The word pirates

Susan Cooper, 1935-

Book - 2019

When word-eating Captain Rottingbones and his crew steal from the Word Wizard while she is telling a story, her pen proves mightier than the pirates' swords.

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jE/Cooper
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Subjects
Genres
Picture books
Published
New York : Holiday House [2019]
Language
English
Main Author
Susan Cooper, 1935- (author)
Other Authors
Steven Kellogg (illustrator)
Edition
First edition
Item Description
"Neal Porter Books."
Physical Description
1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 29 cm
ISBN
9780823443598
Contents unavailable.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Captain Rottingbones and his fellow swashbucklers don't go after the usual kinds of plunder: with the help of feathered henchman called Bumblebirds, they steal words from unsuspecting storytellers around the world and gobble them up "for breakfast, lunch and dinner." But one storyteller, "a Word Wizard, a zany New Zealander," who wears a rainbow wig just like the late author Margaret Mahy (also the subject of the lovely dedication), fights back. She vanquishes the pirates ("A word-spinning pen is mightier than a pilfering pirate's sword!" Cooper writes), then graciously gives them a fresh start: in the final pages, they're eating vegetables and learning to use words rather than eat them. The story feels a touch prescriptive, a component that slows the pacing, but Kellogg's signature art overflows with the color, movement, and expression of a vintage carnival poster. Ages 4--8. (Sept.)

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Review by School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 2--With a roar, Captain Rottingbones demands words! Pirates love eating words after all. So out go the Bumblebirds to retrieve the written delights of storytellers worldwide. To storytellers and story lovers though, this is an atrocious act. The Word Wizard and the children she was reading to give chase. Just as the ogre-like pirates begin to attack, a story stream sprouts from the author's absurdly large pen. Awed, the pirates have an epiphany. Cooper's words are deliciously funny, and have several important messages to share about the value of stories. Like the pirates, there are greedy people who wish to destroy them, though the children know them as the influential, magical things they are. Even the pirates turn over a new leaf once they realize this, learning to read and write in order to enjoy the benefits, too. Kellogg's comical style perfectly complement's Cooper's flair. With the storyteller tone, lush palette, and oddball characters, they have created a whimsical adventure where a Word Wizard, and the children, are the heroes. VERDICT Two prominent creators of children's literature have combined their powers to deliver a memorably funny tale about the value of stories. For its potential to create future readers, this book is invaluable.--Rachel Forbes, Oakville Public Library, Ont.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

A tale of vocabulary-related piratical chicanery doubles as a touching ode to the deceased author Margaret Mahy.Hungry pirates are nothing to mess with under ordinary circumstances, and these buccaneers are absolutely not ordinary. Capt. Rottingbones and his crew crave but one substance for their meals: words! With their Bumblebirds trained to steal from writers and books, the crew feasts on words both long ("antidisestablishmentarianism") and short ("pop"). Their doom comes when the captain sets his sights on a rainbow-wigged New Zealand "Word Wizard" (a nod to Mahy, to whom this book is dedicated). Unafraid, she does battle with the pirates with her pen, ultimately chastening them and setting them on a new path in life. There is always room for one more tale about the power of the written word, and adding pirates to the mix lends a bit of spice and flavor to this one. Accompanying the rollicking storyline, Kellogg's bright paintings, done in his signature style, fill his pages with busyness. The Bumblebirds look like white sea gulls, and the words they hunt droop from their beaks like dead fish. The pirates and other characters represent a variety of skin tones and genders while the Word Wizard and captain present white. One pirate has both an eye patch and a peg leg, but otherwise the captain's crew is largely free of stereotype.A right jolly paean to the deliciousness of words. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.