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Clabbernappers
"My name's Danny Ray. And I'm the best rodeo cowboy in Oklahoma--Junior Division, of course!"
King Krystal of Elidor has a serious problem. The Great Chess Game is soon to begin, and Sarksa pirates have captured the queen! Elidor is desperate for her return, so a hero is summoned from the Dream Machine. Enter Danny Ray!
The last thing eleven-year-old Danny remembers, he was at an amusement park back home. Then-- POOF! --he finds himself in the strangest place he's ever seen. When Danny hears about King Krystal's problem, he aims to prove himself to his new friends by recapturing the queen. After all, how hard could it be to find an itty-bitty queen? Plenty hard, as Danny is about to discover….
King Krystal of Elidor has a serious problem. The Great Chess Game is soon to begin, and Sarksa pirates have captured the queen! Elidor is desperate for her return, so a hero is summoned from the Dream Machine. Enter Danny Ray!
The last thing eleven-year-old Danny remembers, he was at an amusement park back home. Then-- POOF! --he finds himself in the strangest place he's ever seen. When Danny hears about King Krystal's problem, he aims to prove himself to his new friends by recapturing the queen. After all, how hard could it be to find an itty-bitty queen? Plenty hard, as Danny is about to discover….
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 2005
1 person is currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Len Bailey
4 books6 followersI was minding his own business one day, watching old VHS recordings of Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes when it dawned on me I had a pile of Bible mysteries tucked away somewhere in a dark corner of my already dark mind. And so I tried combining the two. I got an excellent agent (Les Stobbe) and had a publishing contract with Thomas Nelson (Harper Collins) shortly thereafter.
Six months later, Sherlock Holmes and the Needle's Eye hit the shelves. I hope you enjoy this strange combination. Fun is really my aim here, As there are plenty of serious (but good!) Bible studies out there.
Enjoy! Give me your comments . . .
Len Bailey
Six months later, Sherlock Holmes and the Needle's Eye hit the shelves. I hope you enjoy this strange combination. Fun is really my aim here, As there are plenty of serious (but good!) Bible studies out there.
Enjoy! Give me your comments . . .
Len Bailey
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 19, 2022
I got high on this story as an 8-year-old and it's probably responsible for a good proportion of my adult personality.
August 10, 2022
‘Clabbernappers’ by Len Bailey is a children’s book in the fantasy genre. The hero is eleven year-old Danny Ray, a rodeo cowboy in the Junior Division who wins a prize popping balloons at the Cherokee County Fair, walks through a door marked ‘Adventure’ and is transported to another world called Elidor.
Two foot tall armoured soldiers, the mumpokers, escort him to the court of King Krystal where he learns that the Queen has been kidnapped. King Krystal dreamed last night that a champion would come from the Otherworld to save her. So Danny Ray is dispatched to do the job along with Lord Red, Lord Green and the unruly, disobedient Prince, a spoiled brat best left behind.
In Elidor, giant chess pieces ‘sail’ on the checkered sea, a polished plain of marble. They are mobile stone buildings with engines powered by an assortment of creatures. Tantarraobbs eat coal but can only make vessels go slowly.
Zanzoomies eat hobbleberries and give greater swiftness but fastest of all are the Clabbernappers. It’s an imaginative secondary world, well realised with some nice details. The author acknowledges his debt to C.S. Forester and Patrick O’Brian and the battles between chess pieces resemble historic sea warfare, cannon broadsides, grappling hooks, boarding parties and so on, though Danny’s deeds owe more to Errol Flynn than anyone else.
Danny is a likeable hero and there’s a great cast of characters from Captain Quigglewigg who commands the Hog, a garbage collecting Rook to the exotic, beautiful and very rich Sultana Sumferi Sar, Queen of Port Palnacky.
The Sarksa are insectoid pirates ten feet tall with multi-faceted eyes and a whiplike tail. The first quarter of the book is a bit too cute and you can almost picture the Disney animated feature. The mumpokers sing a little song, the tantarrabobs sing a little song and the crew of the Hog have a ditty for hauling up the anchor. However, as the story develops and the threats increase, this tone is dropped.
The change is probably deliberate. Len Bailey writes well and there are elegant descriptions of weird creatures and spooky scenery. The plot barrels along at a fast pace introducing new lands, new wonders and new problems to Danny.
Don’t expect any shades of grey or complex characters, the general feel is of a Disney/Pixar movie but they are fun and so is this. It’s also very inventive. I enjoyed it and might check out the sequel, ‘Fantasms’ which is set in the same world.
Two foot tall armoured soldiers, the mumpokers, escort him to the court of King Krystal where he learns that the Queen has been kidnapped. King Krystal dreamed last night that a champion would come from the Otherworld to save her. So Danny Ray is dispatched to do the job along with Lord Red, Lord Green and the unruly, disobedient Prince, a spoiled brat best left behind.
In Elidor, giant chess pieces ‘sail’ on the checkered sea, a polished plain of marble. They are mobile stone buildings with engines powered by an assortment of creatures. Tantarraobbs eat coal but can only make vessels go slowly.
Zanzoomies eat hobbleberries and give greater swiftness but fastest of all are the Clabbernappers. It’s an imaginative secondary world, well realised with some nice details. The author acknowledges his debt to C.S. Forester and Patrick O’Brian and the battles between chess pieces resemble historic sea warfare, cannon broadsides, grappling hooks, boarding parties and so on, though Danny’s deeds owe more to Errol Flynn than anyone else.
Danny is a likeable hero and there’s a great cast of characters from Captain Quigglewigg who commands the Hog, a garbage collecting Rook to the exotic, beautiful and very rich Sultana Sumferi Sar, Queen of Port Palnacky.
The Sarksa are insectoid pirates ten feet tall with multi-faceted eyes and a whiplike tail. The first quarter of the book is a bit too cute and you can almost picture the Disney animated feature. The mumpokers sing a little song, the tantarrabobs sing a little song and the crew of the Hog have a ditty for hauling up the anchor. However, as the story develops and the threats increase, this tone is dropped.
The change is probably deliberate. Len Bailey writes well and there are elegant descriptions of weird creatures and spooky scenery. The plot barrels along at a fast pace introducing new lands, new wonders and new problems to Danny.
Don’t expect any shades of grey or complex characters, the general feel is of a Disney/Pixar movie but they are fun and so is this. It’s also very inventive. I enjoyed it and might check out the sequel, ‘Fantasms’ which is set in the same world.
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August 31, 2024A classic read I recommend to all ages!
June 18, 2009
From School Library Journal:
Grade 4-6–An unusual combination of chess, royalty, pirates, and a cowboy characterizes this adventure. When junior-division rodeo champion Danny Ray steps through a mysterious door at an amusement park, he finds himself in the strangest place he's ever seen: an enormous Checkered Sea, populated by characters both good and evil. As the 11-year-old sets off to find King Krystal's kidnapped queen, he encounters many exotic characters, including coal-trolls, a giant wasp, red bats, and tantarrabobs. This fast-paced story is filled with several battles, humor, and a chilling scene or two. While interesting and wonderfully written ("The fog lay heavy, expectant, as if the air itself was listening"), the language may prove too daunting for some readers. Recommend this unique tale to fans of chess, pirate stories, nonstop action, and fantastic characters.–Jessi Platt
Grade 4-6–An unusual combination of chess, royalty, pirates, and a cowboy characterizes this adventure. When junior-division rodeo champion Danny Ray steps through a mysterious door at an amusement park, he finds himself in the strangest place he's ever seen: an enormous Checkered Sea, populated by characters both good and evil. As the 11-year-old sets off to find King Krystal's kidnapped queen, he encounters many exotic characters, including coal-trolls, a giant wasp, red bats, and tantarrabobs. This fast-paced story is filled with several battles, humor, and a chilling scene or two. While interesting and wonderfully written ("The fog lay heavy, expectant, as if the air itself was listening"), the language may prove too daunting for some readers. Recommend this unique tale to fans of chess, pirate stories, nonstop action, and fantastic characters.–Jessi Platt
September 24, 2008
I struggled to even finish this book. I pulled it off the shelf, drawn to its unusual title and great cover illustrations. I was terribly disappointed, however. The story was strangely complicated and disjointed. With little character development and trite action sequences, the entire experience left me thinking, "What?"
December 18, 2007
I am reading this book to my niece and nephew. It is a great book. One of the funniest children's books I have read in a long time.
July 1, 2012
My 12 year old son loved this book! He sat down to do his 20 min a day reading time and never stopped reading!!! Off to the library to find book 2 now :)
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews