The Golden Key

There was a boy who used to sit in the twilight and listen to his great-aunt’s stories.
She told him that if he could reach the place where the end of the rainbow stands he would find there a golden key.
«And what is the key for?» the boy would ask. «What is it the key of? What will it open?»

«The magical, the fairy story… may be made a vehicle of Mystery. This at least is what George MacDonald attempted, achieving stories of power and beauty when he succeeded, as in
The Golden Key.»
—J. R. R. Tolkien

«A new edition illustrated with remarkable sensitivity makes available once more one of the most beautiful of allegorical fairy tales. The story is itself a key that will open to many children a door on their own imaginative experiences.»
— The Horn Book

«Maurice Sendak lights the way through MacDonald’s kingdom with the most mystical, the most poetic pictures of his
distinguished career.»
—Publishers Weekly