Monday, August 11, 2008

Finally a new Rainbow Book: How I Became a Pirate

"Tell me 'bout Jeremy Jay-tub 'gain, Mama!"
That's what Blaine begs from the backseat every day in the car. And happily I comply. "Well, there was this boy named Jeremy Jacob and he was very good at building sandcastles..."

My rendition is not nearly as clever as Melinda Long's. She wrote this endearing tale which is brilliantly illustrated by David Shannon (you know his stuff. Think Duck on a Bike, Alice the Fairy, etc. More on him later. Love him!)

Blaine received this book from his beautiful "auntie" Lisa and has loved it ever since he would sit still long enough to look at the pictures with me. Now that he is even older, he gets it more and loves it more.

The story is told from Jeremy Jacob's perspective and takes you on an adventure with Braid Beard the pirate and his crew. With Jeremy Jacob we learn pirate jargon ("shiver me timbers," "scurvy dog,"), pirate manners (none), pirate cuisine (meat on the bone, no vegetables in sight), and pirate bedtime stories (none--the only thing to read on board the ship is a treasure map). Jeremy Jacob thinks being a pirate is the greatest ever until he realizes he misses the comforts of home and family. And then a storm hits with lightening that breaks the mast of the ship. Will they survive the storm? What will they do with the treasure? Will Jeremy Jacob make it home in time for soccer practice?

You MUST get this book and read it with your children. It is so cleverly written and colorfully illustrated. Blaine adores it at 2, but I would recommend it up to 7 or 8 because, of course, the older they get, the more of the humor they get.

Hope you love it!


7 comments:

Christina said...

Glad you're back!

Vicky said...

I am sooo happy that Mrs. Cropper is back! This looks like a great book!

Alicia said...

This is one of my favorite books. I did a whole unit on it in college. 2nd graders LOVE it! The pictures are amazing and it is cleverly written. I love when the shark eats the soccer ball. We would use this book as an intro for maps.

Joan said...

FUN! I will have to check it out at the library (that's what poor people do, you know---when they can't afford anything "extra") :)

lori said...

nice! so happy you're book blogging again! It makes me feel like I have another connection to you!

Have not read this one yet, but I better. Lucy is a fan of pirates. On the 24th of July when we started talking about pioneers she got really excited and said, "yeah! They say ARGH!!" =)

Love you, friend!

Burgin Streetman said...

From:

Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves

so glad you are back. Keep up the great work.

Susan said...

We love this book at my house. There's also a sequel, Pirates Don't Change Diapers. Such fun books!