The Box of Delights (New York Review Children's Collection) [Hardcover]

John Masefield (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: New York Review Children's Collection

Strange things begin to happen the minute young Kay Harker boards the train to go home for Christmas and finds himself under observation by two very shifty-looking characters. Arriving at his destination, the boy is immediately accosted by a bright-eyed old man with a mysterious message: “The wolves are running.” Soon danger is everywhere, as a gang of criminals headed by the notorious wizard Abner Brown and his witch wife Sylvia Daisy Pouncer gets to work. What does Abner Brown want? The magic box that the old man has entrusted to Kay, which allows him to travel freely not only in space but in time, too. The gang will stop at nothing to carry out their plan, even kidnapping Kay’s friend, the tough little Maria Jones, and threatening to cancel Christmas celebrations altogether. But with the help of his allies, including an intrepid mouse, a squadron of Roman soldiers, the legendary Herne the Hunter, and the inventor of the Box of Delights himself, Kay just may be able rescue his friend, foil Abner Brown’s plot, and save Christmas, too.

At once a thriller, a romp, and a spellbinding fantasy, The Box of Delights is a great English children’s book and a perfect Christmas treat.

Editorial Reviews

Review

 

“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 the Author

John Masefield (1878—1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death. He is remembered as the author of the classic children's novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, two novels Captain Margaret and Multitude and Solitude and a great deal of poetry, including his anthology Saltwater Ballads.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: NYR Children's Collection (October 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590172515
• ISBN-13: 978-1590172513
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.9 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #285,553 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 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.

18 of 18 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.