School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-This tale of swashbucklers looking for a place to store their booty while a band of sharpshooters attempts to defend their one-horse town is really about a little miscommunication and the need for a nice hot bath. Unfortunately for Burnt Beard the octopus pirate and Black Bob the bull cowboy, they can't understand each other's colorful language. The author cleverly convinces the audience to sympathize with both sides, as it is unlikely that many children will be able to understand either the pirate idioms or the cowboy slang. When the misunderstandings result in a showdown, a croc named Pegleg Highnoon arrives to save the day. Being fluent in both pirate and cowboy comes in handy for diffusing the situation, but Pegleg's mediation efforts are trumped by the stench of both parties. After seeing that their smelliness is something they have in common, they reconvene after bathing for some grog at the local saloon. Readers will enjoy the comical illustrations and amusing resolution if they can get past the complicated vocabulary and suspend their disbelief about an octopus trying to hide his treasure in the desert.-Jenna Boles, Washington-Centerville Public Library, OH (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
The collaborators behind Snowbots return with a tale that gleefully pokes fun at pirate and cowboy vernacular while demonstrating how difficult it can be to find common ground. When Burnt Beard, a surly octopus pirate, needs to stash some booty, he and his crew (which includes a turtle with an eye patch and a goldfish in a bowl) head to Old Cheyenne, territory belonging to Black Bob McKraw and "his gang of rip-roarin' rustlers [who] were nastier than week-old chili, and twice as gassy." Burnt Beard asks where they might "be findin' a fair scrub and a swish," and Black Bob, who doesn't speak pirate, takes offense. After several silly trash-talking exchanges, "Pistols pointed. Swords flashed. Lips sneered. Nostrils flared" in a showdown; luckily, Pegleg Highnoon, "the world's only pirate cowboy," steps in as mediator. Reynolds's tongue-twisting retorts are fun, but sometimes slow the story's pace (and the absence of even one female character is surprising). However, Barneda's cartoon-styled acrylic and pencil illustrations contribute abundant humor (one of the cowboys is a fierce potted cactus) and tension. Ages 5-8. Agent: Paul Rodeen, Rodeen Literary Management. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
