A bluebear has twenty-seven lives. I shall recount thirteen-and-a-half of them in this book but keep quiet about the rest. A bear must have his secrets, after all; they make him seem attractive and mysterious."
-Captain Bluebear
The 13 1/2 lives of Captain Bluebear is the first in the Zamonia series written by Walter Moers and translated from German by John Brownjohn. Throughout this series the fictional world of Zamonia is fleshed out and explored through the eyes of its various main characters: Blubear, Rumo, Optimus Yarnspinner, and Echo. While each one has their own adventures, they are all connected in some way. Bluebear, as the first main character, spends the majority of the book getting tossed into new situations in order to establish Zamonia canon.
Through brilliant illustrations, excerpts from the Encyclopdia of Marvels, and Bluebear's own insane narration, we the readers go through his adventures from being born in walnut shell hurtling towards a giant hole in the sea to traversing a giant's mind to being rescued from an ever-growing ship! He is not the average bear, but what do you expect from a guy who was named by talking waves?!
If you enjoy works like the Phantom Tollbooth or Alice and Wonderland then this is the book for you! It was born with the same whimsical nature and its sense of wonder will leave you with a vague impression that you were traveling with Bluebear yourself.
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