How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen

Captain Najork #1

by Russell Hoban, Quentin Blake (Illustrator)

Tom likes fooling around and is rather good at it, much to the annoyance of his Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong. So one day this fearsome lady decides to teach Tom a lesson and summons Captain Najork and his Hired Sportsmen to play womble, muck and sneedball. Can it possibly end well for all concerned?

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Humor, Fantasy, Juvenile, Family

32 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1974

About the author

Russell Conwell Hoban was an American expatriate writer. His works span many genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mainstream fiction, magical realism, poetry, and children's books. He lived in London, England, from 1969 until his death. (Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prolific American children's author Russell Hoban, justly celebrated for his classic Frances stories, and English illustrator Quentin Blake, probably best known for his work on Roald Dahl's books, collaborated on a number of picture-books, amongst them this amusing tale of high-jinks and high drama, as a young boy with a penchant for fooling around confronts a professional sportsman and his four assistants, hired to teach him a lesson. Unfortunately for Captain Najork and his hired sportsmen, Tom is an expert at the kind of activities, from womble to sneedball, they think to use to chasten him. On the other hand, Tom's Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong makes an excellent consolation prize, for the chagrined captain...

With a cast of quirky characters, equipped with suitably amusing names, and a string of unlikely but humorous incidents, How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen is the kind of zany, madcap adventure that young readers who enjoy authors like Joan Aiken and Lemony Snicket will gobble up! The artwork, done in Blake's signature style - full of energy, and replete with amusing details - is perfectly suited to the tale, accentuating the sly hilarity of the text. All in all, this vintage treat is a picture-book winner, and more than enough to convince me to track down the sequel, A Near Thing for Captain Najork !

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

The other day Alan Jacobs tweeted: Do yourself a favor & find a used copy of the best children's book EVER, Hoban's *How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen.*

Well, I didn't need to find a used copy, because my local public library has three take-outable copies, and I took one out, and of course read it in five minutes, and will go back and read it again. The Quentin Blake pictures add enormously to the delight of this book, in which a boy who fools around a lot manages to be the hero of the story - without much difficulty, it appears.

Hoban throws in ridiculous, made-up words which somehow make sense, and while I doubt if anyone has any idea of how the various games Najork imposes on Tom are actually played (Blake makes no pretence that he has any idea either), they seem to make clear enough to Tom and the opposing team.

Great fun.

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is a pretty clear tip-off that the fooling-around little boy is going to triumph over the strict aunt and stuck-up Captain, but it is still a lot of fun to read. And in fact there is a happy ending for everyone!

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gift from a friend, who when she brought it, said, "I know this is bringing coals to Newcastle..." for which use of that phrase I will always love her, if I didn't already, which I do.

Her daughter, who is four, adores this silly book. My kids do, too. And Russell Hoban is one of my favorite authors of all time. Not only did he write the Bedtime for Frances books, but he also wrote Riddley Walker, on my list of my favorite ten books of ALL TIME. That book is set in a postapocalyptic Britain, and is written in a postapocalyptic English. Full of fable, it becomes more decipherable with every reading.

That richness of story and form is apparent in the Captain Najork books too. This is the first one - Rebecca says that the second is quite a bit more trippy but that her daughter loves it even more. My first grader is stretching himself to read this one, and my third grader has read it multiple times already.

Any kid who is enjoying books like An Awfully Beastly Business (Sinden et al) or the Far Flung Adventures series (Stewart and Riddell) will like Tom and Captain Najork as well.

[Erin O'connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books from childhood this book extols the virtues of being relaxed, having fun and messing around. In it a little boy, Tom, is looked after by his very serious Aunt Figit Wonkamstrong. He likes to fool around and she disapproves. She sends off for Captain Najork and his hired sportsmen to come and teach Tom a lesson and they perform a number of fantastic competitions such as "womble, muck, sneedball". Tom beats them at every turn and it is delightful. At the end Tom runs away and advertises for a new aunt. His new aunt is called Bundlejoy Cosysweet and they live happily ever after.

I love this book particularly for the excellent descriptions of different ways of fooling around. It is always wonderful to read a story where the child is the winner in the end and this one is truly brilliant.

[Micki James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been looking for this book for years, based on a reference to it in The Norton Anthology of Children's Literature that it "colludes with the child reader against an adult world". I finally got a copy from Europe. When it came I was surprised it was so short; I had forgotten it was a children's picture book. My nine-year-old daughter read it first. I am afraid she stumped me on questions like "what are bloaters" and not until I read the book did I realize I am old enough now to be on the losing side of the cited collusion! A fun book.

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Captain Najork," said Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong, "is seven feet tall, with eyes like fire, a voice like thunder, and a handlebar moustache. His trousers are always freshly pressed, his blazer is immaculate, his shoes are polished mirror-bright, and he is every inch a terror. When Captain Najork is sent for he comes up the river in his pedal boat, with his hired sportsmen all pedalling hard. He teaches fooling-around boys the lesson they so badly need, and it is not one that they soon forget."

Today turned out to be a double Quentin Blake charity shop find day and this is a new one for us!

Here Blake adds his unique illustrations to a tale of an adventurous boy who enjoys fooling around a little too much. When he pushes his strict aunt too far, she brings in the bigs guns; Caption Najork!

The title gives away the outcome of the madcap games that the Captain and his crew play against Tom but it doesn't spoil the fun. 4 stars.

[Liz Banks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favoite book to read to our children when they were young. I would check it out of the library over and over. It is a rare book that pleases parents and children equally, and lately my husband and I have been talking about how good it was. To test our memory, I bought a copy from Amazon. We spent a delightful hour in front of the fireplace loving the plot, the words and the pictures. It did not disappoint.

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do wish that I had read the Captain Najork books in order. I had to go back and read the second one again after I read this one today and it was more delightful after having read this first one. These books are silly and ridiculous and that is wonderful! I am grateful that Tom managed to secure himself a far better aunt! Such a clever young lad. I'm glad to have both Captain Najork books on my magical spinning bookshelf for the kids in my life.

[Amy Aldridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely story, that has the chance to be relatable to many children who get told not to fiddle with things all the time! And how actually, this can be of benefit to them if they utilise it in the right way. Beautifully illustrated by Quentin Blake, and fantastic use of language that could lead to a lot of work in English around his writing choices.

[Ketutar Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Tom who likes to fool around. His aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong thought he was playing, and that too much playing was bad for kids. So she called in Captain Najork to teach him a lesson. But - it turns out fooling around was the exact thing to do to teach Tom what he needed to learn. It's a great story with a happy ending and I just adore Quentin Blake's illustrations!

[CaroleHeidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this with my kids (6&7) - it took a while for them to get engaged with the story but by the end they were cheering Tom on.

Quentin Blake's illustrations really brought the story to life and gave us even more to talk about as we read together.

[Cybelle Weeks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable and should be read frequently!

[Sarah Spice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I must have missed something here as I really didn't enjoy this book very much. It has some great words and names in it but I thought the story was very thin.

[Andy Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is an impressive book, I admit it freely.

[Roxanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young boy is challenged by his aunt to stop fooling around and faces off against Captain Najork. Not too keen. Quite boring, too many nonsense words. Would be nice as just a generic story.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goofy but fun. Very fast read. Recommended by Emma.

[Luke Nicholls · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time favourite picture books. A wonderfully quirky and imaginative romp through the life of Tom, a boy who does what all boys do. Great for younger kids.

[KW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Foolish & delightful. Would v much like a go at sneedball.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best children's books I've ever read. It is for the age when they are ready for offbeat humor.

[JKR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quentin Blake’s profuse and colorful illustrations really bring this enjoyable story to life.

[Claire Barrera · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Wes Anderson of picture books. Could there be a more awe-inspiring author and illustrator collaboration? Whimsy, humor and quirkyness abound. There's a whole world I want to live in here.

[Rachel Cross · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the things my two boys love!!

[Florence Mayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was funny and repetitive

[Nikki Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an absolute childhood favourite. My mother read it to me before I was able to read it to myself. With it's beautiful illustrations and quirky humour this is a classic for younger readers.

[D.G. Post · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is pure gold <3

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Tom liked to fool around. . . . He did low and muddy fooling around and he did high and wobbly fooling around." But "It looks very like playing to me," says his maiden Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong who wears an iron hat and takes no nonsense from anyone, and so she sends for Captain Najork and his hired sportsmen ("They play hard games and they play them jolly hard") to teach Tom a lesson. But even though it's Tom alone against everyone else, he just mucks and fools around and puts them all to shame. And so in the end Captain Najork gets Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong and Tom gets the captain's boat and a new aunt, Bundlejoy Cosysweet, and everyone's happy -- including, inevitably, the reader (or better still listener), who might not realize the wisdom but is sure to enjoy the games, their outcome, and Hoban's cadenced, light-as-air sportscasting.

[El Ashfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is potentially the best book I have ever read. I think I am actually in it. For anyone who has ever loved messing around with paperclips, and dropping things off bridges, and fishing them out again. This story is all about Tom, the rebel, and how he beats Captain Najork and his band of men at their own (rather different) games. Brilliant naming prevails during this book - particularly like the game called "Sneedball" and Tom's "Aunt Bundlejoy Cosysweet" - I think I have met her. Not for stick-in-the-muds (though lots of sticking in the mud does actually happen).

[Jrobertus · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter Kate rated these two Captain Najork books and I think she is right to do so. Sure they are children's books, but I doubt the little blighters appreciate what's in front of them. (They only read at one level you know.) Tom versus the hired sportsmen is the better of the two and it is really hysterical. Although this is a very English book, Hoban is an American, and we should claim him as our very own genius of the absurd.

[Sheherazahde · Rating 5 out of 5]

My sister Maria gave me this book for my 50th birthday. I'm not sure if that says something about me or something about her.

It's a cute little story about the benefits of "fooling around".

I like the illustrations.

I'm not sure what age children this is supposed to be for. It has a lot of words for a children's book. But it isn't a chapter book. If your child is too young to read it themselves you can read it to them.