Pirate, Viking, & Scientist

by Jared Chapman

Little, Brown & Co, 2014

Picture book

Scientist has a problem. He is friends with both Pirate and Viking, but they are not friends with each other, not even on Scientist’s birthday. Birthday cake ends up smashed in each other’s faces and party games lead to sabotage. Determined to find a solution, Scientist conducts experiments to bring these two ruffians together.

The story is fun, silly, and over-the-top, and the illustrations likewise are full of comic book-like pows and bangs and exaggerated cartoony brawling that will have kids giggling. With only a sentence or two on each page, the story flows quickly and is very accessible to young children, but still manages to introduce the basics of the scientific method and include some fun vocabulary words.

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