NB: I really did mean to do this on Friday, but Typepad was down. Oh, and the cat ate my homework. Really!
How I Became a Pirate, written by Melinda Long and illustrated by David Shannon
Published by Harcourt, Inc., 2003.
To be honest, I think I would effusively praise any book that makes it easier to get Connery to brush his teeth, so this little yarn had me at hello.
"Pirates have green teeth--when they have any teeth at all," reads the first line. And each and every accompanying pirate picture includes a mouth full of rotten teeth. When Connery and I get ready to do battle each morning over tooth brushing, the pirate threat is so far the most effective, perhaps because it is so graphically displayed for him to see. Disapproval, yelling from Mom and Dad, threatening--none works even half as well as the threat of having pirate teeth.
But there is so much more to love about this book than nasty teeth.
One of my main criterion in deciding how much I like a book is whether it's fun for me to read aloud. This one gets it just right. I get to read in a pirate accent, emote loudly while saying things like "Batten down the hatches!" and "Shiver me timbers!", and generally make a Mommy fool out of myself. And Connery loves it.
Another key element is having illustrations interesting enough to find something new or amusing on subsequent readings. Again the author and artist score highly here. Many of the drawings seem to be from the perspective of the main character, Jeremy Jacob, which adds to the interest. In one of the first shots, Jeremy is trying to alert his parents to the advancing pirates, but his mother--cellulite fully on display in a very realistic depiction that scores big in my world for not promoting unrealistic Heidi-Klum-like mom-thigh expectations--is engaged in sunscreening his baby sister and his dad is stuck in their beach umbrella. Each page offers enough details to last through multiple readings, and Connery delights in finding things we've pointed out before, from pirate PJs to Braidbeard's ever-present parrot.
Connery adores this book right now, and I think most kids his age and older--perhaps up to 4 or 5--would get a similar kick out of it. Despite what the Amazon reviewer I quoted in an earlier post had to say about it, I think the lesson in the book gets it just right. Living like a pirate--with no rules, no responsibilities, and no vegetables--is fun for a while, but that fun won't necessarily last long. Sooner or later you're going to want to be tucked in and have a story, and Braidbeard is pretty clear that "Pirates don't tuck!"
Pick up this book for your favorite pirate this holiday season. You'll be glad you did.
Coming up: Judy Schachner's Skippyjon Jones series