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King Matt the First (Paperback)

~ (Author), Richard Lourie (Translator), Esmé Raji Codell (Introduction) "And so this is what happened..." (more)
Key Phrases: Klu Klu, Bum Drum, King Matt (more...)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
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King Matt the First + Loving Every Child: Wisdom for Parents + Ghetto Diary
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  • This item: King Matt the First by Janusz Korczak

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Janusz Korczak 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 nonfiction 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.

King Matt the First, one of Korczak's most beloved tales, is the story of a boy who becomes king and sets out to reform his kingdom. He decrees that all children are to be given a piece of chocolate at the end of each day. He visits faraway lands and befriends cannibal kings. Whenever his ministers tell him something's impossible, he puts them in jail. He disguises himself as a soldier and becomes a hero. But, as in real life, fantasy is tempered by reality:Matt's fellow kings become jealous of his success--and in the end, Matt falls, although it's clear that he was the greatest king there ever was.

Now this rediscovered classic is available again, and with a vibrant new cover by award-winning artist Brian Selznick. This timeless tale shows that only through the honesty and spontaneity of children can grown-ups begin to imagine and to create a better world.


About the Author

"The lives of great men are like legends—difficult but beautiful," Janusz Korczak once wrote, and it was true of his. Yet most Americans have never heard of Korczak, a Polish-Jewish children’s writer and educator who is as well known in Europe as Anne Frank. Like her, he died in the Holocaust and left behind a diary; unlike her, he had a chance to escape that fate—a chance he chose not to take.

On August 6, 1942, during the early stages of the Nazi liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto, Germans ordered Korczak’s famous orphanage evacuated. Korczak was forced to gather together the two hundred children in his care. He led them with quiet dignity on that final march through the ghetto streets to the train bound for the death camp Treblinka.

It was Janusz Korczak who introduced progressive orphanages into Poland, founded the first national children’s newspaper, trained teachers in what we now call moral education, and worked in juvenile courts defending children’s rights.

Korczak wrote over twenty books. His nonfiction, such as How to Love a Child and The Child’s Right to Respect, gave parents and teachers new insights into child psychology. And generations of young people grew up on his fiction, especially the classic King Matt the First, which tells of the adventures and tribulations of a boy king who aspires to bring reforms to his subjects. It was as beloved in Poland as Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland were in the English-speaking world.

At the end, Korczak, who had directed a Catholic as well as a Jewish orphanage before the war, had refused all offers of help for his own safety from his Gentile colleagues and friends. "You do not leave a sick child in the night, and you do not leave children at a time like this," he said.

Some time after the war, the land that had once been Treblinka was transformed into a vast rock garden. Among the seventeen thousand nameless stones, there is one that bears a personal name:


JANUSZ KORCZAK
(HENRYK GOLDSZMIT)
AND THE CHILDREN

Product Details

  • Reading level: Ages 9-12
  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Algonquin Books; Tra edition (October 15, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1565124421
  • ISBN-13: 978-1565124424
  • Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #342,298 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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More About the Author

Janusz Korczak
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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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And so this is what happened. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Klu Klu, Bum Drum, King Matt, Prime Minister, Minister of War, Secretary of State, Minister of Commerce, Minister of Finance, Baron von Rauch, Henryk the Hasty, Minister of Internal Affairs, Paul the Conqueror, Would Your Royal Highness, The Minister of the Railroads
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King Matt the First
84% buy the item featured on this page:
King Matt the First 4.6 out of 5 stars (16)
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Loving Every Child: Wisdom for Parents
7% buy
Loving Every Child: Wisdom for Parents 5.0 out of 5 stars (4)
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The King of Children: The Life and Death of Janusz Korczak
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The King of Children: The Life and Death of Janusz Korczak 4.2 out of 5 stars (4)
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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews
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 (14)
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3 star:
 (1)
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Children's Classic, August 27, 2000
By Robin Boone (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: King Matt the First (Hardcover)
Janusz Korczak (pseudonym for Henryk Goldszmit) is one of Poland's most beloved children's authors. There is not only this story, but also a sequel... . (One can see why an American publisher might not have wanted to publish the translation.) I am only sorry that neither of these stories are always in print in English. If you can read German you can get both it and its sequel in German from Amazon.de.

The first English translation, brought out by Roy Publishing, was one of the joys of my childhood. I was lucky - a decade or so later I wrote to the librarian at the library where I had checked it out so often in childhood - I wanted the publishing information so I could look for it - and she sent me the book! It is one of my cherished possessions, and I bless that dear librarian always. I like to write, and Januzs Korczak is one of my primary influences, others being C.S. Lewis and Francis Hodgson Burnett (for stories about children who become kings or queens). If you can't read King Matt's story, I recommend those authors, and also E. Nesbit, Connie Willis, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, R.A. MacAvoy, James Blaylock... This list could go on forever, but I will always think it imperfect as long as Korczak cannot be at the top because his stories are unavailable in English.

Lourie's translation gives more of a European flavor to the story; the earlier translation is softer, and it appears that some detail was omitted. My guess is that the earlier translators wanted to present an impression of the story that did not show as much of the sad, or the tongue-in-cheek, quality of the original, because the Polish people were then under occupation by the Nazis. I rather wish Lourie would translate the sequel, and that both books would stay in print in English FOREVER.

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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great, unique, funny, wise; how do I get a copy?, August 10, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: King Matt the First (Hardcover)
This is a truly unique book. The author has a great understanding of the way a kid thinks. The main character is a young boy who is crowned king. He has various adventures as he learns about the world of grownups: going to war, starting a parliament for kids, traveling, etc. My only regret is that I read a library copy and I want to own my own but it is out of print.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Need to bring this book back, August 8, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: King Matt the First (Hardcover)
In Esme Raji Codell's new book, How to Get your Child to Love Reading, she devotes a page to this book and refers to it as "the greatest read-aloud of all time". Her book will result in a lot of demand for King Matt the First, so I hope it will be republished in the US>
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars good book
school assignment book. lets hope the teachers keep assigning these kind of book , kids should read more. Read more
Published 1 month ago by new yorker

3.0 out of 5 stars Written to be Told
This book was written to be read aloud. Which, if not telling it like the tale it is, can be a bit off-putting at first. The story of this boy-king is an interesting one. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Yolanda S. Bean

5.0 out of 5 stars King Matt The 1st.LONG LIVE THE KING.Review By Albert
King Matt is a good book it's funny , sad ,action, but most of all it's a great book.In the begining his father is dieing ,and his mother as already died. Read more
Published on May 15, 2007

5.0 out of 5 stars King Matt The 1st.LONG LIVE THE KING.By Albert
King Matt is a good book its funny , sad ,action, but most of all its great.In the begining his father is dieing ,and his mother as already died.He has to be the king. Read more
Published on May 15, 2007

5.0 out of 5 stars King Matt The 1st.LONG LIVE THE KING
King Matt is a good book its funny , sad ,action, but most of all its great.In the begining his father is dieing ,and his mother as already died.He has to be the king. Read more
Published on May 15, 2007

5.0 out of 5 stars Tou have to read this good book Sergio
My favorite part of the book is when they say that if you see a big bird to not be scared of it.And if you did not read this book. I recommend this book because it is a good book.
Published on May 15, 2007

5.0 out of 5 stars The world in the eyes of children
This book is a great adventure! Korczak succeeds again to describe our world in the eyes of a child; the games of power, envy, the lack of sensibility, the contempt to important... Read more
Published on November 26, 2006 by Daniel Waisberg

1.0 out of 5 stars I did not like this book at all.
I just did not like this book at all. Children should not be having parliments. What foolishness this all was. Read more
Published on August 5, 2006 by Shari Salzman

5.0 out of 5 stars The hidden wisdom behind the adventures of "King Matt the First"
If a wise man wanted to share his wisdom with children, he would write "King Matt the First".
I have read "King Matt" 5 times over the last 45 years. Read more
Published on November 10, 2005 by Veet Vivarto

5.0 out of 5 stars Aboslutely GREAT
Anyone can love this book, it's exciting, sophisticated, and is overall fantastic. This book should be lined up as a classic, and should be at the top of childrens literature... Read more
Published on September 6, 2005 by Sylvester

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