Avast Me Hearties!

Well, this week we celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day, and so this Monday, it was only natural that the storytime was all about pirates. Pete, my Melissa and Doug pirate puppet joined us to greet the kids, read a short book, and lead a couple of the songs we sang. ("If You're a Pirate and You Know It" and "The Pirates on the Ship" to the tunes of "If You're Happy and You Know it" and "The Wheels on the Bus" respectively.) The kids loved it! We did a flannel of "Five Little Pirates" with pirates that I made, for a little counting practice. We did a couple of fingerplays and practiced some Pirate-speak.
Here are today's books:

Pirateria: The Wonderful Plunderful Pirate Emporium by Calef Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
With rhyming text and detailed illustrations, this book worked with my young storytime audience in spite of some very sophisticated concepts and higher than usual vocabulary. Privateer, mutineer, buccaneer seeking top quality pirate gear...wow. The kids listened to every word, describing this "glorious pirate emporium" and all the gear and classes available as well as specials. There was even a page of pirates modeling the latest in eye patches which the audience enthusiastically counted. What a fun pirate read-aloud.

Bubble Bath Pirates by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Clever illustrations (did you notice the rubber duckie with the Pirate eyepatch?) and a sing song text containing a smattering of pirate-speak made this an instant hit with my toddler audience. Pirate Mom (sorry, I just couldn't bring myself to say Pirate MOMMY) and her two little pirates just have too much fun at bath time. It almost made me want to follow along with them singing "Yo ho, yo ho, it's off to the bath we go" and jump right in behind them. Every page is filled with smiles. And after they count down and pull the plug there is pirate treasure waiting in the kitchen and more singing, "Yo ho, yo ho, we're now so sparkling clean...we're off to get our bounty of chocolate fudge ice cream!"

Pirate vs. Pirate: The Terrific Tale of a Big, Blustery Maritime Match by Mary Quattlebaum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
My Toddler audience loved this book with its humorous illustrations and great read-aloud text. The kids enjoyed yelling "tie!" after each contest and enjoyed all the craziness that two pirates indulge in when they compete to see who is the mightiest, maddest, burliest, richest pirate in the whole world. One of the few pirate books to feature a female pirate, this book spoke to the girls in my audience, and they loved that Mo was every bit as good as her male companion whether she was eating hardtack or throwing a cannonball.

Pirate Princess by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Bea is not your usual princess when we first meet her she is standing on her head and she would rather read a book than wear fancy clothes and she has no interest in meeting a handsome prince. Bea does have a dream - she wants to be a pirate. One afternoon she comes across a pirate ship and convinces the crew that they should add her to their crew. She throws herself into being a pirate, but it is a struggle. Her first task, swabbing the deck, makes her shoulders sore and the mop is "really gross." She is next assigned to the galley, where she whips up an inedible stew. She gets seasick. Just when it seems like she is going to have to walk the plank, the pirates discover she has a gift for sniffing out treasure, and she is welcomed into the pirate band. This story is filled with fun, great illustrations and a reminder that we all have gifts and talents.

Pajama Pirates by Andrew Kramer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
< Dreams, pirates, and imagination. This is a softly illustrated pirate adventure book that ends with bedtime. Nice way to end a pirate storytime.