1 December 2025

Two Classic Children’s Novels

When I was in primary school I read a book that has lived in my imagination my entire life. John Masefield’s The Midnight Folk tells the story of young Kay Harker, ostensibly being raised by an unsympathetic governess, who is introduced to a secret world that comes to life at night. In the opening pages, Kay and the reader discover the presence of witches, talking animals, his toys that come to life, and the chance to track down an old family treasure taken from the Caribbean and rumoured to be hidden somewhere on the estate.

I was hooked. I have to admit, I wanted an adventure like Kay Harker, and I remember getting up in the middle of the night sometimes, wishing something would happen but nothing did. Sometimes I moved things in the house just so I could see them in a different place the next day, and I expected my family might notice and wonder what had happened, but they never did. I partly attribute years of insomnia to this book.

There is a sequel featuring Kay, set during Christmas, called The Box of Delights. I never read it. I used to look at it in the local newsagency where they had a copy, and its cover illustration (the Piccolo edition) was just as enticing and evocative for me. But we never had a lot of money so buying books was a luxury my mother could not always afford. I always felt that as a loss.

Which is why I love to go back to books like these and reread them, now. I’ve previously reread Margaret Potter’s The Blow-and-Grow Year and I reviewed it for this site, as well as Mordecai Richler’s Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang.

I recently reread The Midnight Folk with Toriaz, who expressed an interest in it. However, because our reading was intermittent and the book is surprisingly complex and detailed for a children’s book, I decided I would reread it again on my own. To this end I ordered a hardback edition published by the New York Review, and also finally bought myself a copy of The Box of Delights in the same edition. They’re lovely editions, but what pleased me most was that this edition contains the original illustrations. Some editions are now illustrated by Quentin Blake, and I don’t like his work. His style is too light and whimsical for these books.

Naturally, when I read these books I intend to do something on the website for them. However, I have now decided I want to do more than just review them, because their language is more sophisticated than most books now written for children, and their plots multilayered with many characters (at least for The Midnight Folk). I thought I might produce some kind of guide for the books. I really hope someone else will be inspired to read these old books, written early last century, but set in the 19^th century.

- bikerbuddy