What do you think?
Serendipity
Cap'n Smudge
Serendipity, the sea serpent, tries to convince Cap'n Smudge to stop dumping garbage in the sea in retaliation for the fishermen who made fun of him.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 4, 2021
Shipyard Bullies: Here, Cap'n Smudge. A new peg leg in apology for the way we treated you.
Cap'n Smudge: Arrr, it be warmin' me heart knowing that people saw that the bullying in me life was the source of me woes and that the best way to clean up me anti-environmental act was to acknowledge that I be actin' in revenge for me 'orrible treatment of me disability and me social-economical status.
Shipyard Bullies: Indeed! The bullying inflicted on you is not your fault!
Catundra from the Serendipity book Catundra: *looks straight at the camera like she's on The Office*
Cap'n Smudge: Arrr, it be warmin' me heart knowing that people saw that the bullying in me life was the source of me woes and that the best way to clean up me anti-environmental act was to acknowledge that I be actin' in revenge for me 'orrible treatment of me disability and me social-economical status.
Shipyard Bullies: Indeed! The bullying inflicted on you is not your fault!
Catundra from the Serendipity book Catundra: *looks straight at the camera like she's on The Office*
March 22, 2025
This is a review of the first hardback edition from 1977, which is currently available at The Internet Archive.
This is a sequel, of sorts, to the series' first book, Serendipity. And the pinkest sea monster who ever lived does make a substantial appearance. The series was originally supposed to be about Serendipity, but then life (or lack of any plot ideas about sea pollution) got in the way.
There aren't a whole lot of human beings in the Serendipity series. Smudge was perhaps the most interesting of those humans. His problems start because he didn't listen to his father -- which seems kind of an odd thing to mention, since Smudge was a grown adult when he got his leg bitten off by a sea serpent.
And then the other fishermen set fire to his wooden leg. Now, that would piss off Mister Rogers, let alone a cranky seaman. So, Smudge gets revenge by polluting the fishing waters of his enemies.
The late, great Robin James did a decent job in this early work, but she either didn't read the text or took some liberties. Smudge didn't look that dirty, and Large Marge (who always fished for crab) looks like the older sister of the Princess that befriended Morgan the Unicorn in later books.
The bird on Smudge's shoulder is called a mudlark. That's usually the nickname for a magpie, not whatever that bird was supposed to be. Unless that's supposed to be a special Serendipty species.
The set up was great, but the ending was trite and so sweet it made my teeth ache.
This is a sequel, of sorts, to the series' first book, Serendipity. And the pinkest sea monster who ever lived does make a substantial appearance. The series was originally supposed to be about Serendipity, but then life (or lack of any plot ideas about sea pollution) got in the way.
There aren't a whole lot of human beings in the Serendipity series. Smudge was perhaps the most interesting of those humans. His problems start because he didn't listen to his father -- which seems kind of an odd thing to mention, since Smudge was a grown adult when he got his leg bitten off by a sea serpent.
And then the other fishermen set fire to his wooden leg. Now, that would piss off Mister Rogers, let alone a cranky seaman. So, Smudge gets revenge by polluting the fishing waters of his enemies.
The late, great Robin James did a decent job in this early work, but she either didn't read the text or took some liberties. Smudge didn't look that dirty, and Large Marge (who always fished for crab) looks like the older sister of the Princess that befriended Morgan the Unicorn in later books.
The bird on Smudge's shoulder is called a mudlark. That's usually the nickname for a magpie, not whatever that bird was supposed to be. Unless that's supposed to be a special Serendipty species.
The set up was great, but the ending was trite and so sweet it made my teeth ache.
April 27, 2026
WOW! THIS Is how you do forgiveness correctly! The fisherman made him a new wooden leg, Serendipity condemned them. Find the root of the problem <3
Don't blame the victim.
Real life isn't that simple of course, but this book did a good job of it.
Don't blame the victim.
Real life isn't that simple of course, but this book did a good job of it.
November 26, 2018
Fantastic Book!!
Though I like to add at the end that they clean up the rubbish haha
Though I like to add at the end that they clean up the rubbish haha
January 4, 2024
One of my 7 year old daughter’s favourites.
March 27, 2021
Utterly charming, nice moral and ridiculous plot.
September 1, 2014
This is an interesting story for it brings Serendipity back to us and in a position where she is doing her new job. Even though she gets mad she has also emotionally grown-up to help those who look for her.
I love the fact the story is about the effects that your actions can have whether you do something you shouldn't be doing and also on how you treat others to have them treat you. A good book both about the environment and helping each other.
I love the fact the story is about the effects that your actions can have whether you do something you shouldn't be doing and also on how you treat others to have them treat you. A good book both about the environment and helping each other.
October 13, 2015
One of the most often requested of the Serendipity books at our house. This story about a one legged sea captain who takes revenge on those who bully him by throwing trash into the sea is a little strange, but it must strike a cord because we have read it too many times to count. Of course the illustrations by Robin James are lovely, and any book that actually has Serendipity (the big pink sea dragon) in it is cause for excitement.
May 13, 2015
En algún momento de mi infancia leí este libro, sólo tengo recuerdos vagos de la historia, pero el nombre de Serendipity (el monstruo rosa de mar) nunca se borró de mi memoria, tampoco se borró la imagen del buen Capitán Trapeador, que en vez de una pata de palo tenía un trapeador.
Una bonita historia de empatía y cuidado ambiental para niños.
Una bonita historia de empatía y cuidado ambiental para niños.
Read
February 6, 2009JAR5-Cos
February 11, 2010
Book about being environmentally friendly with great illustration and a not too preachy story.
September 9, 2014
A fun little story about showing consideration for all different creatures.
June 10, 2015
A good lesson to not bully people, and to listen and try to help with a friend's problem. I was happy that I could find this for my daughter.
Read
February 21, 2019Well, at least it acknowledged that the only reason Cap'n Smudge was so mean was because of all the bullying and abuse he'd endured at the hands of the other fishermen. And Serendipity was such a good mediator!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews