Genre Category: Informational Book
Age Range: Ages 8 to 13
Assessment of the book’s quality: Well researched, with a pirate glossary and bibliography in the back accompanied with real like illustrations.
Assessment of the book’s potential use: The book can be suggested to teachers and students to use it on a project or research on pirates.
Assessment of the book’s child appeal: Appealing for children interested in leaning about pirates, sea, sea battle, treasure and everything that is connected to pirates.
Summary:
"You know all about pirates. They were big guys with fancy hats, silk jackets, peg legs, and parrots cursing on their shoulders. They sailed big ships with brass guns and made lubbers walk the plank . . . right? Wrong. . . . " _ From the book's jacket cover.
The book is an informational book about the history of pirates. The book answers many questions as who pirates were, how did piracy begin, why so many people turned to piracy and became pirates, what was life like on the ship and the everyday life of pirates what they did all day on ship, what did they eat and dress, what sorts of weapons they had, what strategies they used to attack other ships, then what stuff they stole and did what they did with the plunder, and how they were punished when caught, as well as the sort of punishments pirates had. The author also writes about the seadogs, freebooters, buccaneers and famous and prominent pirates. At the end the book has an index and a small but useful glossary of pirate words. The book is full of illustrations with captions providing additional information and explanations (i.e. what does the term "jolly roger" come from, that Sir Francis Drake was called queen Elizabeth's dragon and that his name Drake actually means "dragon", etc.)
Reaction and Impressions:
The book discredits the image of the stereotype pirate that a child is usually familiar with. For example, when it comes to the old and "favorite" walking the plank section, the author straightforwardly states that it never existed, furthermore, he was one of the artists responsible for its creation, from imagination. It gives very helpful, easy to remember historical events and facts. The book, though nonfiction and informational, is very engaging and interactive. The only negative element of the book is that it lacks bibliography. I am glad I read it.
Age Range: Ages 8 to 13
Assessment of the book’s quality: Well researched, with a pirate glossary and bibliography in the back accompanied with real like illustrations.
Assessment of the book’s potential use: The book can be suggested to teachers and students to use it on a project or research on pirates.
Assessment of the book’s child appeal: Appealing for children interested in leaning about pirates, sea, sea battle, treasure and everything that is connected to pirates.
Summary:
"You know all about pirates. They were big guys with fancy hats, silk jackets, peg legs, and parrots cursing on their shoulders. They sailed big ships with brass guns and made lubbers walk the plank . . . right? Wrong. . . . " _ From the book's jacket cover.
The book is an informational book about the history of pirates. The book answers many questions as who pirates were, how did piracy begin, why so many people turned to piracy and became pirates, what was life like on the ship and the everyday life of pirates what they did all day on ship, what did they eat and dress, what sorts of weapons they had, what strategies they used to attack other ships, then what stuff they stole and did what they did with the plunder, and how they were punished when caught, as well as the sort of punishments pirates had. The author also writes about the seadogs, freebooters, buccaneers and famous and prominent pirates. At the end the book has an index and a small but useful glossary of pirate words. The book is full of illustrations with captions providing additional information and explanations (i.e. what does the term "jolly roger" come from, that Sir Francis Drake was called queen Elizabeth's dragon and that his name Drake actually means "dragon", etc.)
Reaction and Impressions:
The book discredits the image of the stereotype pirate that a child is usually familiar with. For example, when it comes to the old and "favorite" walking the plank section, the author straightforwardly states that it never existed, furthermore, he was one of the artists responsible for its creation, from imagination. It gives very helpful, easy to remember historical events and facts. The book, though nonfiction and informational, is very engaging and interactive. The only negative element of the book is that it lacks bibliography. I am glad I read it.
"Adkins rejects the conventional glamorous image of the pirate to construct a scruffier, though only slightly less romanticized, one in this sweeping history of privateers, buccaneers, freebooters, and similar nautical nogoodnicks. Though he may characterize them as "violent, wicked criminals," he downplays the more lurid tales of their bad behavior, focusing instead on generalities about their habits, hygiene ("Most pirates had bad teeth, and not very many of them"), and seamanship. He also introduces Sir Francis Drake, William Kidd, Henry Morgan, and other piratical luminaries-often so that he can go on about their bad ends. Scattering loosely drawn but practiced vignettes of men and ships around snippets of historical fact, Adkins offers nothing new beyond a distinctly personal tone, but the topic is hot just now, and there's enough about ships and sailing here to draw more than narrowly focused pirate fans."_ Kirkus Reviews.
"Can it be that walking the plank was a fictional punishment invented by illustrator Howard Pyle? In this appealing book, Adkins gives readers the lowdown on what life under the pirate flag was really like. After setting up the conventional portrait of swaggering, singing sailors in colorful duds, he replaces it with a more realistic picture of hard-working sailors who "might swashbuckle just a few hours each month" and bathed considerably less. Yet this realistic portrayal of pirates and their activities is even more intriguing than the romanticized version he debunks. Adkins strikes just the right note in the text, always informative and frequently entertaining as well. Bright with color washes, the excellent, energetic drawings show pirates engaged in a variety of activities, from pumping out the bilge to braiding each other's hair to using the open-air bathroom at the front of the ship. In a send-up of current book marketing, the back cover carries appreciative comments by the likes of Queen Elizabeth I and Leonardo da Vinci. Where pirate fever runs high this spirited presentation will find an enthusiastic audience. For more titles, see the Read-alikes, "Ship Ahoy!" _ Booklist - Carolyn Phelan
"Can it be that walking the plank was a fictional punishment invented by illustrator Howard Pyle? In this appealing book, Adkins gives readers the lowdown on what life under the pirate flag was really like. After setting up the conventional portrait of swaggering, singing sailors in colorful duds, he replaces it with a more realistic picture of hard-working sailors who "might swashbuckle just a few hours each month" and bathed considerably less. Yet this realistic portrayal of pirates and their activities is even more intriguing than the romanticized version he debunks. Adkins strikes just the right note in the text, always informative and frequently entertaining as well. Bright with color washes, the excellent, energetic drawings show pirates engaged in a variety of activities, from pumping out the bilge to braiding each other's hair to using the open-air bathroom at the front of the ship. In a send-up of current book marketing, the back cover carries appreciative comments by the likes of Queen Elizabeth I and Leonardo da Vinci. Where pirate fever runs high this spirited presentation will find an enthusiastic audience. For more titles, see the Read-alikes, "Ship Ahoy!" _ Booklist - Carolyn Phelan
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