King Matt the First

by Janusz Korczak

Overview

A child king introduces reforms to give children the same rights as adults.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466894174
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	06/30/2015
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	332
File size:	650 KB
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Janusz Korczak is the author of King Matt the First.
Janusz Korczak is the author of King Matt the First.

Editorial Reviews

Matt becomes King Matt at a young age, after both his royal parents die. Immediately, because of his young age, three kings declare war on the country. Matt runs away to the front, and eventually becomes a spy and defeats the other kings in war. King Matt then decides to become a "Reformer King." He opens a zoo, summer camps for children, and establishes two parliaments (one for adults and one for children). He also becomes the first king to visit the cannibal kings in Africa. King Matt learns that reforms are expensive and difficult. Ultimately, King Matt fails, but the reader knows that he was still a great king. These 352 pages include the many adventures of King Matt and are told the way that a child thinks. This book would work well as a story to read aloud to children. A rediscovered classic, the book was first published in Polish in 1923. The author is a Polish-Jewish physician, educator and writer at the turn of the twentieth century. Korczak was a strong believer in the rights of children. During World War II, he was the director of a Jewish orphanage in the Warsaw ghetto. He died with the children in a concentration camp in 1942. 2004, Algonquin Books, Ages 8 to 12.
—Lynn O'Connell

Children's Literature

Korczak, a well-known Warsaw pediatrician who ran an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto during Hitler's occupation, eventually accompanied the orphans to Treblinka and died alongside them. His strong belief in children's rights comes through in this adventurous tale, originally written in 1923. When young King Matt ascends the throne, three countries immediately declare war on his "leaderless" country. Matt runs away to the front with a friend, and his success as a spy in the war allows him to step back to the throne in victory. Matt wants to be the Reformer King and so decides to build a zoo, open summer camps for children, visit the king of the cannibal tribes in Africa, and establish two parliaments (for adults and children). He soon learns that reforms are neither easy nor inexpensive, and outside kings look to take over Matt's wealth. In the end, King Matt is dethroned but still displays the wisdom and kindness that set him apart from other rulers. Recommended for the young and not-so-young at public and academic libraries. (Introduction not seen.) Heather Wright, ASRC Aerospace Corp., Cincinnati Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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