In real-life, pirates probably wouldn’t be at the top of the list of topics to discuss with young children, but their much more innocent depictions in picture books often have great appeal to kids. In Mary Quattlebaum’s new book Pirate vs. Pirate: The Terrific Tale of a Big, Blustery Maritime Match, this is definitely the case, with the introduction of two of the world’s toughest and meanest pirates who just might have some huge hearts buried under all their bluster.
With Bad Bart ruling the seas on one side of the world, and Mean Mo being top dog on the other, they each strive to be the biggest, burliest, maddest, mightiest and richest in the entire world. When they come upon each other during their travels, their rowdy crews suggest they back away from the cannons. “Ye need to figure this out fair and square, just the two of ye.” And then, the competition is on!
Swimming races among the sharks and cannonball hurling are just two of the ways they attempt to declare a winner between them, but even after several competitions and even an itemization of the contents of their respective treasure chests, the resulting judgment from their crews is always the same: “TIE!”
What will Bad Bart and Mean Mo do? Will they resort to fighting in the end, or will they perhaps begin to look at each other in a completely different light? I can tell you this, my three year old son and four year old daughter both giggled through this entire book, but overall, there were different aspects of the story that appealed to each of them.
If you’re looking to add a wild natured picture book to your personal library that is fun to read and filled with pirate lingo to stretch a landlubber’s vocabulary, look no further than Pirate vs. Pirate.
Dawn and her three junior pirates lead adventurous lives through their reading. Their own (comparatively tame) stories are told on her blog, my thoughts exactly.