Having transformed himself and his crew into fashionistas (of a sort) in Backbeard and the Birthday Suit (2006), the huge and hirsute Captain finds himself called before the Pirate Council for dress-code violations in this even better sequel. Ordered to exchange his eye-watering pink and green duds for more conventional garb or find another occupation, Backbeard sets out to look for work—landing, after several false starts, in a tea shop run by an uncommonly unflappable little old lady. A true spectacle, from red silk shoes to snappy boater, Backbeard really steps out in style across McElligott’s loud-pattern-drenched settings. His crew, from Mad Garlic Jack to swashbuckling Scarlet Doubloon, isn’t far behind—in fact, they burst in to the rescue when he’s left in charge and the tea shop’s blue-haired clientele turns ugly. Sandwiched between original and modified “Pirate Rules” on the endpapers, as well as hilarious jacket art, this knee-slapper rivals even Colin McNaughton’s Captain Abdul’s Little Treasure (2006) for freewheeling freebooter frivolity. (Picture book. 6-8)
