Pirates & Privateers: Mike Allegra's Books

Imagine you’re the pirate captain sailing the Seven Seas when a bird tumbles down an iceberg and lands right on your ship. Has to be a parrot, right? After all, you are a pirate and what bird makes the perfect pal? A parrot.

Okay, this one looks like his plumage needs a new coat. And then he needs to perch right on your shoulder like all parrots do. And then he should speak. Right? Well . . . not exactly. He does try, but nothing seems to work just as you expect. But the final straw comes when he spits out the cracker you give him onto the clean deck of your ship and that cracker is all that’s left of your food. This is mutiny and something must be done. But walking the plank?

This is a delightful tale where all the words are spoken by the captain. Depending on the size of the words, young pirates immediately know whether to whisper, speak normally, or shout. The imaginative artwork perfectly captures the story and youngsters can easily tell the story even when some of the pirate’s words are unfamiliar ones. (Even those are wonderful adventures to try rolling around on young pirate tongues.) If you look carefully, you may see skulls and crossbones in unusual places, and just maybe you will find a parrot. But the star of this book is the penguin. (The only negative is the open fire on a ship’s deck, but this is fiction mixed with a little whimsy, so only grown-up pirates will disapprove of this little faux pas.)

Beware: Once young pirates hear Pirate & Penguin, it will certainly become their favorite book either to hear every night before bed or to join in while parents recount the adventure. (It just may become their favorite too.) It definitely deserves five pirate thumbs-up.

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