A NEAR THING FOR CAPTAIN NAJORK
illustrated by Quentin Blake & by Russell Hoban
Only Hoban could carry off a chase between Tom and Aunt Bundlejoy Cosysweet in a jam-powered frog and Captain Najork and his hired sportsmen in their pedal-powered snake. Farce becomes slapstick (or is it the other way around?) when a jealous Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong Najork and a smitten Headmistress get into the act, arm-wrestling best out of three for the Captain. Spiffy fun—but we have to warn that this has neither the ear-catching, mock-stiff British accent nor the sound anti-grindstone underpinnings of How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen (1974). Runner-up.