Publishers Weekly
Picture book creator Nash (The Cat in the Rhinestone Suit) offers a charming illustrated novel set in a world filled with anthropomorphic avian pirates. Blue Jay, the notorious captain of the airship Grosbeak, has been collecting eggs for years as he robs from the evil oligarchs in Thrushia. He rarely lets them hatch (and is happy to perpetuate the myth that he cannibalistically consumes them), but when his navigator, Junco, is compelled to nurse one particular egg, the entire crew has to care for Gabriel, a rare gosling. Their adventures take them into contact with everything from dangerous fisher cats and a dirt-loving mole on the ground to bats and crows in the air. Nash creates a wholly original and fully realized world in its own right, though it's hard to avoid comparisons to previous anthropomorphic animal tales; as with Redwall, scenes of violence and death intermix with the whimsy of the concept. That neither element overwhelms the other is a testament to Nash's aptitude, and readers should long remember the novel's endearing characters, which appear throughout in his gracefully integrated full color pen-and-ink art. Ages 9–13. (Sept.)
School Library Journal - Audio
Gr 4–7—Blue Jay the Pirate and his crew of motley birds set sail on a quest for adventure in this high-flying, action-packed adventure (Candlewick, 2012). When the mysterious egg that was taken aboard hatches to reveal a gosling, some of the crew rebel, but Captain Jay insists that Gabriel be kept on board the ship. Not long after Gabriel's arrival, Jay's ship, the Grosbeak, crashes in a dangerous section of Thrushia controlled by a group of thieving crows. Gabriel and his caretaker, the kind-hearted Junco, are separated from the rest of the crew and must take shelter with a group of tormented sparrows. Meanwhile, the remaining crew head underground to escape the crows and make a surprisingly helpful friend in the nearly blind mole, Hillary. By working together, the birds in this oppressed society find a way to defeat the crows, save the ship, and head for the free skies above. Dan John Miller does a nice of voicing this unique cast of characters and paces the telling well. There is tough pirate talk and some significant violence which suggests an older audience than one might expect for an animal fantasy tale. Still, Miller's unique voices combined with loads of action will appeal to many listeners.—Deanna Romriell, Salt Lake City Public Library, UT
OCTOBER 2012 - AudioFile
Blue Jay the Pirate has a beak for treasure and finds it upon taking aboard a rare goose egg. When it cracks open, the high-skies adventures begin. Dan John Miller is no greenhorn to narration. Setting a fast but comprehensible pace from the start, he invites the listener to join the crew as they hatch a plot to save themselves, their ship, and a village of sparrows from a murder of crows. Miller enhances the enjoyment of this imaginative tale with his large flock of accents, which distinguish robin from rook, banta goose from bluebird, star-nosed mole from snapping turtle. While it’s regrettable that Nash's illustrations are lost, Miller's theatrical treatment of this story makes for jolly good fun. M.M.O. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
