The Box of Delights - Softcover

John Masefield

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1405275529 ISBN 13: 9781405275521

Publisher: Egmont Books Ltd, 2014

Synopsis

'Two of the greatest children's books ever written' - The Times on Box of Delights and The Midnight Folk. 'And now, Master Harker, now that the Wolves are Running, perhaps you could do something to stop their Bite?' A magical old man has asked Kay to protect the Box of Delights, a Box with which he can travel through time. But Kay is in danger: Abner Brown will stop at nothing to get his hands on it. The police don't believe Kay, so when his family and the Bishop are scrobbled up just before Christmas, he knows he must act alone ...John Masefield's classic children's book is considered to be one of the great works of modern children's fiction. Magical, fantastical and filled with vivid, rich characters - brought to life in this edition by Quentin Blake's stunning artwork - The Box of Delights and its sequel The Midnight Folk are a must-read for any child.

About this title

About the Author:

John Masefield was born in 1878 in Hertfordshire. After leaving school he went to sea, but deserted his ship when the urge to write professionally overtook him. He spent two years doing odd jobs in New York whilst learning his craft as a writer. He moved back to England in 1897. After serving in the First World War, Masefield became a full time writer, writing many popular novels and collections of poetry, including the children's novels The Box of Delights and The Midnight Folk He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1930. He was a prolific writer until his death in 1967. His ashes are buried in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. Quentin Blake was born in 1932 in Sidcup, Kent. He read English at Downing College Cambridge, Education at the London University Institute of Education, and subsequently attended life classes at Chelsea School of Art. In a long career which began over fifty years ago he has become one of the best-loved and best-known of English illustrators, celebrated for his extended collaboration with writers such as Roald Dahl, Russell Hoban, Michael Rosen and John Yeoman. He has also created his own picturebooks and illustrated spaces in museums and hospitals. He taught illustration for over twenty years and has written two books about his own work: Word and Pictures and beyond the Page. He lives and works in London, in Hastings, and in the South West of France. He was knighted for services to illustration in 2013, and in 2014 appointed Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur.

Review:

“This witty and wonderful children’s novel by the onetime Poet Laureate of the UK is widely beloved on the other side of the pond, but lesser known here. A travesty, that, since it’s a magic box in itself: a magical adventure that begins with a boy on his way home for Christmas, stopped by a man who implores him, 'And now, Master Harker, of Seekings, now that the Wolves are Running, as you will have seen, perhaps you would do something to stop their Bite?' Enter wizards and witches, mice, Roman soldiers, the toughest little girl you’ll ever meet, and Christmas just might be saved after all.” —Flavorwire

“The book that always had the magic of a snowy English Christmas.... It’s still a lovely book, magical and funny, to be read by anybody of any age.” —The Horn Book
"This classic of English children's literature, sadly overlooked by most on this side of the Atlantic, has just been reissued in a beautiful edition by the New York Review Children's Collection...Although "The Box of Delights" was first published in 1935, Masefield's intoxicating prose has lost none of its pull...in this wonderful tale of bravery and intrigue that deserves to become another staple of the holidays." --The San Francisco Chronicle

 

"First published in 1935, The Box of Delights by John Masefield is newly available. In the adventure-laden Christmas story, Kay Harker (also the protagonist of Masefield's The Midnight Folk) returns from boarding school for the holidays and becomes involved in a struggle with a wizard and witch who wish to possess the eponymous box." --Publishers Weekly

 

"This uniquely imaginative tale would be a delight for fans of old-fashioned, English Literature and could be compared to the likes of A Christmas Carol and the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe." --CLEAR Reviews

 

 

“[Masefield’s] most popular children’s book...Original and remarkable.” –The New York Review of Books

 

“Masefield's novel, a plum pudding of strange adventures, English legend, and spiritual feeling, should be more widely appreciated” –The Washington Post

 

“The Box of Delights' is based on a 1935 story by famous English poet John Masefield, and it's crammed full of fantasy and adventures, almost as if every known children's story had been combined in one. There's space travel and time travel and evil villains and holiday sentiments and adventures, adventures, adventures.” –The Seattle Times

 

“Every chapter in this book is marvelous, but the real delight derives from Masefield’s style and the idiosyncratic, colorful speech of his various characters...Lovely stuff.” –The Washington Post

 

“This book is a writer’s oft-raided treasure trove...the world’s best ‘crossover book’...It does time-travel better than Narnia...The story floats on brilliant, eccentric dialogue and...never loses its snowy-Christmas, Nutcracker enchantment...” –The Independent (UK)

 

“Masefield the children’s writers is unbeatable.” –The Daily Telegraph (UK)

About this edition

• Publisher: Egmont Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1405275529
• ISBN 13: 9781405275521
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400