Bankructwo Małego Dżeka
| Collection | Korczak Digital Repository |
| Description | Events in the novel "Bankructwo małego Dżeka" take place in the US (the American myth of “from shoeshine boy to millionaire” being popular in Poland after the end of WWI). The themes found in the book consider cooperative business models as a fair and transparent way of managing public resources. Little Jack Fulton, the titular hero of the book, sets up a high school cooperative, allowing students to buy cheaper stationary items, as well as having access to toys and sporting goods. As he runs the cooperative, Jack is keen to learn the basics of accounting, thereby developing skills as an entrepreneur. Jack encounters dissent and resistance from the cooperative members with regards to steps taken by their organisation. Even so, Jack is not dissuaded and finally buys two bicycles for the cooperative. The bikes are then stolen, and the cooperative goes bankrupt. In the end, the bikes are recovered. The novel shows how Jack matures to in time become a representative of all the children in the country. The novel ends with Jack applying to the minister of finance to set up a children's bank. The narrative promotes the idea of treating children in an equal and fair way, not just as future adults, but as persons with full rights already assigned to them, limited only by lack of personal experience. The novel responds to the difficult economic situation in Poland after it was returned to independence and an expression of a struggle for a model for the education and development of children's minds. The reality of the school Jack attends is that it is in fact a Polish school following the return to independence. Korczak was an advocate of schools which not only understood the needs of the students and focused on them, but also self-governing and cooperative, something he included in his books. One of the elements this sort of school was to have would include physical education (this is an important aspect of "Bankructwo małego Dżeka"). The first edition of this book was published in 1924, and the second edition in 1929 (dated 1930). The novel in time became recommended reading for young people and sent to school libraries by the Commission for evaluating books attached to the Ministry of Religious Beliefs and Public Enlightenment. In 1932, sections of it were included in a text book, replacing American elements with Polish counterparts. The last time the book was published while the author was still alive was in 1936. |
| Creator | Korczak, Janusz |
| Publisher | Warszawa ; Kraków : Wydawnictwo J. Mortkowicza ; Tow. Wydawnicze w Warszawie |
| Date | 1930 |
| Rights | Domena Publiczna |
| Format | image/jpg |
| Language | pol |
| Type | publikacja |
From the collection of: Muzeum Książki Dziecięcej
