Muppets at Sea

Muppets at Sea
Jocelyn Stevenson ~ illustrated by Graham Thompson
Random House, 1980

I should probably just quit my empty promises of no licensed characters considering I am a mother who uses the Rainbow Connection to sing her son to sleep at night (though he sometimes requests the other Muppet Movie classics Moving Right Along, I'm Going to Go Back There Someday and Can You Picture That... though occasionally he does opt for non-Muppet selections like Dream a Little Dream, You Are My Sunshine, Blackbird, American Pie or the theme song to the Beverly Hillbillies... I have my husband to thank for that last one.) Anyway, my childhood copy of Muppets at Sea found its way onto my son's bookshelf early, and even though the comic book format and mild adult humor can sometimes befuddle the boy, he loves it all the same.

So the Muppets are in dire need of a vacation and Kermit decides an ocean cruise is just the thing the cast needs. But when they arrive at the shipyard to find a dump, they'll need more than elbow grease to get out of this one.

What's the idea, Frog? Is this some kind of joke? There's not even a decent place to play shuffle-board on that wreck!

As usual, the Muppet spunk and grit get the place spiffied up, but that ends up being the least of their problems. Swedish Chef can't seem to make anything edible. Gonzo gets lost at sea chasing a pirate fantasy. Miss Piggy fumes when she doesn't get the attention from Mon Petit Green Capitain that she deserves. And Beauregard almost kills them all when he pulls the boat's "plug" and sinks the ship. In true Muppet fashion, it takes an Albatross and a Gonzo-swallowing whale to save the day.

I know, I know... I'm probably damning my child to dorkdom for life by letting him love the Muppets this young, but hey... there are worse things in life.