Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
What If You Met A Pirate?
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 6 to 9
Roaring Brook Press, 2004 ISBN: 978-1596430075
Many of us have a very colorful image of what a pirate must have been like. They wore flamboyant clothes, had a parrot sitting on their shoulder, usually only had one leg, and were armed to the teeth. This is a wonderful image to imagine when you are playing at pirates at the bottom of the garden but real pirates weren?t really like this. They were, in fact, sailors. Most of the time they had to take care of their ship raising sails, scrubbing decks, and doing any number of normal everyday sort of jobs. Every so often a pirate would be called on to attack a ship, but it was not something that happened all the time.
Pirates were really nothing more than thieves at sea who worked for themselves or for others. They were often dirty, ill-fed, and injuries were not uncommon, for being a sailor was a dangerous profession. Many were sailors who had once been in the navy and who had run away from that miserable life. As pirates they had more control over their lives and were not subjected to the cruel punishments that the navy was famous for.
In this excellent book, many pirate myths and fables are laid to rest but that does not mean that pirates come out looking boring. Far from it. Readers discover that they had a fascinating history, that they lived in interesting times, and that many of their number were very colorful characters indeed. If you have ever wondered how pirates attacked their quarry, how they sailed their ships, what they did all day, and how they lives their lives, then this is the book for you. Packed with facts and filled with colorful annotated illustrations, this book is a must for young pirate fans
