September 19 -- International Talk Like A Pirate Day

 

Ahoy! matey's. AaRRR the day has finally come. The day to plunder your lockers for hidden eye-patches, to loot the classroom for buried treasure and dance the hornpipe when the bell rings. It's the day to let your raucous pirate self out before he/she get locked away down deep (Davie Jones locker deep) until next year.

 

Here's a listing of some fabulous piratey books. Grab one and get inspired.

 

Tough Boris by Mem Fox

Whatever You Do Don't Go Near That Canoe by Julie Lawson

Blackbeard and the Birthday Suit by M. McElliott

The Secret of the Unicorn by Herge

Timothy and the Dragons Gate by A. Kress

The Dread Pirate Fleur and the Ruby Heart by Sara Starbuck

Pirates by Celia Rees

Hamish X and the Cheese Pirates by Sean Cullen

Demons of the Ocean by Justin Stomper

Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer

The Invaders by John Flanagan

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Wave Runners by Kai Meyer

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

The Ghost of Grania O'Malley by Michael Morpurgo

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry

The Last of the Sky Pirates by Paul Stewart

Capt. Hook by J.V. Hart

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Unsinkable Walker Bean by Aaron Renier

The Wreckers by Ian Lawrence

 

There's many more, come down and see me - do your best pirate impression and the reward will be great ... if your impression is poor well I'll make you swab the deck, before I make you walk the plank!

 

 

The Unsinkable Walker Bean

The Unsinkable Walker Bean by Aaron Renier

Wow! Another graphic novel winner, Loved it!! but then I do love a good pirate story and this one has a little bit of everything I could love in a story - an underdog of a main character Walker, chubby, shy, stay at home kind of guy - Grandpa, with a strange curse cast upon him and memories of great adventures that all should aspire to - pirates, battles, a skull with a powerful curse, seawitches, friends, banjos, castaways and the promise of more. Whew, that was a lot to pack into a sentence let alone a book.

If you're a fan of graphic novels, a fan of Rapunzel Revenge or Calamity Jack, a fan of Bone, a fan of Pirates of the Caribbean, then I think you've just found your next book to read.

Here's a taste more of what it's about:

Walker Bean never wanted to be a high-seas pirate waging a pitched battle with the forces of the deep. It just worked out that way.

Meek, mild and a little geeky, Walker is always happiest in his Grandfather's workshop messing around with his inventions. But when his beloved Grandfather is struck by an ancient curse, it falls on Walker to return an accursed Pearl Skull to the witches who created it, and his path will be strewn with pirates, magical machines, ancient lore and deadly peril.

Can't wait for more of this story to be told.

Read On.

Kaleidocsope eyes

Kaleidoscope Eyes by Jen Bryant

I just read this book this morning and have to say I quite liked it. It's got buried treasure what's not to like?

It's a novel written in verse (these usually end up being speedy reads, but I enjoy the interesting choices of words, quirky spacing lets you imagine the timing of things), set in New Jersey during 1968, young men are being sent off to Vietnam and being sent back in flag draped boxes.

The story begins with this great line: "I wake up every morning to Janis Joplin." The main characters thirteen-year-olds, Lyza, Carolann and Malcolm are preparing for what might be their last summer of freedom - and hoping it won't be boring. When Lyza helps her dad clean out her late Grampa's house, a mysterious surprise brightens the sad task. In her gradfather's dusty attic, Lyza discovers three maps, carefully folded and stacked, bound by a single rubber band. On top, an envelope says, "For Lyza ONLY." What could this possibly be? With the help of Malcolm and Carolann and a cryptic letter from Gramps, Lyza uncovers an impossible mystery: a three hundred year old pirate treasure that might be buried in her own New Jersey town.

Recommend it!

The Stowawy

The Stowaway by R.A. Salvatore and Gene Salvatore

Twelve years old and already guarding a secret that could jeopardize his young life. Maimun is marked for death. With a demon called Asbeel tracking his every move through Baldur's Gate, the orphaned boy flees out to sea, stowing away on the pirate hunting ship, Sea Sprite, where he comes across a most unliely ally: the dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden. As the ship careens throught the Sea of Swords, fighting priates and agents of Asbeel, Maimun must come to terms with the secret he carries and find out what family really means.(From the cover)

Last year I had more than one fan of Salvatore, I'm sorry that these great readers have moved on to LCI, when I finally have another great series to introduce to them.
Read On

Graphic novel weekend

Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island retold by Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin illustrated by Greg Rebis

I love Treasure Island, it's one of those books I end up reading every year, I love the characters, I love the pirates, i love the mystery of the treasure map, and i imagine myself as a bit of a young Jim Hawkins too.

So I was happy to see a graphic novel version of one of my favourites, especially as this version was in colour and appropriate for younger readers (there's a lot more to the pirate language than ARRRR). I thought this version did a great job of summarizing this classic story - I even felt my usual love/hate feelings for Long John Silver. This book even has a glossary for some of those words only used by pirates, a bit about Robert Louis Stevenson, and questions to ponder.

This is a great option for young readers interested in a pirate adventure story.

Read on