Janusz Korczak · the sequel to King Matt the First · 1923
King Matt on the Desert Island
A dethroned king in prison, a leap from a moving train, a five-million reward on his head and an island with a lighthouse at the end of the world. Matt’s second adventure — older, braver and unforgettable.
The boy who was king is beaten in war and sent into exile on a lonely island. The sequel — and the tender, unforgettable conclusion — of the Maciuś story.
🔊 In the audiobook the young king keeps his original Polish name — Maciuś, pronounced MAH-choosh.
📍 Available in
English — ▶ available now · complete edition or 7-part serial
The English audiobook of King Matt on the Desert Island is published in two editions: the complete audiobook (7 h 21 min, 37 chapters) and a serial in 7 parts. Each part is a self-contained slice of about an hour that you buy and listen to separately — a pocket-money way to start, and you own every part forever.
📚 7 parts — about an hour each, perfect bedtime portions
💰 Lower entry price — start with Part 1, continue whenever you're ready
🎧 Buy & listen per part — every part plays in the app like a full book
🏝️ Want it all at once? The complete edition is a single purchase
The deposed boy king, the friends who cross the sea for him, the one faithful guard on the island — and the grown-ups still arguing over what to do with a child who dreamed too big.
Main character · the boy who was king
Maciuś
Beaten in the last war and led out past the crowds like a small Napoleon, Maciuś is sent to a desert island to live out his days in exile. Serious, brave and more alone than ever, he learns the violin, keeps a diary, and tries with a child's clear heart to understand fear, friendship, loneliness and death.
Korczak carries his small king, gently and without flinching, all the way to the ending he always meant for him — one of the most famous last chapters in children's literature.
ExileCourageLonelinessThe diaryThe island
Walenty
The guard on the island
One of the soldiers set to guard the exiled king on the island. Plain, faithful and kind, Walenty becomes a friend in loneliness — the grown-up who treats a deposed child-king simply as a person to be cared for — until the guard is changed and he has to leave.
The Sad King
Truest friend among the kings
A thoughtful, weary monarch who understands the weight of a crown better than anyone alive. Even in exile the boy is not forgotten by him: the Sad King still writes, still warns, still watches — the moral heart of the whole story.
Klu-Klu
Princess · Maciuś's ally
The brave young African princess, daughter of King Bum-Drum. Fearless and sharp-witted, she meets every court as a full equal. When the darkest hours come, Klu-Klu proves Maciuś's most loyal and most daring ally — a nut sent across the sea, and far more, are hers.
Bum-Drum
African king · Klu-Klu's father
A great king, wise, generous and large-hearted, who received Maciuś as a friend and a brother-king. Even from far across the sea he watches over the young king, and longs to come to his aid when the boy's troubles grow heaviest.
The old doctor
Physician · Maciuś's mentor
The old court doctor, who has known Maciuś since the day he was born and loves him like a son. Gentle and sad, he is one of the very few grown-ups the lonely king trusts completely — a self-portrait of Korczak himself, whose grief over the boy's fate is one of the saddest threads of the book.
Felek
The friend from the old days
The soldier's son who was Maciuś's first real friend, raised far above his station in the days of the children's parliament. Grown vain on titles, Felek is one of the king's heaviest sorrows — and his path crosses Maciuś's again before the end.
Colonel Dormesko
Officer · the "sleepyhead"
An officer caught up in the affairs of the fallen king — the drowsy colonel whose orders and papers weave through Maciuś's escape and exile, part of the great political machine that keeps arguing over the boy long after his throne is gone.
Queen Campanella
Among the ruling kings
A queen entangled in the story of the deposed child-king, linked to the green-bannered children's revolt that still stirs beyond the island. Her voice sounds in the great arguments of the grown-ups over what is to be done with Maciuś.
King Orestes
A foreign king
One of the foreign kings still quarrelling over the boy who once dared to give children a parliament. He takes his part in the councils and intrigues that decide Maciuś's fate from far away.
Alo & Ala
The two children of the sea
The lighthouse keeper's children Maciuś meets in his loneliness — small, real and tender, they bring the exiled king a little ordinary childhood. It is these two who tend Maciuś's grave at the end, keeping watch over the boy who was king.
From the prison to the island
The road into exile
Thirty-seven chapters in which the boy who was king becomes a fugitive, a prisoner, a diarist on a lonely island — and, in the end, a legend.
Ch. 1–5
The prison and the escape
The war is lost. While the kings quarrel over which island to send him to, Maciuś waits in a cell — and digs a tunnel through the wall.
Ch. 6–10
On the run
Hidden in a sausage seller's sack, a price of five million on his head, Maciuś moves through a world that no longer knows his face.
Ch. 11–16
The farewell
The Sad King, a great council of kings, a farewell feast — and a boy deciding to face exile as a philosopher.
Ch. 17–25
The island diary
Alone with Walenty and a violin, Maciuś keeps his diary. The lighthouse children, a canary's funeral — and a nut from Klu-Klu across the sea.
Ch. 26–31
The holy war
Maciuś escapes to save the children, races down the river — and is taken to the hardest prison of all, while the world begins to mourn him.
Ch. 32–37
The last Monday
Under the name Marcinek the boy who was really a king goes to work. A letter from the Sad King arrives — and the story reaches its quiet, famous close.
An island game
Match the scenes of the island
Flip the cards and find the pairs from Maciuś's last story. The fewer the moves, the sharper your memory.
🃏 Moves: 0✅ Pairs: 0 / 6⏱️ Time: 0:00
🏝️
You know the island!
You matched every scene in 0 moves!
Time: 0:00
From the audiobook
Chapter one
In our English audiobook the little king keeps his original Polish name — Maciuś (say: MAH-choosh).
Choosing an Island for Maciuś
Oh, how dreadfully miserable Maciuś was in prison. Not exactly miserable, really — but cramped. Cramped and bored.
Because if somebody is sitting in prison and is going to be shot, he is not bored at all. But Maciuś was to be sent to a desert island. Maciuś had lost the war, he was a royal prisoner, and — just like Napoleon — he was going to be sent to an island.
They were supposed to send him off in a week, and now more than three weeks had gone by — and nothing. Because the three kings who had taken him prisoner simply could not agree. In the end they announced a contest, and printed a notice in all the newspapers of the whole world:
"If any geography teacher can point us to a good island for Maciuś, he will receive a large reward. We give one month's time to write where this island lies and why it is suitable for Maciuś."
The answers began to arrive. The kings hung maps of all the parts of the world on the walls, and into the islands they liked best they stuck pins with little flags…
It helps, but it is not required. This is the sequel and the conclusion of the Maciuś story — the boy king has already lost his war and his throne. New to Maciuś? Start with the complete audiobook of King Matt the First; if you already know it, this is the ending Korczak always meant for it.
Who is this audiobook for?+
Korczak's classic, read across generations. Suggested age 8+. It is the bravest and saddest of the Maciuś books: it treats a child's loneliness, and a child's death, with the same seriousness it gives to kings and wars. Younger listeners may want to talk it through with a parent.
How long is the audiobook?+
About 7 hours 21 minutes across 37 chapters, with a distinct voice for every character. Listen at your own pace — a few chapters an evening, on the commute, in the car. First minutes free in the app.
Can I buy the book in parts?+
Yes — King Matt on the Desert Island is also published as a 7-part serial edition. Each part is about an hour and is bought separately in the store, so you can listen piece by piece at a lower entry price, and you own every part forever. Prefer the whole story at once? The complete edition is a single purchase — both live in the same app.
Are there ads or subscriptions?+
Zero ads, no subscription. You buy a specific book once and own it forever — no per-chapter fees. The Android and iOS apps are live.
Who narrates this book?+
The narration is performed by a licensed synthetic voice (AI, ElevenLabs) — no cloning of real narrators. We label it on every title, in line with the EU AI Act (art. 50). The text, illustrations and music are the work of people. Play the free 3-minute sample with the ▶ button on this page.
