Customer Reviews

Near Thing for Captain Najork

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
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The infamous Captain Najork, now married to Tom's hideous Aunt Fidget, is in trouble. Aunt Fidget believes that he is canoodling with the strong-armed headmistress of the local girls' school. Tom, his new aunt Bundlejoy Cosysweet, and the jam-powered frog are instrumental in the clash-of-the-titans arm wrestling contest which decides the Captain's fate -- one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in children's literature.
As good as it is for silent reading, this book is a delirious treat to read out loud.

Tom and His Aunt Bundlejoy Cozysweet have an adventure in his frog and Aunt Fidget Wonkham Strong Najork arm wrestles the Headmistress for good Captain Najork.
This is indeed a very fun and visually enjoyable book to read either quietly to yourself or out loud. I brought it in to share with my preschool group, and those that loved the story, love to hear it over and over again or to just sit and look at the pictures. I've shared both this book and How Tom Beat Captain Najork and his hired sportsmen with the children several times and will need to purchase a new copy, this one is falling apart now from the love.
Highly recommended for it's unique enjoyable and fun flare.

So good that for years we bought copies on eBay to give as presents before it was reprinted. This and "How Tom Beat Captain Najork and his Hired Sportsmen" are, after a decade, still the favorite children's books in the house (by kids and adults alike). From the invention of the two-seater jam-powered frog in the beginning to the ominously lit arm-wrestle for the Captains fate at the end, the prose is simple, wonderfully funny, quirky and deftly phrased. Illustrator Quentin Blake is at the top of his form as well -- from capturing the Captain's frustrated pompousness to Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong in her flippers and iron hat. My only sadness is that Russell Hoban only wrote two in this series and these are his only books aimed at the large age group between the Frances books and "Ridley Walker"

Sloppy illustration, a silly protagonist, awesomely named characters, and a fun experience to read, A NEAR THING FOR CAPTAIN NAJORK continues the story of Tom, a boy extraordinary gifted at fooling around. This time Tom and his jam powered frog are called to aid Captain Najork, whos gotten himself mired in some pretty serious woman trouble.

Delightful to read, this was one of my favorite books as a boy, and one that I've made it a point to own and read to my nephew, who loves it as much as I do. While neither of us is quite as good as Tom at fooling around, (after all "tom foolery" was named after Tom!) we certainly can appreciate a good story.