The 13.5 Lives of Captain Bluebear

Starred review from August 1, 2005
Nine-lived cats have nothing on the "bluebear," who, according to German author and illustrator Moers, has a whopping 27 lives. In this inventive, zany, fun-for-all ages odyssey (a bestseller in Europe), an intrepid "seagoing bear" offers his "demibiography." A foundling floating in a nutshell on the Zamonian Sea, the azure-furred Bluebear is rescued by Minipirates, impish nautical geniuses, who raise him and then, after he gets too big, abandon him to live out 13 lifetimes of adventure populated by a dizzying array of eccentric characters. Among them, two argumentative waves known as the "Babbling Billows" teach Bluebear speech, sage dinosaur Mac (real name: Deus X. Machina) extends friendship and Professor Abdullah Nightingale at the Nocturnal Academy offers a particularly intense and wacky education. Even readers with short attention spans will find themselves captivated by the nonstop parade of madcap characters as treacherous predicaments resolve themselves with charming ease. Magnificent sugarstorms, tornadoes inhabited by old men and "dimensional hiatuses" propel the independent, indefatigable Bluebear to Atlantis, where he must demonstrate the relevance of his experiences in a psychological duel of sorts. Comparisons to Harry Potter aside, Moers's kaleidoscopic expedition is fanciful and endlessly entertaining. 136 b&w illus. Agent, Jane Kirby at Random House UK
.

October 15, 2002
A blue bear named Bluebear begins his adventures in Zamonia, which was once part of the lands humans know, when small enough to float in a walnut shell bobbing toward a hole in the sea. He is rescued by the Minipirates, who are so small that ordinary sea-goers have no inkling of their mastery of the sea. Eventually, he grows too large to remain with the Minipirates, who regretfully maroon him on an island. In his subsequent travels, he meets fabulous and exotic people, makes friends and loses them, and is aided by a mental copy of Professor Nightingale's " Encyclopaedia" , his graduation gift from the professor's school. His story is illustrated by a vast number of bizarre black-and-white drawings that complement the chatty, easy prose perfectly. Bluebear still has 13 lives to go at the conclusion of his narrative because all bluebears live 27 lives, and he keeps the bluebears' secret for their sake. The tone in which the book ends is pleasant, for all adventurers eventually learn to settle down. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)