Tom is so good at fooling around that he does little else. His Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong, who thinks this is too much like having fun, calls upon the fearsome Captain Najork and his hired sportsmen to teach him a lesson. So the Captain challenges Tom to three rounds of womble, muck, and sneedball, certain that he will win. However, when it comes to fooling around, Tom doesn't fool around, and his skills prove so polished that the results of the contest are completely unexpected...
There are 32 pages in this book.
This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+).
This book was published in 2006 by David R. Godine Publisher Inc .
QUENTIN BLAKE is Britain's leading illustrator, and was chosen as the first Children's Laureate. Russell Hoban was born in Pennsylvania in 1925. He went to art school before serving in World War II and was a freelance illustrator eight years before taking up full-time writing. His many works of fiction and poetry for both adults and children have won him many awards. The Mouse and his Child has been hailed as one of the great children's classics of the twentieth century.
This book contains the following story:
How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen
Tom loves to fool around. He fools around with dropping things from bridges into rivers and he fools around with barrels in alleys. He fools around so much that his maiden aunt, Miss Fidget Wonkham-Strong (who wears an iron hat and takes no nonsense from anyone), sends for Captain Najork and his hired sportsmen to teach Tom a lesson. 'Captain Najork,' says Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong, 'is seven feet tall, with eyes like fire and a voice like thunder. He teaches fooling-around boys the lesson they so badly need, and it is not one that they soon forget.' Captain Najork lays down a challenge: they will play womble, muck and speedball - in that order. And it turns out not to be Tom who gets taught a lesson after all!
