OLIVE’S PIRATE PARTY
by Roberta Baker & illustrated by Debbie Tilley
The can-do star of No Ordinary Olive (2002) returns to get her pirate-themed seventh birthday party shipshape—with some unexpected help. When Olive Elizabeth Julia Jerome learns that the party’s venue has to be switched from her own home to the gracious, lace-and-fine-china digs of Great Aunt Tiffany, she’s sure that the whole enterprise is sunk—but her proactive nature soon reasserts itself, and she sets out to salvage what she can. Come the day, there’s a surprise waiting: Genteel Aunt Tiffany comes through with a pirate costume, a treasure hunt and a huge Jolly Roger cake complete with flag and cannons. In windswept-looking watercolors, Tilley gives Olive a big, drama-queen personality, putting her and her classmates in piratical garb and lively poses and closing with a warm exchange of hugs and gifts. Budding buccaneers will give a hearty “Yo Ho!” for this high-energy tale of intergenerational connection. (Picture book. 6-8)