King Matt the First
Common Sense Note
The book was written in Poland in the 20's, and is very much a product of its time. There are some passages which may, by today's standards, be considered by some to be racist. In "Mary Poppins' and "Doctor Doolittle,' both of which originally contained racist episodes, these were simply excised in the revised editions which are sold today.
This in not possible with "King Matt,' however, since the African sections are inextricably bound up with the plot. King Matt has dealings with African kings and tribes, which are depicted, in some ways, as uncivilized and primitive. It should also be noted, however, as Bruno Bettelheim did in his introduction to a previous edition, that the African king is portrayed as being morally superior to the white kings. Bettelheim summed up by saying, "If the portrayal in "King Matt the First' of black people as superior to their white counterparts in all important ways does not sufficiently demonstrate that the author was as free of corrupt values as any person can be, then his life certainly does demonstrate this.' Also, the African king's daughter strikes some pretty convincing blows for feminism forty years before its time.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
It took America a while to find out about Janusz Korczak. Born in Poland in 1878, he became an author well known throughout Europe for his books about children. His knowledge of them was gained in his career as a pediatrician, and as the director of a Jewish orphanage in Warsaw. When the Nazis invaded, the orphanage was relocated to the Jewish ghetto. Though several times his friends arranged for him to escape, he insisted on staying with his charges; he stayed with them when they were marched to the trains and taken to the death camp at Treblinka, and there he died with them.
Yet it wasn't until 1986 that an English translation of "King Matt the First,' a children's book which many consider Korczak's best work, was finally published. It appeared briefly in hardcover, then quickly went out of print, and it has been in and out of print ever since. Now it has been brought out in a new paperback edition. The publishers are to be commended for their perseverance in making this important, but not very commercial, work of children's literature available to American children.
Though obviously impossible, the story is surprisingly realistic, and it deals with the problems and pitfalls of governing a country in a way which is an eye opener for children. Korczak's intimate knowledge of children makes Matt's attempted reforms recognizable to his young readers as the very same ones which they would try, and the consequences are as surprising to them as they are to Matt. This is the kind of book which should be read with an adult; there is much in it that cries out for discussion, much that will make the reader angry and frustrated, much that will exercise their notions of fairness, responsibility, laws, rights, and human behavior.
"King Matt the First' is a novel that all kids (and adults) should read, probably between fifth and eighth grade. It is an exciting story, educational in a way that few books manage to be, and exceptionally thought provoking. It is recommended not only to parents who are looking for good books for their kids, but to teachers who want the ideal literature tie-in for any course which deals with law, government, and institutions. It is an important work whose past neglect in America deserves to be remedied.
From the Book:
Matt knew absolutely nothing about modern war. He thought that soldiers just fought, stole horse, and rode onward, trampling the foe. But he had never dreamed that soldiers dug trenches, drove in posts connected by barbed wire in front of those trenches, and then sat in those trenches for weeks on end. He was in no great hurry to set to work. He was tired and weak, all his bones ached; it was a king's task to fight, but digging trenches -- anybody could do that better than Matt.
But orders kept coming to hurry because the enemy was approaching. Now cannon fire could be heard in the distance.
Plot Summary:
KING MATT is a fable set in the 1920's. Matt is a young boy who becomes the king of a European country when his parents, the king and queen, die. Matt is, most importantly, a child, with all the idealism and ignorance, good intentions and lack of understanding, simplicity and guilelessness which that entails. Though at first he is content, if not very happy, to take lessons from his tutor and do as the government Ministers advise, he soon begins, as any child might, to think that he can do better, especially for the children of his country.
When three foreign countries invade, Matt is thrilled, romantically imagining himself on a white horse leading his soldiers into battle. When he realizes that the Ministers don't even plan to tell him that a war has begun, much less let him lead it, he sneaks off to the front. There, unrecognized, he begins his real education, as he sees what war is really like. But it is only the beginning, for in ending the war, taking control of his government, and instituting a series of reforms, the inadequacy of his knowledge and understanding of the world, of economics, politics, geography, and consequences is made manifest.
Yet despite all of this, he means well, tries hard, learns quickly, and has some successes. Some of his ideas, like giving every kid in the country candy, are silly and childish, but others, like building camps in the countryside where poor children can spend the summer, are more enlightened and practical. His reforms become increasingly grandiose, with destructive consequences which he does not anticipate, and he is increasingly betrayed by the guile and deviousness of the adults who plot his downfall. But though all of his efforts and trials, his sense of responsibility and his simple nobility shine in contrast to the machinations and selfishness of some, though not all, of the adults with whom he has to deal.
Related Books:
More Politics and Kids
Nothing but the Truth by Avi
Song of Be by Lesley Beake
AK by Peter Dickinson
Shadow of a Hero by Peter Dickinson
King Matt the First by Janusz Korczak
Dissidents by Neil Shusterman
The Fall of the Red Star by Helen M. Szablya and Peggy King Anderson
Deep Doo-Doo by Michael Delaney
The Voices of Silence by Bel Mooney
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ViolenceMatt goes to war and finds out what it's really like. |
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Social BehaviorMany of the adults are venal and duplicitous. The parts of the story dealing with Africa can be taken as racist by modern standards (see Common Sense Note). |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoAdults drink and smoke. |
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