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If You Like...Pirates

Arrrrrrre you a fan of pirates? We are! Pirates are some of the funniest, silliest, and sometimes most fearsome characters. These picture books feature pirates with hilarious, heartfelt, and memorable moments.

The Grumpy Pirate
Written by Croinne Demas and Artemis Roehrig
Illustrated by Ashlyn Anstee
New York: Orchard Books, 2020. Picture Book.

Pirates tend to be jolly, albeit sometimes scary, people, so "Grumpy Gus" doesn't exactly fit in with his crew. He complains about every single little thing, and the other pirates are sick of it. The Pirate Queen decides to give Grumpy Gus a gift...an equally grumpy parrot. Gus begins to realize that if he wants the pirate to have a better attitude, he needs to have one as well.

Written by Barbara Davis-Pyles
Illustrated by Justin Hillgrove
Seattle: Little Bigfoot, an imprint of Sasquatch books, 2020. Picture Book.

Cliff is not a very good troll, and after he fails in troll school, he decides to follow his dreams and learn how to be a pirate. He joins a pirate school, but being a pirate is hard work. Cliff finds himself again wondering if he's doing a good job, but he realizes that the things that made him a failed troll make him a fantastic pirate. 

Pirate Stew
Written by Neil Gaiman
Illustrated by Chris Riddell
New York: Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2020. Picture Book.

What's in a pirate stew? And can it truly make you a pirate? When Long John McRon finds himself in charge of babysitting a brother and sister duo, he and his crew decide to make pirate stew. As they make the stew, the beginning ingredients seem normal, but they continue to get more outrageous as the book goes on. A hilarious book for pirate lovers who wish they were one. 

Bubble Sea
Written by Danielle Marietta
Illustrated by Masha Klot
Chantilly, VA: Books & Things Publishing, 2023. Picture Book.

Have you ever wanted to be a pirate? Jump into the bathtub like the stinky pirate in this book, and create your own swashbuckling adventure! With the help of his cat, a bathtub, and a whole lot of imagination, a little boy turns his bath time into an amazing pirate voyage. With adorable pictures and rhyming text, this is a perfect book to encourage bath time, imagination, and pirate behavior. 

Pirate and Penguin
Written by Mike Allegra
Illustrated by Jenn Harney
Salem, MA: Page Street Kids, 2023. Picture Book.

When a pirate searching for his parrot sidekick mistakenly adopts a penguin instead, chaos and hilarity ensues. After all, a parrot and a penguin aren't that different, right? The pirate paints the penguin, and in a hilarious ensemble of illustrated pictures, attempts to find a place for the penguin to perch on his body. Despite the penguin not being a parrot, it wiggles its way into the pirate's, and the reader's, heart. 

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