The Box of Delights [Import] [Paperback]

JOHN MASEFIELD (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: LIONS; New Ed edition (1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0006724159
• ISBN-13: 978-0006724155
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,802,525 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magical Christmas adventure, November 14, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Box of Delights: When the Wolves Were Running (Hardcover)

I highly recommend this children's book; even adults may find themselves carried away by this fantastical story. Set in 1930's England, it follows the Christmas holiday adventures of Kay Hawker and his cousins Peter, Susan, and Jemima. On the train home from school, Kay meets a stange and kindly old man. As they become friends, the old man gives Kay a precious treasure to guard, the Box of Delights. It is a magic instrument that can shrink you to the size of an insect, can make you fly, and can take you backward or forward through time. It turns out the old man has an unusual past, and there are ambitious villians after him and the box. Because the villians are disguised and passing themselves of as men of the cloth, the children have a difficult time exposing them. They are resourseful, however, and succeed in their quest to save the box and their Christmas celebrations. This story incorporates the mythical heroism of legend ( ie King Arthur, the Trojan War, Hern the Hunter and Fairy folk) with contemporary bad guys, car chases, kidnappings, and rescues. An excellant British/Canadian television special was produced about fifteen years ago that brings this story to life. Either are very enjoyable for boys and girls, and people of all ages.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A magical children's adventure, October 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Box of Delights: When the Wolves Were Running (Hardcover)

John Masefield, who died in 1967, was best known as a poet. He did a few juvenile adventure stories of which "The Box of Delights" (1935) is by far the best. It is the sequel to "The Midnight Folk", an occult adventure in which young Kay Harker discovers that his governess, Sylvia Pouncer, is a witch.

As the first reviewer has already given an exhaustive precis of this work I will just add that it is a delightful Christmas thriller and the BBC TV version is a wonderful and faithful retelling of the story.

A forgotten classic - among the 10 best children's thrillers, IMHO.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not that edition, January 30, 2009

By 

E. Stein (Bedford, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Box of Delights (New York Review Children's Collection) (Hardcover)

Another reviewer warns against this edition (the New York Review Children's Collection), saying that it is an abridged one; it is not. There is another version that is available that is abridged, but this is not it.