Pirate Boy

by Eve Bunting, Julie Fortenberry (Illustrator)

Overview

A delightful story of steadfast love between a pirate boy and his brave mom.

After reading his favorite book about a pirate boy, Danny wonders what would happen if he sailed away on a pirate ship. Luckily, his mother reassures him that she would find him, even if she had to swim on a dolphin, battle sea monsters, and wield a bottle of pirate-shrinking magic spray to do it! Young readers will love this adventurous and ultimately reassuring tale of a mother's love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823439799
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	05/08/2018
Pages:	28
Sales rank:	643,845
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 5.90(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

Eve Bunting, who has written many books for children, including Pirate Boy, was inspired to write Washday when she came across a set of washing instructions written long before the days of electric washers and dryers. She lives in California with her husband.

Julie Fortenberry is an abstract painter and a children’s book illustrator. She has a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from Hunter College. Her illustrations have appeared in Sadie’s Sukkah Breakfast (Kar-Ben) and Pippa at the Parade (Boyds Mills Press). She lives in Westchester County, New York.

Editorial Reviews

Danny's mother has answers for all of his anxious pirate-related questions. While the storybook they read together offers Danny tantalizing possibilities—"Mom? What if I want to be a pirate and sail away on a pirate ship?"—threats and doubts loom, too. "What if I don't like it on the pirate ship? And I want to come back home?" But Mom deals skillfully, Runaway Bunny–style, with Danny's fretting: "Then I will ask a nice, friendly dolphin to take me out to that pirate ship, and we will bring you home." Layers of color and heavily worked figures give Fortenberry's (Pippa at the Parade) digital art a thick, substantial feel. The pirates, her spreads emphasize, are cheery fellows who would never harm Danny. His mother imagines vanquishing evildoers with magic shrinking spray ("with mint"); afterwards, the tiny pirates cower by Mom's gigantic feet. The book reads like a conversation Bunting (Tweak Tweak) might once have had with one of her own children; it's a warmhearted portrait of an endlessly patient parent, ready to help her child work through his fears and desires. Ages 4–8. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"a warmhearted portrait of an endlessly patient parent, ready to help her child work through his fears and desires."—Publishers Weekly

"Danny and his mother read a picture book called Pirate Boy together and then, in a question-and-answer dialogue, create their own pirate adventure featuring Danny sailing away on a pirate ship with Mom close at hand, should he have second thoughts about the escapade. . . . Softly colored, uncluttered watercolor-style digital illustrations scored with thin, scratchy lines to suggest wind and motion perfectly match the nonthreatening tone of the text and feature just the right amount of accoutrement appropriate for a pirate story."—Booklist

"As he reads with his mom, little Danny wonders aloud what it would be like to be a pirate. From the comfort of his couch, his questions persist. 'What if I don’t like it on the pirate ship? And I want to come back home?' With steadfast love, his mother answers every 'What if. . . ?' with confident answers that reassure the young boy. . . . A sweet Runaway Bunny book for the pirate set."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

PreS-K—As Danny and his mom finish reading a pirate story, the child imagines becoming a pirate and sailing away. But "What if I don't like it on the pirate ship? And I want to come back home?" he asks. Through questions and answers, his mother explains how she will bring him home, riding a dolphin, battling sea monsters and pirates, and using her handy magic spray. Later, they will play at the beach with Daddy and then head home for cookies. Each time Mom answers his question, Danny responds, "Okay. But, Mom…?" giving the text rhythm and predictability. Cartoon illustrations are digitally painted in muted colors, creating a quiet tone. Despite prominent texturing lines, some spreads feel flat or awkward. Similar in theme and format to Margaret Wise Brown's Runaway Bunny (Harper, 1942) and Lisa McCourt's I Love You, Stinky Face (Troll, 1997), with the addition of the ever-popular pirates, the story is not an essential purchase, but it is one that will find its audience.—Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library System, Portland, OR

School Library Journal

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