An orphaned child raised by pirates makes an uncommonly memorable lead in this British-style farce. Taught by her rough-and-tumble shipmates, eight-year-old Violet spits out the bugs she finds in her biscuits with an oath, expertly ties knots, goes to bed when she feels like it, and hardly ever bothers with a bath. She knows nothing about trees or flowers, but everything about wind and sea life. She can also swing about the rigging like a monkey—a talent that comes in handy when the Pirate Captain, who can’t stand the sight of, can’t even say the word b . . . bl . . . blood, sustains a minor wound that puts him off pirating altogether. Hamilton artfully implies violence without showing much, and Hearn’s cartoon line drawings reinforce the light tone. Forced to find a way to make money rather than take it, the pirates ultimately convert their ship to a floating Big Top, and come to realize that Violet is their real treasure. Delighted readers will have realized that long since. (Fiction. 9-11)
