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.

Arrrr! Ahoy Mateys!

It has been a couple of weeks since I posted here...because it has been a couple of weeks since I have performed a storytime. But today we came back strong with "It's a Pirate's Life for Me!" We practiced a spot of "Pirate Speak" which helped us sing a special pirate verse of our opening song. Then we launched into

How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This imaginative book is a great read-aloud if you are comfortable with Pirate-Speak. Captain Braid Beard and his crew have a lot to say and do...and a young boy loves their pirate lifestyle (no vegetables, no baths, no bedtimes) until it is bedtime and there is no one to tuck him in, read him a story, or give him a goodnight kiss - besides he has to get home for soccer practice. David Shannon' illustrations kept the kids eyes glued to the pages and had them laughing out loud.

Pirates, Ho! by Sarah L. Thomson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The colorful cast of Pirate characters in this book - which include a GIRL pirate - are brave swashbucklers during the day. Doing as the things that Pirates do. But when darkness falls it is a different story altogether. Told in rhyme, with great illustrations this book delighted the kids at storytime today. We sang "If You're a Pirate and You Know it." (Tune: "If You're Happy and You Know It") and modified the verses to match some of the same pirate activities described in the book.

Pirates Don't Change Diapers by Melinda Long

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one sequel that is almost better than the original! In this second Melinda Long/David Shannon pirate book, Jeremy Jacob is visited by his old pirate crew, ready to dig up their treasure. Jeremy's baby sister though has other plans for the pirate crew and they have to change, feed and calm her before they can get to digging. The illustrations are just hysterically funny and the kids today loved them.

Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC by June Sobel

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a creative, well illustrated concept book, and the kids really enjoyed the pirates' quest to steal all the letters of the alphabet for their Captain who decides that "R is not enough.......we need other letters to help make us tough." Did I mention that the Captain is a crocodile and the crew consists of a pig, a cat, a rat, and a mouse? The kids loved many things about this book, including the fact that the parrot on the Captain's shoulder wore a pirate hat and that the captain has a duck flotation device around his waist that wears an eyepatch.

Pirates of the Sea! by Brandon Dorman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thought this book might be too long for my mostly toddler audience, but I was wrong. The kids loved this book laughing and commenting on the illustrations, especially when among the pirate treasure there was a teddy bear and a pair of purple pirate underwear. Great rhyming book, great illustrations just the right amount of pirate-speak to make this book a great read-aloud that will appeal to all ages.

Peg Leg Peke by Brie Spangler

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a charming book about a cute little pekingese with a "boo boo." An unseen companion, helps the little guy imagine that instead of a cute dog with a broken leg, he is an adventurous pirate with a peg leg. With some help, he sails away and finds a treasure which makes him feel better. The illustrations are sweet and the text, told in a Mo Willems' like dialog is engaging and funny.

We closed with a Pirate version of "Row, Row, Row, your boat":

Sail, sail, sail your ship

Gently o'er the sea.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

A pirates life for me!

The kids all stayed to color a pirate ship coloring sheet and it was great fun to have some time to interact with the kids and their parents informally. I did however learn that talking like burly, swashbuckling pirates is very hard on the throat and takes a toll on my voice. Even so, this storytime was worth it.