape Artist +22, Knowledge (arcana, history) +14, Knowledge (geography, nature) +18, Linguistics +15, Perception +30, Sense Motive +22, Sleight of Hand +18, Spellcraft +18, Stealth +30, Swim -2; Racial Modifiers +8 Perception Languages Aklo, Sylvan, Terran, 11 others, speak with animals SQ primeval summoning Ecology Environment any deserts or coastlines Organization solitary Treasure incidental Special Abilities Insightful Defense (Ex) A psammead adds its Wisdom modifier to its Armor Class, including its touch and flat-footed Armor Class. A psammead only loses this ability if it is helpless. Primeval Summoning (Ex) A psammead draws its summoned creatures from a special list. With its spell-like abilities, it can summon a CR 5 or 6 elemental, dinosaur or other prehistoric animal, 1d3 CR 3 or 4 elementals, dinosaurs or other prehistoric animals, and 1d4+1 CR 2 or lower elementals, dinosaurs or other prehistoric animals. Elemental summoned in this fashion must have the earth subtype. Temporary Wish (Sp) Up to three times per day, a psammead can grant a wish for another creature (it cannot make wishes for itself). This functions as a wish spell, except that any objects or effects directly created by the wish disappear at the next sunset. For example, if a mortal wishes for a magic sword, the sword disappears at sunset, but anyone killed by that sword does not return to life. If any spell effects are generated by one of these wishes, the save DC is 22. This is treated as an 8th level spell.

[iamleighanne]

Illustrations from Edith Nesbits trilogy.

[milfjagger]

i added some more because ummm i love fairies :) guide under cut

"La Belle Dame sans Merci” by Henry Meynell Rheam

by Ayami Kojima 

“The Fairy Lovers” by Theodor Richard Edward von Holst 

Gnomes from the novel The Little Grey Men, written and illustrated by “BB” (Denys Watkins-Pitchford)

Nyform Norwegian troll

“Little Red Mischief” by Amy Brown

Faery from “The Hallow” dir. Corin Hardy, SFX by John Nolan

Ariel from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, illustrated by Jane Ray

The Beast from Over The Garden Wall, created by Patrick McHale

“Morgan Le Fay” by Clive Hicks-Jenkins

Unicorn foal sculpture by SovaeArt https://www.deviantart.com/indigo-ocean/gallery

Faery from Good Faeries, Bad Faeries by Brian Froud

“Dusk” by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

Honeythorn Gump from “Legend” dir. Ridley Scott

Oona from “Legend” dir. Ridley Scott

Flora, Fauna and Merryweather from “Sleeping Beauty”, art direction by Eyvind Earle

Bilbo Baggins from a Dutch edition of JRR Tolkein’s The Hobbit, illustrated by Kees Kelfkens(?)

Selkie depicted on a Faroese stamp

Chortlebones from Bella Sara, illustrated by Lynn Hogan

Huldra from the game “Year Walk” 

The Sprite from Fantasia 2000, segment directed by Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi

and 23 Costume designs for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Robert Courtneidge

As above

Tinker Bell from Peter Pan (2003) dir. PJ Hogan

Hoggle from Labyrinth, designed by Brian Froud and created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop

Mr Tumnus from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe dir. Andrew Adamson

Tom Bombadil from JRR Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings, illustrated by Tim Hildebrandt

The Green Man (source unclear)

Illustration for Terry Pratchett’s The Wee Free Men by Robyn Haley

Truffle from Adventure Quest

 Littlest Pet Shop fairy

Woodland Furby made by me :) Please do not call him cursed

The Psammead from the BBC’s TV adaptation of E Nesbitt's Five Children and It, dir. Marilyn Fox

Thranduil, King of the Wood Elves from The Hobbit, dir. Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass

Nøkken by John Bauer

Gizmo from Gremlins dir. Joe Dante, creature design by Chris Walas

Gollum from JRR Tolkein’s The Hobbit, illustrated by Tove Jansson

Soot Sprite from Spirited Away dir. Hayao Miyazaki

Gonk

“The Junk Lady” from Labyrinth; concept art by Brian Froud

Domovoi by Vladimir Chernickov

Falkor from The Neverending Story dir. Wolfgang Petersen, creature design by Patrick Woodroffe

Cherry Fairy from Webkinz

Titania from Vertigo Comics, illustrated by Matt Dixon

Wind Drifter, My Little Pony G1

The duality of the word fairy

[vendriin]

5 Children and It (2004)

[nekoiichi]

#365CharactersChallenge Entry no. 3 - Psammead or Samed (Onegai! Samia-Don) This was an anime I remember watching when I was younger, but I barely remember any of the plot. I do recall that this little sand-nymph used to grant wishes for a group of kids that be-friended him. The wishes vanished at the sunset of the day the wish was granted.  It seems the anime story is based on a novel, but it's a li'l bit different, perhaps enhancing the episodic theme of the series. I've picked up a few episodes on youtube, and they aren't as cool as I remember them, but it's ok, I still like Psammead's design.