King Matt the First (Vintage Originals) - Softcover

Janusz Korczak

3.69

1,913 ratings by Goodreads

9780099488866: King Matt the First (Vintage Originals)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099488868 ISBN 13: 9780099488866

Publisher: Vintage Books USA, 2005

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This moving fable follows the adventures of Matt who becomes king when just a child and decides to reform his country according to his own priorities. Ignoring his grown-up ministers, he decrees that children should be given chocolate every day and builds the best zoo in the world. He fights in battles, braves the jungle, and crosses the desert, but perhaps the most life-altering thing of all is that the lonely boy king finds true friends. This timeless book shows us not only what children's literature can be, but what children can be.

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About the Author:

Janusz Korczak was born in 1878 and died in 1942. He was a Polish physician and educator who wrote over twenty books - his fiction was in his time as well known as Peter Pan, and his non-fiction works bore passionate messages of child advocacy. During World War II, the Jewish orphanage he directed was relocated to the Warsaw ghetto. Although Korczak's celebrity afforded him many chances to escape, he refused to abandon the children. He was killed at Treblinka along with the children. His works have not been forgotten, especially by teachers: there are Janusz Korczak societies in over a dozen countries.

Review:

"Unforgettable to the last full stop. One of the great classics" -- Michael Morpurgo, Children's Laureate "Janusz Korczak is an important writer... His message is still relevant today, that children matter; indeed that they should be a priority in our culture, because it's only with a child's imagination that grown-ups can begin to conceive a better world" -- Yann Martel, author of 'Life of Pi' "Absolutely wonderful. A gripping and classic entertainment from start to shocking finish. Definitely a book for all ages" -- Matt Haig, author of 'The Last Family in England' "The spirit of Korczak, living on, could make a better world for all humans" Publisher's Weekly "Droll and melancholy, wry and touching, King Matt is a fable that offers a fierce, truthful picture of children struggling to make sense of grown-up nonsense... This small masterpiece is a rare tribute to the psychological depth and marvellous workings of a child's heart and mind" -- Maurice Sendak, author of 'Where the Wild Things Are'

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