King Matt The First - Softcover

"Unforgettable to the last full stop. One of the great classics" (Michael Morpurgo, Children's Laureate)

"Janusz Korczak is an important writer... His message is still relevant today, that children matter; indeed that they should be a priority in our culture, because it's only with a child's imagination that grown-ups can begin to conceive a better world" (Yann Martel, author of 'Life of Pi')

"Absolutely wonderful. A gripping and classic entertainment from start to shocking finish. Definitely a book for all ages" (Matt Haig, author of 'The Last Family in England')

"The spirit of Korczak, living on, could make a better world for all humans" (Publisher's Weekly)

"Droll and melancholy, wry and touching, King Matt is a fable that offers a fierce, truthful picture of children struggling to make sense of grown-up nonsense... This small masterpiece is a rare tribute to the psychological depth and marvellous workings of a child's heart and mind" (Maurice Sendak, author of 'Where the Wild Things Are')

This moving fable follows the adventures of Matt who becomes king when just a child and decides to reform his country according to his own priorities. Ignoring his grown-up ministers, he builds the best zoo in the world and decrees that children should be given chocolate every day. He fights in battles, braves the jungle, and crosses the desert, but perhaps the most life-altering thing of all is that the lonely boy king finds true friends. This timeless book shows us not only what children's literature can be, but what children can be.

King Matt the First was written by Janusz Korczak, a Polish orphanage director who died in Treblinka after refusing to abandon the children he cared for.