Just in time for Christmas comes a fantasy epic from one of today's most popular writers for children. It is the story of a young orphan realizing his destiny -- to become the legendary Kris Kringle.
Unlike the traditional Santa Claus myth, KRINGLE is a coming-of-age story about an orphan who becomes a force for good in a dark and violent time. It is a tale of fantasy, of goblins, elves, and flying reindeer -- and of a boy from the humblest beginnings who fulfills his destiny.
Our tale begins in 500 A.D., when goblins kidnapped human children and set them to work in underground mines. Kringle is one such child.... until he discovers his mission - to free children from enslavement. His legend lives on today, as he travels the earth every Christmas Eve to quell the goblins once more.
To begin with, I was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and lived in a small house on top of a hill. Together, my mother, a school teacher, and my father, a returning World War II paratrooper pursuing his college studies, brought tons of books into our small house on Cliffview Road. I guess you could say that these books were my first introduction to the world of literature. My father was always writing, so the sound of the typewriter was like the background music of my early childhood.
When I was eight, we relocated, by car, to Connecticut where I finished elementary school and high school. I went to college at the University of Connecticut, majoring first in music (too hard), psychology (too many theories), and finally English (yes! lot and lots of books!). I graduated UConn with a bachelors degree in English Literature. After that, I traveled to Europe for quite a while, drank a lot of coffee, and wrote notebooks full of strange poetry. When I returned, I found work in a variety of bookstores and finally a library where I met my wife to be.
It was when I began reading bedtime stories to my children that the spark of writing I had had for so many years finally turned to children's books. After many failures, my first published book, Danger Guys, was written while taking a writing class with renowned children's author, Patricia Reilly Giff. That first book, and the series that it began, became the cornerstone of my writing career and has become something of a cult favorite, by virtue of its being difficult to find. Since then, I've written over seventy-five books for readers ages 6 to 14, including the cult favorit popular fantasy saga, The Secrets of Droon.
Over 8 million of my books have been sold worldwide, and my series and novels combined have been translated into Italian, Spanish, Korean, French, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, and Russian. Danger Guys was named a Children's Book-of-the-Month Club Main Selection, and the American Booksellers Association voted The Secrets of Droon among the "Top 10 List of Books to Read while Waiting for the Next Harry Potter." The series was also a Main Selection of the Children's Book-of-the-Month Club, and is on many school and library reading lists.
In 2007, my novel Firegirl won the Golden Kite Award for Fiction presented by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. It is the only award given by children's writers to children's writers, a peer award I remain honored at having received. It was also a selection of the Junior Library Guild.
In the Spring of 2008, my second novel for Little, Brown Books for Young Readers appeared. The Postcard is a comedy/mystery about a boy who finds a clue on an old postcard while cleaning his recently deceased grandmother's Florida house, and who has no choice but to follow the mystery wherever it leads. Among other things, The Postcard is my love song to Florida's Gulf Coast, where my grandparents lived, and to old Florida, its architecture, roadside attractions, and Wild-West origins. It is, not least, my homage to the great hardboiled tradition of Hammett and Chandler, translated to a Florida setting. The Postcard won the 2009 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Juvenile Mystery.
In 2009, The Haunting of Derek Stone, a series of four books for older readers, appeared from Scholastic Inc. Titles include: City of the Dead, Bayou Dogs, The Red House, and The Ghost Road.
My literary and cultural interests include the films of Preston Sturges, the Road pictures of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, and the Marx Brothers, and the writings of Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, P.G. Wodehouse, Jules Verne, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Seamus Heaney, Emily Dickinson, Ted Hughes, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck, The Arabian Nights, Beowulf, James Thurber, Philip Roth, Ralph Ellison, and William Faulkner. I'm currently a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the Yale Center for British Art, and other esteemed organizations. With my wonderful wife, two delightful and brilliant daughters, and the best dog imaginable, I live and work happily in Connecticut.
Long ago, when goblins and elves roamed the earth, and ghosts and frost loomed all around, a young boy named Kringle came into existence. He was a quiet boy who lived a solitary existence. That is, until his twelfth winter. On his twelfth winter, goblins attacked young Kringle's home, casting him into the wilderness. Now, Kringle finds himself alone in the midst of a frightening world. But after a short time, fate intervenes. Kringle, after numerous encounters with pirates, elves, and the threat of goblins in search of an epic battle, Kringle realizes that he has a destiny to fulfill. One that will prove that even a lone boy, like himself, has the power to change the world forever as we know it.
It is impossible for me to pass up a book related to Christmas, so when I saw the display of Tony Abbott's KRINGLE at the bookstore a few weeks ago, I knew that I had to read it. KRINGLE is unlike any other story about Christmas on the market today. It is filled with danger, excitement, peril, and the joy of bringing happiness to others. The fact that Abbott has included a magic, fantasy-like touch to the story only makes it better. Overall, this is an enchanting new fantasy story that is perfect for any time of the year, be it Christmas, or the Fourth of July.
Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper
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At first, I worried that the beautiful book cover would turn out to be just so much eye candy, with nothing to back it up; I was wrong!
This story ties together much of the folklore of Christmas, and, most important to me, not only does not omit the Nativity, but accentuates its importance, without coming across as overly-pious or preachy. The eternal struggle between good and evil is well defined here. The crass commercialism of "Santa Claus" seems even more offensive after reading KRINGLE, and I consider that a Good Thing.
Another bonus about this book is, boys can enjoy it as well as girls. In my job as a children's librarian, one struggle is to find "boy books." With his Droon series, Mr. Abbott is practiced at bridging that gap, and he does it again with KRINGLE. I am delighted to see this hard-cover, beautifully illustrated book published in time for the holidays. I hope we see more like this from this author, though he does a pretty good job, at the end, in declaring it was something along the lines of "just one of those things." I hope there are more ideas like this lurking in his imagination!
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5.0 out of 5 starsA remarkably written fantasy for youth!, December 1, 2005
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Kringle (Hardcover)
When I saw the glittering Kringle book at the store, I knew I would love it. I'm an F.F. (fantasy fan) The flashy golden pages caught my eye, so I read the back and immediatly bought it.
An awsome thriller for children, Kringle was a magnificent story.
It's a story about a young boy traveling through many magical hardships to gain back a loved one (and save the world from goblins!)
I, personally, thought it breath-taking and even now it is on my "fave books" list.
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