A young girl called Sarah has just moved into a new house with her mum and dad. It’s a very different house. This is a house with long hallways and many nooks and crannies. There is something about it that makes the family nervous. Is it watching and waiting to jump out with a surprise?

Sarah begins to explore and discovers something quite strange in the hall cupboard. She tells her mum there is something special inside, a king in fact!

“He’s been shut in there for years and years.”

Begging her mother for a rescue, Sarah consults with the king through the cupboard keyhole for some ideas. Mum and Sarah begin to put a plan together. What they need is a key! But they discover it is not to be just any key.

With some help from a beautiful bird and some very handy mice they insert the key in the cupboard lock…

They were right about the house and a surprise. There is much more in the cupboard than a king! The witch that put him there in the first place was locked up in there too! Sometimes spells don’t quite go to plan.

Winner of the 2021 Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize, There’s a King in the Cupboard was originally published in 1973. Abridged in 2015, then published again in this new hardback picture book, Margaret Mahy’s magic flows again from the pages with pure delight, with award winning illustrator Minrui Yang bringing it back to life.

For me this story is an enchanting mix of A Lion in the Meadow and the tricky Witch from The Witch in the Cherry Tree or even the witch from my own personal favourite, The Boy Who was Followed Home.

This illustration competition is such a wonderful way to bring Margaret Mahy’s bewitching brilliance to a new generation of kiwi kids and children across the world.

Author – Margaret Mahy

Illustrator – Minrui Yang

Picture Book

See inside here along with other past Winners

(2022, Hachette NZ, New Zealand, Aotearoa, Margaret Mahy, Award, Annual Illustration Prize, Winner, Competition, Magic, Family, Wonder, King, Keys, Cranky Witch, Abridged)