Edward Eager's books were some of my favorites growing up (and still are) and he never made even the tiniest secret about the fact that he was heavily influenced by E. Nesbit (in fact, she and her stories are referenced by characters in each of his Tales of Magic books). Reading this, I can absolutely see so many similarities — probably most especially with Eager's Magic or Not?, as in both books the children make friends with various people in the town, being heroes of a sort and having a positive impact on the community as a whole.

Nesbit did an amazing job at telling the children's story from their perspective (though in third person), so that we are only directly told what they know, yet there are many things we can easily guess before they figure them out. They feel like real kids — optimistic and adventurous, yet still flawed in their own ways, and just a bit naïve in their tendency to trust everyone they meet.