The Bill the Cat Story: A Bloom County Epic for Ages 4—33 and 36—89
Written and Illustrated by Berkeley Breathed
Philomel Books   9/13/2016
978-0-399-54662-4
40 pages
Ages 4—33 and 36—89 (mostly 4—8)

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“In a different place called Bloom County, there lives a lonely little boy named Binkley, who knows that we all could use a friend like Bill the Cat draped across our heads to help face our world.’

“But nothing really good comes really easy.” [INSIDE JACKET]

Review
Binkley is a lonely little boy in need of a friend. Dad takes his son to the “Pedigree & Schmedigree Animal Shelter” to find a friend. Binkley immediately connects with a scraggly orange cat. Binkley names the cat Bill (“rhymes with daffodil and landfill”). Binkley and Bill are so much alike in both spirit and actual looks. But before Binkley can get Bill out of the animal shelter, the cat is taken away, boxed up, and sent to someone else. Someone who beat Binkley to the shelter.
To say Binkley is upset is an understatement. Yet Binkley has an unknown guardian angel named Opus. Opus “a dark, mysterious—shapely handsome—stranger named Opus was a rambling, restless drifter passing through town, smelling of adventure and fish.” Opus runs after the delivery truck, hops on the back, and gives Bill a pair of his, um, . . . personals. Yep, that should help.
The Bill the Cat Story is a reprise of Binkley and Bill from the Bloom County comics, an extremely popular strip for its time. Bill is the scraggliest orange cat you could ever meet. Binkley is an odd boy. Together, I assume Bill and Binkley make an inseparable, unconquerable, incomprehensible pair. And they are funny. In A Bloom County Epic, we learn of Bill’s backstory, before he and Binkley, become family. Bill had some exciting adventures. He was an Eskimo’s sled-dog at the North Pole; he herded elephants on the African savanna; became an idol; and almost became an alien’s lunch. Meanwhile, Binkley has gotten over his almost-friend. They only meet for a millisecond. So, Binkley only thinks about Bill in art class, when building a snow-cat, and in his dreams.
The big question won’t be answered here. What is the big question, you ask? That’s easy. Does Opus’ plan get Bill returned to Binkley? One would think it a long shot. In the end, well, you’ll need to read The Bill the Cat Story: A Bloom County Epic for Ages 4—33 and 36—89. I know what you’re wondering, because I wonder it myself. Why isn’t this story appropriate for ages 34 and 35? I don’t know. If the author shows up to read this review, maybe he will enlighten us as to what is wrong with 34 and 35-year-olds. Maybe they do not have a good attention span. Maybe they cannot read. Maybe they lose their library card and can’t get a new one until their 36th birthday. Hey, at least I’m trying to think of reasons. What are you doing?

Seems you have time to read The Bill the Cat Story. Now go. Shoo. “Thbbft!”

THE BILL THE CAT STORY: A BLOOM COUNTY EPIC. Text and illustrations copyright © 2016 by Berkeley Breathed. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Philomel Books, New York, NY.

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Reprinted with permission from THE BILL THE CAT STORY: A BLOOM COUNTY EPIC © 2016 by Berkeley Breathed, Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group. Illustrations © 2016 by Berkeley Breathed.

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Copyright © 2016 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews. All Rights Reserved

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The Bill the Cat Story: A Bloom County Epic 
Written and Illustrated by Berkeley Breathed
Philomel Books 9/13/2016
978039946624