The Ribbajack: and Other Haunting Yarns [Mass Market Paperback]

Brian Jacques (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

What if revenge were a monster of your own creation, and all you needed to summon it were enough hatred and enough imagination? Which of you would really be the monster? From vengeance monsters to haunted schools to the threat of a modern-day Medusa, New York Times bestselling author Brian Jacques spins six all-new tales of horror and suspense. Read on, but be careful. . . .

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Brian Jacques is a fearsome storyteller, singer, sailor, and all-around scalawag. He is also the author of the bestselling Redwall series and many other popular books for young readers of all ages. He regularly graces the BBC airwaves with his radio show, Jakestown, and has formed a recording company that performs full-cast versions of many of his novels. Brian Jacques is a lifelong resident of Liverpool, England.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (August 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142403784
• ISBN-13: 978-0142403785
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,324,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A well-known radio personality in his native Liverpool--as well as an actor, stand-up comic, and playwright--Brian Jacques (1939-2011) was the host of "Jakestown" on BBC Radio Merseyside. Ever the performer, Jacques was well-known for applying his acting and entertainment background to his lively presentations to legions of young fans at schools across the United States and England. Brian Jacques was born in Liverpool, England on June 15th, 1939. Along with forty percent of the population of Liverpool, his ancestral roots are in Ireland, County Cork to be exact. He grew up in the area around the Liverpool docks. His interest in adventure stories began at an early age with reading the books of: Daniel Defoe, Sir Henry Rider Haggard, Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Thomas Malory, Robert Michael Ballantyne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Kenneth Grahame. He attended St. John's School, an inner city school that had its playground on the roof. On his first day at St. John's, at the age of ten, he had an experience that marked his potential as a writer. When given an assignment of writing a story about animals, he wrote about the bird that cleaned a crocodile's teeth. The teacher could not, and would not, believe that a ten year old could write that well. When young Brian refused to falsely say that he had copied the story, he was caned as "a liar". He had always loved to write, but it was only then, that he realized that he had a talent for writing. "My favourite teacher was Mr. Austin Thomas. He looked like Lee Marvin. Big Man. A Captain in World War II. He came to school on a big bush bike with the haversack on back. He was a man's man. Always fair. I was fourteen at the time when Mr. Thomas introduced the class to poetry and Greek literature. (Because of him, I saved seven shillings and sixpence to buy The Iliad and The Odyssey at this dusty used book shop.)" This interest in poetry extended to Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Goldsmith. It was also at St. John's that Brian met a teacher, Alan Durband (who also taught two Beatles, Paul McCartney and George Harrison), who, more than thirty years later would bring about a major change in his life. After Brian finished school at fifteen, he set out to find adventure as a merchant seaman. He travelled to many far away ports, including New York, Valparaiso, San Francisco, and Yokohama. Tiring of the lonely life of a sailor, he returned to Liverpool where he worked as a railway fireman, a longshoreman, a long-distance truck driver, a bus driver, a boxer, a bobby (Police Constable 216D), a postmaster, and a stand-up comic. Jacques passed away in February of 2011 at the age of 71.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Mostly Good Book That Can Be Enjoyed By All, September 2, 2006

By 

Yoyogod "Check out yoyogodreviews.blogspot.co... - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ribbajack: and Other Haunting Yarns (Mass Market Paperback)

I don't know why, but for some reason, the name Ribbajack suggests a sandwich to me, rather than a monster. I could almost picture myself going to McDonalds and saying, "I'll take a Ribbajack, a small fries, and a large Coke." In actuality, Ribbajack is the title of a short story collection by Redwall author, Brian Jacques.

Like all of Jacques' books, Ribbajack is for children--this edition is listed as being for ages 9 and up on the back cover--but it can still be enjoyedd by adults. This book is in the tradition of his previous short story collection, Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales in that it too is a collection of horror stories for children, though only six in this case.

The first is "Ribbajack," is about a naughty little boy who hates everyone and summons a monster to get rid of an enemy. Then comes a smile and a wave, which is a fairly spooky ghost story about a girl who doesn't like her coat. "The All Ireland Champion Versus the Nye Add" is about a fisherman who tries to catch a mermaid. "The Mystery of Huma D'Este" is about a bully who runs into someone (or something) he can't bully. "Miggy Mags and the Malabar Sailor" is about a little girl, her pet mongoose, and her wicked uncle. "Rosie's Pet" is about a mean little girl who becomes a werewolf.

While I like the book, and all the stories are good, they aren't all great. "A Smile and a Wave" lacked a certain oomph, and I wasn't entirely satisfied with the ending of Rosie's Pet. Still I like the book enough to give it 4 stars.

4.0 out of 5 stars Deliciously Dark Stories for Teens, January 2, 2011

By 

sassy shelver - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ribbajack: and Other Haunting Yarns (Mass Market Paperback)

Book Talk: This collection of short stories may be by the author of Redwall, but if you're looking for cuddly animals you're looking in the wrong place. These stories mostly revolve around school-aged human youth and the creatures that do appear in the stories are anything but cuddly. If you want to find out what a Ribbajack is and what it can do, then pick up this book. I'd wait until day light to read it, though.

Rocks my Socks: These stories are wonderfully atmospheric and perfectly capture the horror that literature has taught me to associate with English boarding schools and the countryside of Great Britain and Ireland in general. Thank goodness I was raised in America! On a more serious note, these stories have a dahl-esque sense of dark justice that I simply adore. The sense of justice, albeit dark, means that there are also some nice little morals in the stories. Also like Dahl, the stories are definitely dark, but they're actually not terribly violent. The violent bits that do exist are mostly left up to the imagination rather than described in detail, which I prefer.

Rocks in my Socks: As much as I enjoyed the atmosphere of these stories the pacing was a bit slow at times. I started reading this book in the spring and only finished it in November. The stories were good and I enjoyed them when I eventually sat down to read one, but I never felt particularly compelled to keep on reading.

Every Book its Reader: I'd recommend this to fans of suspense/horror or anyone with a taste for dark literature. The gender of the main characters switches depending on the story so I think it would be great for both boys and girls. As I said it's not graphically violent, but it is rather dark. I'd suggest it for 7th and up.

[...]

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars THE RIBBAJACK, February 21, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Ribbajack: and Other Haunting Yarns (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was very enjoyable to read because 'I felt like I was really there in the story. If you like scary stories this is a good one it will keep you on the edge of your seat most of the time. I recomend this book to other readers who like exciting books.

kyle curcio