The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear - Walter Moers
(discovered in a librarian magazine and requested for the library)
This is a pretty thick book but a fast read—there are illustrations and some interesting examples of typesetting and fonts throughout the book. It's a fantasy, an imaginative string of tall tales written (purportedly) by Bluebear, recounting the first half of the 27 lives that all bluebears have. There are adventures with Minipirates, daring last-minute rescues, lessons from a professor with seven brains, the city of Atlantis, and encounters with a multitude of other beasts, common and otherwise (mostly otherwise). The writing is entertaining and Bluebear's adventures keep the pages turning. It seems like the sort of story that would be great to tell out loud, but for some of the tongue-twisting names and the visual jokes.
Fed to jhliu's brain | January 15, 2003
