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Kay Harker #1-2
The Midnight Folk, and The Box of Delights
- GenresChildrens
Paperback
Published November 1, 2001
About the author
John Masefield
781 books103 followersMasefield was born in Ledbury, a rural area in England to George Masefield, a solicitor and Caroline. His mother died giving birth to his sister when Masefield was only 6 and he went to live with his aunt. His father died soon after. After an unhappy education at the King's School in Warwick (now known as Warwick School), where he was a boarder between 1888 and 1891, he left to board the HMS Conway, both to train for a life at sea, and to break his addiction to reading, of which his Aunt thought little. He spent several years aboard this ship and found that he could spend much of his time reading and writing. It was aboard the Conway that Masefield’s love for story-telling grew.
In 1894, Masefield boarded the Gilcruix, destined for Chile. He recorded his experiences while sailing through the extreme weather. Upon reaching Chile, Masefield suffered from sunstroke and was hospitalized. He eventually returned home to England as a passenger aboard a steam ship.
In 1895, Masefield returned to sea on a windjammer destined for New York City. However, the urge to become a writer and the hopelessness of life as a sailor overtook him, and in New York, he deserted ship. He lived as a vagrant for several months, before returning to New York City, where he was able to find work as an assistant to a bar keeper.
For the next two years, Masefield was employed in a carpet factory, where long hours were expected and conditions were far from ideal. He purchased up to 20 books a week, and devoured both modern and classical literature. His interests at this time were diverse and his reading included works by Trilby, Dumas, Thomas Browne, Hazlitt, Dickens, Kipling, and R. L. Stevenson. Chaucer also became very important to him during this time, as well as poetry by Keats and Shelley.
When Masefield was 23, he met his future wife, Constance Crommelin, who was 35. Educated in classics and English Literature, and a mathematics teacher, Constance was a perfect match for Masefield despite the difference in age. The couple had two children (Judith, born in 1904, and Lewis, in 1910).
In 1930, due to the death of Robert Bridges, a new Poet Laureate was needed. King George V appointed Masefield, who remained in office until his death in 1967. Masefield took his appointment seriously and produced a large quantity of verse. Poems composed in his official capacity were sent to The Times. Masefield’s humility was shown by his inclusion of a stamped envelope with each submission so that his composition could be returned if it were found unacceptable for publication.
On 12 May 1967, John Masefield died, after having suffered through a spread of gangrene up his leg. According to his wishes, he was cremated and his ashes placed in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey. Later, the following verse was discovered, written by Masefield, addressed to his ‘Heirs, Administrators, and Assigns’:
Let no religious rite be done or read
In any place for me when I am dead,
But burn my body into ash, and scatter
The ash in secret into running water,
Or on the windy down, and let none see;
And then thank God that there’s an end of me.
In 1894, Masefield boarded the Gilcruix, destined for Chile. He recorded his experiences while sailing through the extreme weather. Upon reaching Chile, Masefield suffered from sunstroke and was hospitalized. He eventually returned home to England as a passenger aboard a steam ship.
In 1895, Masefield returned to sea on a windjammer destined for New York City. However, the urge to become a writer and the hopelessness of life as a sailor overtook him, and in New York, he deserted ship. He lived as a vagrant for several months, before returning to New York City, where he was able to find work as an assistant to a bar keeper.
For the next two years, Masefield was employed in a carpet factory, where long hours were expected and conditions were far from ideal. He purchased up to 20 books a week, and devoured both modern and classical literature. His interests at this time were diverse and his reading included works by Trilby, Dumas, Thomas Browne, Hazlitt, Dickens, Kipling, and R. L. Stevenson. Chaucer also became very important to him during this time, as well as poetry by Keats and Shelley.
When Masefield was 23, he met his future wife, Constance Crommelin, who was 35. Educated in classics and English Literature, and a mathematics teacher, Constance was a perfect match for Masefield despite the difference in age. The couple had two children (Judith, born in 1904, and Lewis, in 1910).
In 1930, due to the death of Robert Bridges, a new Poet Laureate was needed. King George V appointed Masefield, who remained in office until his death in 1967. Masefield took his appointment seriously and produced a large quantity of verse. Poems composed in his official capacity were sent to The Times. Masefield’s humility was shown by his inclusion of a stamped envelope with each submission so that his composition could be returned if it were found unacceptable for publication.
On 12 May 1967, John Masefield died, after having suffered through a spread of gangrene up his leg. According to his wishes, he was cremated and his ashes placed in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey. Later, the following verse was discovered, written by Masefield, addressed to his ‘Heirs, Administrators, and Assigns’:
Let no religious rite be done or read
In any place for me when I am dead,
But burn my body into ash, and scatter
The ash in secret into running water,
Or on the windy down, and let none see;
And then thank God that there’s an end of me.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 2, 2024
A composite rating here. If publishers will bind two books in a single volume that's what's going to happen. And now a bit of rambling reviewy stuff:
The Midnight Folk
I’m going to type some stuff, and then I’m going to check the internet. When I check the internet, I’ll probably find I’m wrong because, well, that’s the kind of thing that happens to me. So it goes.
It seems to me, then, that there’s something rather odd going on with this book. It doesn’t quite gel; I can’t quite wrap my head around what age it’s aimed at. Now, I think that’s probably because it’s for more than one person, and I strongly suspect it’s meant to be read to two children, one older than the other, and to have enough in it to appeal to both and possibly a parent as well.
And now I... Well, let’s go for a certain online encyclopaedia, shall we?
Right. Yes, Masefield had two children, to whom this thing is dedicated, with a six year age gap between them. And that feels entirely right. Right, that’s that mystery cleared-up. Can I start again?
The Midnight Folk is the kind of book you write when there’s a six year gap between your two children, and you’re trying to please both. There’s a fair bit of nursery whimsy, some talking animals (sorry) and a protagonist who’s too young to go to posh-boy school yet, but it’s combined with quite a lot that makes me think of E. Nesbit or even C.S. Lewis (sans Jesus stuff, thank Christ).
Then, it’s not very structured. It’s not laid out in chapters – which doesn’t bother me as such – but strings together episodes in a rather blurred fashion, mixing dream and presumed reality. All of which is fine, but doesn’t make for a coherent narrative.
And that’s probably why, even though I’m sure I’ve read it before, the only bit that seems to have stuck was some woman babbling about bad things beginning with M. The fact it was more than half a lifetime ago is irrelevant. It didn’t stick.
And it probably won’t stick now. I’m the wrong age, and I think you’re probably always going to be the wrong age. Unless you’ve two children with a six year age-gap. I forgot it because it’s forgettable.
But it is the prequel to…
The Box of Delights
This one I remember more of, and this time I get to wear my nostalgia goggles (rose-tinted, bit dusty, slightly worn about the straps). There was one of those BBC Christmas things, which has reinforced the memory, but which dates me horribly.
No matter; go with it.
This, then, is a Christmas book written some years after The Midnight Folk and with, I feel, a much stronger sense of its own identity. It’s got a good, solid structure to it, it’s consistent in appealing to an older age-group, and the use of magic is much more focussed. Although it is a sequel, there’s no need to have read the earlier book; you’re not missing much if you haven’t. Even without the nostalgia goggles it’s a pretty good children’s book in an E. Nesbit or Over Sea, Under Stone sort of a way – magic and reality colliding. True, the ending is a bit… well… Alice, but you can’t have everything.
This one I can recommend.
The Midnight Folk
I’m going to type some stuff, and then I’m going to check the internet. When I check the internet, I’ll probably find I’m wrong because, well, that’s the kind of thing that happens to me. So it goes.
It seems to me, then, that there’s something rather odd going on with this book. It doesn’t quite gel; I can’t quite wrap my head around what age it’s aimed at. Now, I think that’s probably because it’s for more than one person, and I strongly suspect it’s meant to be read to two children, one older than the other, and to have enough in it to appeal to both and possibly a parent as well.
And now I... Well, let’s go for a certain online encyclopaedia, shall we?
Right. Yes, Masefield had two children, to whom this thing is dedicated, with a six year age gap between them. And that feels entirely right. Right, that’s that mystery cleared-up. Can I start again?
The Midnight Folk is the kind of book you write when there’s a six year gap between your two children, and you’re trying to please both. There’s a fair bit of nursery whimsy, some talking animals (sorry) and a protagonist who’s too young to go to posh-boy school yet, but it’s combined with quite a lot that makes me think of E. Nesbit or even C.S. Lewis (sans Jesus stuff, thank Christ).
Then, it’s not very structured. It’s not laid out in chapters – which doesn’t bother me as such – but strings together episodes in a rather blurred fashion, mixing dream and presumed reality. All of which is fine, but doesn’t make for a coherent narrative.
And that’s probably why, even though I’m sure I’ve read it before, the only bit that seems to have stuck was some woman babbling about bad things beginning with M. The fact it was more than half a lifetime ago is irrelevant. It didn’t stick.
And it probably won’t stick now. I’m the wrong age, and I think you’re probably always going to be the wrong age. Unless you’ve two children with a six year age-gap. I forgot it because it’s forgettable.
But it is the prequel to…
The Box of Delights
This one I remember more of, and this time I get to wear my nostalgia goggles (rose-tinted, bit dusty, slightly worn about the straps). There was one of those BBC Christmas things, which has reinforced the memory, but which dates me horribly.
No matter; go with it.
This, then, is a Christmas book written some years after The Midnight Folk and with, I feel, a much stronger sense of its own identity. It’s got a good, solid structure to it, it’s consistent in appealing to an older age-group, and the use of magic is much more focussed. Although it is a sequel, there’s no need to have read the earlier book; you’re not missing much if you haven’t. Even without the nostalgia goggles it’s a pretty good children’s book in an E. Nesbit or Over Sea, Under Stone sort of a way – magic and reality colliding. True, the ending is a bit… well… Alice, but you can’t have everything.
This one I can recommend.
November 27, 2016
The Midnight Folk by John Masefield - this sets up the backstory and introduces us to the definitely dream-like sense of magic that pervades both this and its sequel, the better known Box of delights. Midnight Folk sets events in motion around the summer solstice when the old magic comes closer to the surface and Box of Delights concludes the story at winter solstice, or Christmas as it is more widely known!
Both books only just manage to hold on to any sense of reality and often descend into surreal insanity (in one scene, our protagonists are attacked by tiny airplanes with teeth!) There is such a strong sense of magic throughout and certainly one of the few stories to really evoke a sense of the traditional Celtic magic it draws upon. There is time-travel, talking rats, gangsters, ancient gods, demons and a classic 'comic-book' style villain in Abner Brown. If you forgive the plot holes and allow the dream-logic to carry you along, then both books are a real retro treat.
It has some resonance with Narnia and the more recent Harry Potter books, but really is unlike anything else... Definitely worth it and great exercise for the imagination of youngsters!
Both books only just manage to hold on to any sense of reality and often descend into surreal insanity (in one scene, our protagonists are attacked by tiny airplanes with teeth!) There is such a strong sense of magic throughout and certainly one of the few stories to really evoke a sense of the traditional Celtic magic it draws upon. There is time-travel, talking rats, gangsters, ancient gods, demons and a classic 'comic-book' style villain in Abner Brown. If you forgive the plot holes and allow the dream-logic to carry you along, then both books are a real retro treat.
It has some resonance with Narnia and the more recent Harry Potter books, but really is unlike anything else... Definitely worth it and great exercise for the imagination of youngsters!
March 1, 2015
Written eight years earlier than 'The Box of Delights', the first volume of the adventures of Kay Harker is not quite as wonderful, but still knocks spots off most contemporary children's fiction for exuberance, imagination, humour and grace of language. I love Masefield.
February 19, 2026
I love these two books so much!!!!!!
March 13, 2012
I really wanted to like this book. It comes from an era of English stories like C.S. Lewis's Narnia books as well as the Velveteen Rabbit...and yet, with an afterward written by Madeline L'Engle and published by the NYRB in their special children's collection. Parts of this story really capture your attention and imagination, and one could argue that I've read too much 20th-21st century books to appreciate the pacing and narrative. Perhaps. I read til the end, though I was not in need of this story at most points of my day beyond finishing it so I could move on. The parts about stuffed animals as guards and paintings coming to life...very cool. But there are no breaks for chapters...and one continuous story often requires reading straight through or a hook. I'm not sure that the desire to find treasure, amidst even pirates, did it for me. I'm hanging onto it though...as maybe a little person in my future will have less of a reading history and be able to love it for all that it is...
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews