How Tom Beat Captain Najork

By Russell Hoban, Quentin Blake (illustrator),

Book cover of How Tom Beat Captain Najork

Book description

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,…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked How Tom Beat Captain Najork as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Tom is the hero we need today. I love characters who know who they are and don’t care what others think of them. And I value ‘fun’ as a goal.

Tom just wants to fool around and yawns at his aunt’s disapproval. The contests between Tom and his aunt’s champion, Captain Najork, are the best descriptions of games I’ve ever read, especially when you consider that the games themselves are invented out of whole cloth and the words applied seemingly at random. 

Want books like How Tom Beat Captain Najork?

Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like How Tom Beat Captain Najork.

Browse books like How Tom Beat Captain Najork

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in play and playing, sports, and neurodiversity?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about play and playing, sports, and neurodiversity.

Play And Playing Explore 15 books about play and playing
Sports Explore 872 books about sports
Neurodiversity Explore 76 books about neurodiversity