Books for Kids

An irregularly updated review of current and classic children's literature.

Wednesday, June 09, 2004

How I Became a Pirate

Author: Melinda Long
Illustrator: David Shannon

Ages: 4 and up

I loved this book. What kid (or adult for that matter) wouldn't love the idea of becoming a pirate. No rules to follow! Buried Treasure! And of course getting to say "AAARGH!"

This book tells of Jeremy Jacob's day at the beach when he is invited to come along with the pirate Braid Beard and his crew. Jeremy is picked at the beach because of his excellent digging skills.

Jeremy has a great time being a pirate until he learns about some of the other things that pirates don't do----such as tucking him in at night or reading bedtime stories. Jeremy must now find a way to get the pirates to take him home.

This is a great read-aloud story. Melinda Long's writing is fantastic. The pirate dialouge is as much fun to hear as it is to read. David Shannon (the author and illustrator of No, David!, and many other books) has created fantastic whimsical and very detailed pictures for this story.

I can think of several opportunities to use this book during a school year. I might use it at the beginning of a school year to show the need for rules, procedures, and schedules. I might use it in Social Studies to introduce map making and map reading. I might even think about using it for health class to discuss the reason for proper nutrition. It would be fun to use for a writing class to show the use of exclamations and of dialogue.

I give How I Became a Pirate a big thumbs up.

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