"'Get off! Ahhh! Get off!' he shouted, jerking himself up from the ground and wrestling the creature off his head. When he finally swatted it away, he tripped over the folds of his own cloak, tumbled into the snow, and found himself face-to-face with something small and red.
'What are you?' he cried, his heart beating wildly.
The thing didn't answer him. It didn't move, either.
Kringle crawled away from it, then reached back with his staff and prodded it. It didn't run or jump or growl or do anything. He slid the staff under it and lifted, carefully pulling the thing closer (very close, in fact, because it was still dark) until he finally dropped it to the ground next to him and found it to be nothing more or less than a cone of fabric with a wooly ring of fleece around the edge.
'A Hat?' …" pg. 41 Kringle
… and so began the journey that would lead twelve year old Kringle to his destiny. On the run from child-stealing Goblins, that killed his parents twelve years ago, Kringle meets a band of elves that spend their nights sneaking into people houses, taking their shoes, fixing them up good as new and returning them before sun-up. When Kringle is separated from the elves in a goblin attack and forced to flee north on a pirate ship, he meets a priest who shares the nativity story with him and agrees to help Kringle free the children enslaved by the goblins. When the priest in injured by a goblins sword, Kringle builds a sled to help them escape. Soon after the goblins begin to move north to awaken the evil Grunding and take over the world, so Kringle must leave the priest and face the goblins once more. This time it is Kringle that is injured by the goblins and after hours, or maybe days, of lying dazed and in pain on the edge of a snowy cliff, Kringle finds the strength and a new friend, Oliphas, to help him along in his journey. But where that journey is leading … you will have to read to find out.
A warm hat, "with a wooly ring of fleece around the edge", elves, a sled, does it sound familiar? How about another hint? While Opliphas may not be the most famous one of all, or have a red nose, he can fly with his herd of friends and pull a sleigh.
Kringle by Tony Abbott is a Christmas story of a different kind that will enchant fantasy readers, as the battle between good and evil weaves together the traditions of the holiday.
'What are you?' he cried, his heart beating wildly.
The thing didn't answer him. It didn't move, either.
Kringle crawled away from it, then reached back with his staff and prodded it. It didn't run or jump or growl or do anything. He slid the staff under it and lifted, carefully pulling the thing closer (very close, in fact, because it was still dark) until he finally dropped it to the ground next to him and found it to be nothing more or less than a cone of fabric with a wooly ring of fleece around the edge.
'A Hat?' …" pg. 41 Kringle
… and so began the journey that would lead twelve year old Kringle to his destiny. On the run from child-stealing Goblins, that killed his parents twelve years ago, Kringle meets a band of elves that spend their nights sneaking into people houses, taking their shoes, fixing them up good as new and returning them before sun-up. When Kringle is separated from the elves in a goblin attack and forced to flee north on a pirate ship, he meets a priest who shares the nativity story with him and agrees to help Kringle free the children enslaved by the goblins. When the priest in injured by a goblins sword, Kringle builds a sled to help them escape. Soon after the goblins begin to move north to awaken the evil Grunding and take over the world, so Kringle must leave the priest and face the goblins once more. This time it is Kringle that is injured by the goblins and after hours, or maybe days, of lying dazed and in pain on the edge of a snowy cliff, Kringle finds the strength and a new friend, Oliphas, to help him along in his journey. But where that journey is leading … you will have to read to find out.
A warm hat, "with a wooly ring of fleece around the edge", elves, a sled, does it sound familiar? How about another hint? While Opliphas may not be the most famous one of all, or have a red nose, he can fly with his herd of friends and pull a sleigh.
Kringle by Tony Abbott is a Christmas story of a different kind that will enchant fantasy readers, as the battle between good and evil weaves together the traditions of the holiday.