Astonishing Adventures of Captain Ketchup #[1]

Simon Stern's delightfully chaotic nautical romp sets sail with *The Astonishing Adventures of Captain Ketchup: "Neptune's Treasure"*, and the cover alone promises laugh-out-loud fun. A bearded captain hollers "Full steam ahead, lads!" beside a hilariously ramshackle yellow vessel, complete with a cat peering from the crow's nest, a yellow bird wielding a telescope, laundry strung across the mast, and a horn cheerfully going "PARP!" From Methuen in 1972, this is the kind of gloriously absurd, warm-hearted comic adventure that earns its exclamation mark.