by Andrew Kramer & illustrated by Leslie Lammle ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2010
Nighttime is the right time for adventurous children to sail the high seas in this sweet bedtime book. As the moon rises, three kids step aboard their trusty boat to search for treasure. Along the way they encounter some pirate scoundrels and win the day, only to return to their beds to continue their adventures in their dreams. Kramer’s gentle text takes children to the edges of adventure then brings them home again. Alas, poor text layout in one spread means that some readers will have difficulty parsing where his rhymes are meant to fall. “Then through the fog, / a cannon blast rips the sail / and splits the mast,” will be intuitive after a second reading, but it’s not immediately clear. That said, Lammle’s blue-infused watercolors compensate for this and more, providing her button-nosed buccaneers (and their dog) plenty of action followed by sweet victory. She also tips her hat to that other bedtime adventurer, Little Nemo, with full-faced moons and sleep-based adventures. A swell choice for small pirate adventurers ready to clash swords from the comfort of their own beds. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-06-125194-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2010
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by Jordan Quinn ; illustrated by Robert McPhillips ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2014
A gentle adventure that sets the stage for future quests.
A lonely prince gains a friend for a quest to find a missing jewel.
Prince Lucas of Wrenly has everything a boy could possibly want—except a friend. His father has forbidden him to play with the village children for reasons of propriety. Adventure-seeking Lucas acquires peasant clothes to masquerade as a commoner and make friends, but he is caught out. His mother, the queen, persuades the king to allow him one friend: Clara, the daughter of her personal dressmaker. When the queen’s prized emerald pendant goes missing, Lucas and Clara set off to find it. They follow the jewel as it changes hands, interviewing each temporary owner. Their adventure cleverly introduces the series’ world and peoples, taking the children to the fairy island of Primlox, the trolls’ home of Burth, the wizard island of Hobsgrove and finally Mermaid’s Cove. By befriending the mermaids, Lucas and Clara finally recover the jewel. In thanks, the king gives Clara a horse of her own so that she may ride with Lucas on their future adventures. The third-person narration is generally unobtrusive, allowing the characters to take center stage. The charming, medieval-flavored illustrations set the fairy-tale scene and take up enough page space that new and reluctant readers won’t be overwhelmed by text.
A gentle adventure that sets the stage for future quests. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-9691-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
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More by Jordan Quinn
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by Jordan Quinn ; illustrated by Glass House Graphics
by Lisa Robinson ; illustrated by Eda Kaban ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2019
It’s tough to walk the plank and leave beloved captains behind; this may make the transition a little easier.
An imaginative pirate preschooler has a hard time adjusting to a new captain in kindergarten.
Not only is beloved preschool teacher Cap’n Chu not the captain of the kindergarten ship, but it doesn’t even sail the seas—it’s a spaceship! This is too much for pirate Emma to take, and she falls back to reboarding the preschool ship: “Pirates don’t go to kindergarten!” Despite repeated efforts on the parts of Cap’n Chu, new teacher Cap’n Hayes, and a fellow kindergartener, Emma continues to cling to Cap’n Chu until she gets the reassurance she needs that her former teacher will miss her too but will always be available for a visit. With that, space pirate Emma finally reports to her new ship. Kaban’s digital illustrations go to town with the metaphor, depicting school as a mix of reality and imagination: Emma swims, wooden cutlass in her teeth, back to the preschool room. Emma’s portrayed with a peg leg in one picture, and the kindergarten guinea pig’s fur makes it look like it wears an eye patch. Otherwise, the pirate trope is limited to bandannas and striped shirts. Emma presents white; the other students are diverse; Cap’n Chu presents Asian; and Cap’n Hayes has brown skin and white hair. Unfortunately, awkward renderings of her head and face may remind readers of a monkey’s.
It’s tough to walk the plank and leave beloved captains behind; this may make the transition a little easier. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5420-9275-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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by Lisa Robinson ; illustrated by Hadley Hooper
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by Lisa Robinson ; illustrated by Lauren Simkin Berke
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by Lisa Robinson ; illustrated by Rebecca Green
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