Stories of Pirates

Russell Punter (author)

Christyan Fox (Illustrations)

Usborne Publishing, UK: 2003; 48pp

ISBN: 0746057717

Genres: adventure, fantasy

These three short-stories about pirates are delightfully quirky, with unconventional characters and unexpected endings.

Charlie Crossbones has been to Pirate School for ten years and is now looking forward to starting his career, after he has acquired an appropriate bird for his shoulder. But what is a pirate to do when his parrot seems determined to make life as difficult as possible?

Molly is kidnapped on her way to sell some of her father's things to raise money to buy food. When the pirate ship is caught in mist she offers to steer them safely through the unknown waters in exchange for her life. Pirates are a dishonest bunch, however - will Molly ever escape?

Sam the Cabin Boy really wants to become ‘one of the crew' - but his good intentions keep going badly wrong. When the ship's treasure is stolen he is given one last chance by the captain. Can he identify the Masked Pirate who stole it from them?

Brightly coloured, comic-book-style illustrations create an appealing layout. The speech bubbles attached to various characters are integral to the text, as they carry dialogue and meaning that is necessary to plot. This technique makes the story collection particularly appealing to reluctant or beginning readers.

Fun to read.