What do you think?
Rate this book
The World Around the Corner
Caroline finds a pair of magic spectacles which reveal a hidden world at the center of New Zealand, a world threatened with destruction if the spectacles fall into the wrong hands.
180 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1980
68 people want to read
About the author
Maurice Gee
45 books105 followersMaurice Gough Gee was a New Zealand novelist. He was one of New Zealand's most distinguished and prolific authors, having written over thirty novels for adults and children, and having won numerous awards both in New Zealand and overseas, including multiple top prizes at the New Zealand Book Awards, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in the UK, the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, the Robert Burns Fellowship and a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement. In 2003 he was recognised as one of New Zealand's greatest living artists across all disciplines by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, which presented him with an Icon Award.
Gee's novel Plumb (1978) was described by the Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature to be one of the best novels ever written in New Zealand. He was also well-known for children's and young adult fiction such as Under the Mountain (1979). He won multiple top prizes at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and in 2002 he was presented with the prestigious Margaret Mahy Award by the Children's Literature Foundation in recognition of his contributions to children's literature.
Gee's novel Plumb (1978) was described by the Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature to be one of the best novels ever written in New Zealand. He was also well-known for children's and young adult fiction such as Under the Mountain (1979). He won multiple top prizes at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and in 2002 he was presented with the prestigious Margaret Mahy Award by the Children's Literature Foundation in recognition of his contributions to children's literature.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 4, 2020
Honestly, if I didn't have the history I have with this book, it would probably be a four star read. But screw objectivity, nostalgia is affecting me in a big way and there's nothing wrong with that! I have been reading this book ever since I was a little kid. A recent Twitter conversation about New Zealand authors encouraged me to dig it out of the bookcase and read it again, and I loved it just as much as I ever have.
The thing is, you see, growing up in NZ a few decades back, and being a total SFF fan even as a child, pretty much all the SFF available - with a few notable exceptions - was from overseas. You know that those cookie-cutter European-inspired fantasy settings? There were lots of those, and I enjoyed them, I did, but there was something about reading stories set here that was just amazing. Moreover, because Maurice Gee lived in the same small town as I did, books like The World Around the Corner were set in places I saw every single day. At one point I even lived across the road from Botanical Hill, which is the focal setting of the story. I can't tell you how often I pretended to be Caroline, but it was lots. This book and Maurice Gee probably did more for ten-year-old me's imagination than any other story out there. I love it.
The thing is, you see, growing up in NZ a few decades back, and being a total SFF fan even as a child, pretty much all the SFF available - with a few notable exceptions - was from overseas. You know that those cookie-cutter European-inspired fantasy settings? There were lots of those, and I enjoyed them, I did, but there was something about reading stories set here that was just amazing. Moreover, because Maurice Gee lived in the same small town as I did, books like The World Around the Corner were set in places I saw every single day. At one point I even lived across the road from Botanical Hill, which is the focal setting of the story. I can't tell you how often I pretended to be Caroline, but it was lots. This book and Maurice Gee probably did more for ten-year-old me's imagination than any other story out there. I love it.
October 9, 2014
Couple of spoilers here
Intended for a younger audience than most of Gee's children's books, this is a fairly lightweight piece, with little room for character-drawing except in the most basic, broad brush style. Even the main character, Caroline, isn't someone who really lingers in your mind. Still many of Gee's normal themes are there, in miniature, and Caroline turns out to be fairly daring in spite of herself. Unusually for Gee there isn't a boy in sight; most of his children's stories feature at least a duo rather than a single child.
The nice touch is that Gee doesn't pander to the idea that young children shouldn't be introduced to new and interesting words, words that are likely to be out of their sphere of knowledge or understanding. In fact he plays with this idea by having Caroline herself excited by the sounds of interesting words.
There are two climaxes, one that comes naturally, when Caroline saves the magic glasses that are special to the "world around the corner"; this is the more effective of the two. Set in the real world, its dangers and difficulties are readily identifiable. The second climax, set in the other world, and seen in a kind of dream-like state, is too distant to really get us involved. It's a pretty sure bet that the other young girl will win her battle.
I read this book because I'm working through Gee's children's stories after reading and reviewing a new publication by the Otago University Press which discusses them in detail.
Intended for a younger audience than most of Gee's children's books, this is a fairly lightweight piece, with little room for character-drawing except in the most basic, broad brush style. Even the main character, Caroline, isn't someone who really lingers in your mind. Still many of Gee's normal themes are there, in miniature, and Caroline turns out to be fairly daring in spite of herself. Unusually for Gee there isn't a boy in sight; most of his children's stories feature at least a duo rather than a single child.
The nice touch is that Gee doesn't pander to the idea that young children shouldn't be introduced to new and interesting words, words that are likely to be out of their sphere of knowledge or understanding. In fact he plays with this idea by having Caroline herself excited by the sounds of interesting words.
There are two climaxes, one that comes naturally, when Caroline saves the magic glasses that are special to the "world around the corner"; this is the more effective of the two. Set in the real world, its dangers and difficulties are readily identifiable. The second climax, set in the other world, and seen in a kind of dream-like state, is too distant to really get us involved. It's a pretty sure bet that the other young girl will win her battle.
I read this book because I'm working through Gee's children's stories after reading and reviewing a new publication by the Otago University Press which discusses them in detail.
November 22, 2022
The World Around the Corner is, at its core, a story about climate change. The grimbles are shown to cause desertification in their world. When they try to access the elf land, the elves then make an invisible wall to keep them away. The grimbles are a metaphor for humans, we destroy our own land and then try to access more. “A chain of mountains separates the two halves of our world. The Grimbles have turned their side into a desert.They have cut down all the trees, levelled the hills, dammed up all the rivers” . I believe that Maurice Gee put these meanings into his book to educate people on the issues. By framing the grimbles as the villain he shows how bad these actions are. This lesson is important because if we don't look at our actions as villainous, then we may continue doing them. If being like the grimbles would cause destruction to our world, then it’s only reasonable to say that being like the elves would be better, who live alongside their world, and protect it from any encroaching pollution.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 20, 2012
This was one of my favourite books at intermediate school. I have reread several times and again recently and I still love it. Maurice Gee creates such a fascinating world in this story. I love the characters! I definitely recommend it!
September 8, 2022
A short, quick read, which really captures the feeling of New Zealand in the 1970s/80s (published 1980) and should appeal to children who are interested in words like chaise and pince-nez and simple stories of good versus evil.
Caroline is about eight years old and has worn glasses ever since she started seeing double at the age of four. Her father owns a secondhand/antique store in Nelson and her mother works at the library there. She spends time at her father's store while her mother is at work, but has a lot of freedom to roam around, and at home she has her own special hut in the bush by their house. One day she finds a pair of magic glasses in a box at the secondhand store and gets caught up in a battle for the possession of the glasses, a battle between the Grimbles (father and son goblins from another world) and Sun and Moon (Mr and Mrs Gates, elderly elves from another world).
I loved the descriptions of the store and the bush, and what Caroline sees when she puts on the magic glasses, which brighten colours and allow eagle eye vision. The story was very simple - Mr and Mrs Gates are hiding the glasses in our world, and Caroline will help them to keep the glasses out of the hands of the red-eyed Grimbles so she can put them into the hands of the Moon-girl, who must use them to defeat an evil dragon back in their world, so that the land of the elves is not overrun by the goblins. There are nasty black cats and good golden cats, and adventures on the river. Don't be fooled by the cover - the story has nothing to do with mirrors! The gateway to the other world is at the top of Botanical Hill, the 'centre' of New Zealand, and people from our world can't pass through. Overall a sweet story for younger readers.
Caroline is about eight years old and has worn glasses ever since she started seeing double at the age of four. Her father owns a secondhand/antique store in Nelson and her mother works at the library there. She spends time at her father's store while her mother is at work, but has a lot of freedom to roam around, and at home she has her own special hut in the bush by their house. One day she finds a pair of magic glasses in a box at the secondhand store and gets caught up in a battle for the possession of the glasses, a battle between the Grimbles (father and son goblins from another world) and Sun and Moon (Mr and Mrs Gates, elderly elves from another world).
I loved the descriptions of the store and the bush, and what Caroline sees when she puts on the magic glasses, which brighten colours and allow eagle eye vision. The story was very simple - Mr and Mrs Gates are hiding the glasses in our world, and Caroline will help them to keep the glasses out of the hands of the red-eyed Grimbles so she can put them into the hands of the Moon-girl, who must use them to defeat an evil dragon back in their world, so that the land of the elves is not overrun by the goblins. There are nasty black cats and good golden cats, and adventures on the river. Don't be fooled by the cover - the story has nothing to do with mirrors! The gateway to the other world is at the top of Botanical Hill, the 'centre' of New Zealand, and people from our world can't pass through. Overall a sweet story for younger readers.
August 6, 2024
Read for 52 Book Club 2023 September Mini Challenge: First word in the book is a proper noun. (Caroline.)
Was very happy to spy this at the library book sale. Another wonderful fantasy book for kids. I'll 100% be reading this to my daughter as Caroline is a great example for kids - playing outside, helping her parents, and being brave - but I guess kids in the 80s had a lot more freedom to do that!
Was very happy to spy this at the library book sale. Another wonderful fantasy book for kids. I'll 100% be reading this to my daughter as Caroline is a great example for kids - playing outside, helping her parents, and being brave - but I guess kids in the 80s had a lot more freedom to do that!
April 11, 2018
A light read for kids. An interesting idea, using a pair of glasses as the object of power in the plot. I didn't get drawn into the story as much as I would have liked, but that may be because I am not a kid. I read it predominantly because my family used to summer holiday in Nelson, (where the action is set), every year when we were kids. Brought back good memories of a favourite place.
January 18, 2023
Such an imaginative and thrilling fantasy for young readers. This is the book that made me fall in love with reading when I was young. I remember sitting cross legged on the floor in the junior room and the teacher Miss Fraser reading it to us. Brilliant. And the story is set in Nelson, where I grew up.
January 5, 2026
I’m not particularly keen on the fantasy genre but did enjoy this book. Perhaps it’s because the fantasy elements are woven into a real-world setting. I enjoyed returning to the childhood feeling of hiding in huts and watching the adult world from above. The possibility of there being an alternative world.
November 7, 2020
Slight tale of an act of bravery to help save another world. Gee's powers of description, from dusty boxes in an antiques shop to a thrilling chase through undergrowth and along a river, are as strong as ever.
April 14, 2023
I won this book at primary school for winning an art competition :) but I had to leave it in the school library-bummer. Finally found a copy on Trade Me so it was a nice visit down memory lane. Cute story.
January 2, 2025
Pure nostalgia. I remember discovering this book in my primary school library and being totally bewitched by it. It was great to read it again.
April 27, 2012
I loved this book!!!! it was fantastic , everything about it was fantastic the picture were awsome and i loved how it was set in two differrent worlds (kinda). I could not stop reading it i would reccomend it to girls who kinda like fantasy
March 31, 2009
this book is a really good book if you want a cool but quick read
November 14, 2013
It is such a well written book and i love everything about it. I would recommend it to anybody, kids, adults, anyone! It's such a good read!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews