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Product Description
Product Description
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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
John Edward Masefield (1878-1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate 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 memorable poetry, including "The Everlasting Mercy", and "Sea-Fever", from his anthology Saltwater Ballads. Quentin Blake's first drawings were published in Punch when he was 16. He is known for his collaboration with writers such as Russell Hoban, Joan Aiken, Michael Rosen, and, most famously, Roald Dahl. He has also created much-loved characters of his own. His books have won numerous prizes and awards, including the Whitbread Award, the Kate Greenaway Medal, the Emil/Kurt Maschler Award and the international Bologna Ragazzi Prize. He won the 2002 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration and in 2004 he was awarded the 'Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres'. Now in his 70s he is recognised as 'a national institution'. In 1999 he was appointed the first ever Children's Laureate.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
47 of 48 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The (largely faithful) TV adaptation of this is probably better known than the book, but the latter is more rewarding. The lines between reality and magic are blurred throughout the story, and that's the way John Masefield likes it - he was Poet Laureate, after all, so you expect to be dazzled. It's most definitely a story to be read at Christmas, as the plot takes place the week before the big day.
In places the book shows its age - it was written in the 1920s - and isn't politically correct by today's standards. However, it's very funny, especially Abner Brown's evil monologues, the completely loopy Arnold of Todi and little Maria's constant attempts to shock people. The ending has been described as cliched, but may have been less so at the time it was written.
It's certainly worth reading "The Midnight Folk" (the Box of Delights is actually a sequel) as this helps to explain the origin of the characters such as Abner, the Rat and Caroline Louisa. The books complement each other very well, with one set in summer and the other at Christmas, but with largely the same characters and setting.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
You may, like me, have first come accross the Box of Delights when it was dramatised by the BBC in the early 1980s, and shown at Christmas virtually every year that decade! It was through a fit of nostalgia about this that I sought out the book, and I have certainly not been disappointed.
Very simply the main character of the story is entrusted a magical box, which he endeavours to hide from a "gang of crooks" who also have an interest in the dark arts and the powers of the box. Masefield charts the adventures of 12(ish) year old Kay Harker, and those "blessed Joneses" (Kay's words, not mine!) over the four days leading up to Christmas in 1935, setting a good vs evil story against the background of going swift and going small, adventures in prehistory, pagan mythology, cars that turn into aeroplanes, scrobbling, incompetant policemen, snowy landscapes and well stocked larders!
Christmassy, and yet slightly dark, and utterly exciting, I would suggest this story has certainly not aged and I will definately be reading it to my children every Christmas until they too can quote all the words and make a possit as well as I can!
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have just acquired this book, having grown up with the abridged version. I had never realised how much I was missing! It is wonderful to finally have the complete text, and just in time for Christmas too. Quentin Blake's illustrations are of course very different from Faith Jacques' in my old copy, and less to my taste, but if they bring new readers to this wonderful book, then that is all to the good. Don't forget The Midnight Folk, too, it is just as good.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A crazy Christmas Pudding of a book
"The Box of Delights" is the work of an extraordinary imagination.
Imagine, if you will, a 1930s Christmas muddled up with old English mythology, Ancient Britons and... Read more
Imagine, if you will, a 1930s Christmas muddled up with old English mythology, Ancient Britons and... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Secret Spi
Box of Delights
Scarry Book. I heard this book as a child on 'Childrens hour' way back when, and it has stayed exactly how I remember it.
Published 3 months ago by Mrs. N. D. Lecuuer
Can't wait to read it again!
This is one of the books we had to do for English when I was at school a long, long time ago :-( I ordered another book for my daughter that was a favourite from my childhood and,... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Holly at 43
Utterly Charming Read
The perfect Christmas read no matter your age, especially sitting in front of a fire with a glass of mulled wine. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Suze
magical
I loved the BBC adaptation when I was a child and bought it on DVD a few years ago. Watching it in the run up to Christmas is one of my essential traditions. Read more
Published 16 months ago by j-b
The Magic of Christmas
Written by John Masefield (1878-1967), probably better known as a poet, The Box of Delights book follows on from The Midnight Folk. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Grace Poole
A cracking childrens book.
I say childrens book but I am most certainly not a child and I still enjoy re-visiting this book regularly. Read more
Published on 8 Oct 2009 by Neferra
A world with magic in it
"The wolves are running" "If you see Someone, tell them Someone is safe"... those phrases have stayed with me ever since I first read this book as a child. Read more
Published on 23 Feb 2008 by Alice Lane
When the Wolves Were Running
A delightfully enchanting "English" story, managing to stir up images of those traditional Christmasses - that of snowy English landscapes & glowing fires, contemporary crooks,... Read more
Published on 26 Dec 2006 by Hooded Man
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