How I Became a Pirate :: Education by Design Store

Editorial Review
Young Jeremy Jacob is plucked from obscurity while innocently constructing a sand castle and is thrust into a brand-new life as a pirate. Captain Braid Beard and his crew recognize Jeremy as an exceptionally talented digger and they happen to be in desperate need of a digger to help them bury a treasure chest. Jeremy thinks a pirate life sounds like fun, as long as he's back the next day in time for soccer practice, and so he goes along with the ragtag group of seafaring thugs (with hearts of gold, naturally). And while Jeremy adores the pirates' lack of table manners and opposition to vegetables, he comes to realize that a life away from his parents lacks some of the niceties to which he's become accustomed. Nobody tucks him in at night, for instance, and the only book available to read is a treasure map. Melinda Long's story, narrated with a sense of boastful exaggeration by Jeremy, is full of a sense of high adventure that's lovingly evocative of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tales. David Shannon's illustrations, full of a goofy vibrancy, are a perfect accompaniment to the story. (Ages 4 to 8) --John Moe
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Customer Reviews

Fantastic!

2008-04-26
This book has a wonderful story and beautiful pictures to go with it. This is a fun book for people of all ages.

Wonderful picture book with a cute story

2008-01-13
It takes me a long time to find good picture books for my kids. This is a great one, especially if your kids are into pirates. Beautiful pictures and a cute story.

Cool Adventure for Pre-Schoolers

2007-12-29
My [...] absolutely loves reading this book with her dad every night! My daughter loves learning pirate language and the idea of burying treasure in the back yard. She also wants to brush her teeth because she doesn't want to have green teeth like the pirates. Great book to read together!! I highly recommend it to pre-schoolers!

must have!

2007-12-26
This book is a must have in your collection of childerens books! Of course the illustrations by David Shannon are amazing. Illustrations that are colorful and creative but beautiful for adults to enjoy also. The story, even though about pirates is wonderful for any gender or age range. The story is funny but also gives the reality of what would happen if you lived with pirates, and how much you would miss the little things your parents do for you. One of my two daughters, 4&5, and my favorite books. I give this book out as a gift as often as possible!

Arrrggh

2007-11-28
I always wanted to be a pirate, and if your kid wants to be, they will love this book.

Author of "Hobo Finds A Home"

How I Became a Pirate

2007-11-10
Young Jeremy Jacob is plucked from obscurity while innocently constructing a sand castle and is thrust into a brand-new life as a pirate. Captain Braid Beard and his crew recognize Jeremy as an exceptionally talented digger and they happen to be in desperate need of a digger to help them bury a treasure chest. Jeremy thinks a pirate life sounds like fun, as long as he's back the next day in time for soccer practice, and so he goes along with the ragtag group of seafaring thugs (with hearts of gold, naturally). And while Jeremy adores the pirates' lack of table manners and opposition to vegetables, he comes to realize that a life away from his parents lacks some of the niceties to which he's become accustomed. Nobody tucks him in at night, for instance, and the only book available to read is a treasure map. Melinda Long's story, narrated with a sense of boastful exaggeration by Jeremy, is full of a sense of high adventure that's lovingly evocative of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tales. David Shannon's illustrations, full of a goofy vibrancy, are a perfect accompaniment to the story. (Ages 4 to 8) --John Moe

Aye Matey! This book finally got my son to want to read a book!

2007-10-29
I love pirate talk and this book has a lot of it. But it's the perfect kind of pirate talk for young children. They don't talk about drinking rum, fighting bandits or stealing from other ships ... it talks about pillow fights, staying up late and burying treasure!

Sweet, little Jeremy Jacob spies a pirate ship while making a sand castle and goes on board to help them find a place to bury their treasure (arrrgh matey). He soon learns that the life of a pirate is the life to lead! You don't have to eat your veggies, no manners to be had and you get to stay up really late! But then he learns the down side to being a pirate and that is not being able to play soccer and being away from his family - especially at night when he's trying to find a place to sleep.

This is a very cute book and it's very well-done. The illustrations are really great and sparked other conversations. I wished that I would have had this book when I was younger. My siblings and I would have LOVED this!! But instead my children do and that's just as great.

Great illustrations and totally entertaining story

2007-09-27
I bought this for my 3 1/2 year old grandson and he loved it. Whenever Grammy comes to visit I try to have scoured Amazon.com for what look like the best children's books and as he had loved David Shannon's books I bought this one as I knew the illustrations would be colorful. It is a fun story but the best part, it lends itself so well to playing imaginatively. Immediately after reading it, we went outside and I played cartographer helping my grandson draw our own treasure map with instructions how to get to the tree in his backyard where we buried a seashell. He was so excited to show his Mommy and his baby brother how well the map worked and where our treasure was buried. Great little story and we read it several times over the next few days...always noticing something else in the pictures we hadn't seen before and then making up our own stories about what we saw. So I bought "Pirates Don't Change Diapers" also and pirate tattoos to continue the saga. Lots of scope for the imagination here!

Great Pirate Book

2007-09-19
My boys have two books from this collection and LOVE them both! Great photos and funny story.

great fun

2007-07-15
Jeremy, probably feeling a little neglected on the beach, goes off with a band of pirates. He feels his parents won't mind as as long as he is back in time for soccer practice the next day. Initially, he finds this adventure to be exciting, liberating and great fun. Soon he realizes a pirate's life is not exactly ideal. There's no tucking in, no books, and no goodnight kisses! Of course, a storm must swoop down on the ship and the treasure is in peril. Jeremy has the ideal solution, which you'll love. This is a truly fun book for children ages 4-9. My students really enjoy this as a read aloud and then being able to revisit it on their own.