JACOB TWO-TWO ON THE HIGH SEAS

Fagan resurrects the late Mordecai Richler’s most famous character for a new adventure released to accompany freshly illustrated editions of the three original episodes. Still “two plus two plus two years old,” the chronic worrier sets out with his family from England to Canada aboard the SS Spring-a-Leak but soon finds himself kidnapped by a crew of not-exactly-fearsome singing pirates. Well supplied with comical sketches from Petricic, plus a supporting cast that includes a parrot given to screeching “Kiss my feathered butt!” and like disrespectful sentiments, a hulking but kindly ex-wrestler who once defeated the Hooded Fang himself and a narcissistic Captain who turns out to be the Canadian Prime Minister’s long-lost brother, the episode fits into the series nicely in both breathless pacing and Roald Dahl–style zaniness. Closing with a big birthday party and Jacob’s expressed wish for a pet, it also fits nicely between the events of Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (1975) and Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur (1987). Not too-too bad. (Fiction. 7-9)