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Jacqueline Wilson's updated version of E Nesbit's children's classic Five Children and It will focus on four modern-day children, with the characters travelling back in time to meet E Nesbit's original protagonists Robert, Anthea, Cyril, Jane and baby Lamb.
The book, Four Children and It, with the tagline: "Can your wildest wishes really come true?", will be published in August. It will be brother and sister Rosalind and Robbie, their half-sister Maudie and step-sister Smash who discover the mythical Psammead, this time around in a big sandpit in Surrey's Oxshott Woods.
The book will see the children granted wishes by the Psammead, including wishing to be rich and famous, wishing to fly, and wishing to meet the original five children from E Nesbit's book. Author Wilson said Rosamund then gets stuck in the past, and she had to use "all her imagination" to work out how to bring her back again.
Wilson said she had been a fan of E Nesbit's writing when she was growing up, borrowing her titles from the local library. "I loved the way she wrote very approachably. This is a kind of tribute to her because I so admire her," she said.
The book will form part of Puffin's celebrations for Puffin Classics' 30th anniversary this year, with other 2012 plans including publication of actress Emma Thompson's The Further Tale of Peter Rabbit, which will see Beatrix Potter's character travelling to Scotland.