King Matt the First

King Matt the First

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3.63 of 5 stars 3.63  ·  rating details  ·  515 ratings  ·  41 reviews
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 t...more
Paperback, 330 pages
Published October 1st 2004 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill (first published 1923)
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Abigail
Jan 28, 2012 Abigail rated it 3 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: (With Caveat!) Young Readers Who Enjoy Adventure Stories
Recommended to Abigail by: The International Book Club
Review Temporarily Removed.
Lorenzo
As far as I know, King Matt the First is a novel for children like no one other around. I was particularly glad to get this book as a present from my girlfriend.
Being rather fond of Polish literature lately, I have to confess how I had never heard before about this book as well as its author.
This ignorance of mine made the surprise even greater.

And yet King Matt is apparently a milestone in children books in Poland, while Janusz Korczak himself was a famous pedagogist with an interesting pers...more
Daniel L.
King Matt - A Beloved Classic by the King of Children

Were one to associate a book and a fictional character with Janusz Korczak, it would certainly be Krol Macius, King Matthew. His likeness appeared on a series of Polish stamps commemorating his creator, along with a German post card. He saw himself as a leader, through the eyes of the child, King Matt. This is especially true of the often-related accounts of his final march through the Warsaw Ghetto, in silent protest providing comfort to the...more
Hazel Lee
I do not understand the love for this book.

King Matt the First is a story about a prince who becomes king at a young age. Obviously he has no idea what a king is supposed to do, so he starts off doing wacky things like making a huge doll for a random girl he meets, then runs off to war to play soldier. Later he creates a children's parliament, where children can govern themselves however they see fit, which of course leads to all sorts of trouble. Somewhere in the middle he befriends an African...more
Kathleen Dixon
I find it quite interesting that there seems to be more made of the author of this book than of the book itself. The description of the book here in GoodReads begins with a paragraph about the author, and while it can be interesting to know the author's background, and it can explain a little as to why s/he should write about a particular topic, I believe that any blurb about a book should first and foremost be about the book.

Then, the introduction to the book (written by a person I personally h...more
Kressel Housman
Even though I’m a big fan of quality children’s literature, I read this book more out of interest in the author’s life than in the book itself. Janusz Korczak was a Polish Jew who lived through both World Wars. By profession, he was a doctor and educator, but he was also a children’s advocate who appeared in court representing children’s rights. In World War II, he ran an orphanage for Jewish children in the Warsaw ghetto. And at the end, when he was given a chance to flee and save himself, he s...more
Elina
Mar 15, 2009 Elina rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: teachers, young adults
Shelves: fiction, young-adult
Young Matt is orphaned at a young age and must take over for his father as a ruler of a country. He struggles in the beginning with the pestering of his ministers, with the enormity of his duties, with the isolation of being in charge but gradually he comes into his own--by running away and joining the army during a war. It's a good, though-provoking book that I can see on any young reader's shelf. It speaks to the young reader in plain language about very serious issues of growing up, making de...more
Anna
Książka, która pokazuje, że świat dzieci rządzi się innymi prawami niż świat dorosłych. Jednak większość ludzi, jak staje się dorosłymi, to zapomina, jak to jest być dzieckiem.
Yi-Sheng
Mar 18, 2007 Yi-Sheng rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: Adults who'd like to revisit children's literature
Beautiful and sad; a portrait of a child monarch attempting to found a utopia on a world too politically similar too our own. An amazing and neglected work of fiction.
DixieJo



I am about two-thirds finished with this book. I love it and would give it five stars - but need to warn my peers out there. There are a few swear words worth editing if reading aloud but it doesn't go on through the book (one chapter that I have read needed editing.)

As I read I imagine a kindly aging man reading this story aloud to the orphans as the Author is said to have done. I am touched at how well he weaved the trial of times into the story without actually talking about it. (the Holocaus...more
Emily
Mar 09, 2009 Emily rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: NO ONE
NEVER READ THIS BOOK!!!!! It was HORRIBLE and took me like 3 years to get through. If I had the choice of having to get rid of this book or swimming in jello I would pick the jello---although that would probably be fun---but anyway NEVER read it---you will regret it. If they make a movie don't see it. Thats all I can say...goodbye...I just can't talk about it anymore...yeah its that bad...remember 3 years...ME who read Harry Potter 7 in less than 6 hours in the middle of the night the 1st time.....more
Garth Moore
I'm finishing this book with my kids (always fun to read aloud at night still)... it's a great novel about a boy king who comes to power and then takes off on adventures of war, travel, and learning some valuable lessons about people, power, compassion, politics, war, death. There are stereotypes to be sure, but even the stereotypes are played with compassion and an understanding My kids enjoy it and it's been a surprisingly terrific read.

The story of Korczak's demise at the hands of Nazis is h...more
Sarah Sammis
King Matt the First by Janusz Korczak is one of those gems picked at random from the library. The title caught my eye and although the cover art and blurb made it sound hokey, I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did even though it brought me to tears in a couple places.

Although my library puts the book in the children's section, I'd call it an adult book that happens to have a child protagonist. The book was first published in 1923 and was one of twenty novels by child advocate Henryk Goldsz

...more
Dasha
I wish they had the Russian edition on here, which is what I read [and am too lazy to update right now.]
This book was one of my favorites when I was little, although I remember it being really sad. I was very affected by melancholy when I was small.

Anyway, often think about this book and am about to re-read it for inspiration for something - that's got to be worth something, no?
I'll update the review once I am done with the book.
Samantha97 Stowell
This was a book made for kids. Yet by the time they could read this large book they would have outgrown it. I think it would make a great read aloud book to second graders. It had no grown up appeal to it and my older kids would be bored by page 5. I did think the most interesting part of the book was about the author and how he would not leave his kids from a Warsaw orphanage to save his life and was killed in a camp during WWII.
Megan
This book is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! This book is about a little boy Matt and his father is sick. His mother is dead and his father dies. Matt becomes king at a young age. He has to go to a lot of meeting with his ministers and he secretly goes to war with his friend Felek, and he wins the war. And later on two more wars. Everyone loves King Matt. He goes on lots of adventures but later on he comes to an unexpected surprise that no one would ever want to encounter.
Jenny
Wow - this book is poingant and beautiful. It is much a coming of age story as Matt discovers the challenges of being a true leader and tries to navigate the precarious balances of doing it justly and compassionately. It is easy to sympathize with a character who is not a capable, evenhanded rules, but a brave, honest child making many mistakes as he faces the great unknown.

The characters are rich and complex - there are few in this book that you can either place on a pedestal or wholeheartedly...more
Gordon
I was hoping for more from this book, considering all the good things I've heard about its author. Parts are quite captivating, other parts repetitive and occasionally downright dull - probably even more so for the younger audience it's aimed at. The book is also a bit dated in places, especially in its (well-meaning) description of Africans. Korczak was an extraordinary man, but not - it seems - a top-notch fiction writer. (Note: I read this in a Russian translation so I can't say anything abou...more
Nate D
File under: books I loved in grade school and then forgot about. I vaguely recall that this tale of 9-year-old king surprised me at the time for actually conveying real insight into politics, power, and war, in a very non fairy-tale-like manner. But on the other hand, this would have been as compared to Redwall, so who knows.
Angie
One of the most fascinating things about this book is that it was written by a Polish paediatric doctor and educator who introduced many orphanages into Poland. The sad and courageous thing is that during WWII, he refused to leave his orphans as they were being sent to their deaths in a gas chamber. The book has great aspects and interesting characters, but it ends in a very strange way for a children's book. I love the characters of the African Cannibal King Bum-Drum and his daughter Klu-Klu.
Jenny
This is the story of a young boy who becomes king and wants to reform his country. He wants to make it a better place for children to live (a worthy goal, in my opinion), but he does not have the wisdom to know how to go about this. He makes some good laws but also some foolish ones. He is brave and he tries hard. I found the author's background quite interesting and heroic.
GreenApple Alice
The story contained is not the most well-written or engrossing, however the story behind its conception is heartbreaking. Korczak was a polish doctor who ran an orphanage in Warsaw in the 1940's. During the war, when the orphanage was evacuated and the children put on a train bound for the death camp at Treblinka, Korczak chose to stay with the children, though he had the chance to escape. He wrote this story, about a child with power struggling to make sense of the grown-up world, to help the c...more
Matthew Maline
An odd book, it is written in a very simple manner, but the author has the odd technique of giving the minor characters very brief motivational sketches... he will introduce the king's servants, and when they all stand in a line, it isn't "they all stood in a line", its "they all stood in a line because once one of them was slightly out of place and Matt's ancestor Henry the Hasty had him killed and then his children went hungry, so the servants, thinking about their children, all stood in a str...more
John Conrad
I really loved the book but it is impossible to find many copies.
Ludmirska
I would recommend this story to anyone, child and grown up alike.
Miriam
Simply wonderful. I'm now reading Korcak's biography.
Jozee Faceb
Never thought I would enjoy a 'child's' book.
Abby
excellente
Martin Willoughby
A European children's story about a Boy King and the troubles he faces, including war and spies.

What makes this book more poignant is the author was writing this around the time of the second world war and died in Treblinka rather than leave the children he was caring for.
Alyssa
Jan 09, 2011 Alyssa added it
This is a book about a kid who's dad is the king but his dad passes away, so he has to take the throne!
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Janusz Korczak was a was a Polish-Jewish children's author, pediatrician, and child pedagogue, also known under the pseudonym "Stary Doktor".
He was born Henryk Goldszmit in Warsaw on July 22, 1878. During his youth, he played with children who were poor and lived in bad neighborhoods; his passion for helping disadvantaged youth continued into his adulthood. He studied medicine and also had a prom...more
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