Pirates Don't Change Diapers

Jeremy Jacobs is babysitting for his sister when his pirate friends come knocking at the door. They need his help. The sequel to HOW I BECAME A PIRATE is equally entertaining for young children, who love the repetition of the pirate chorus as they imagine the pirates bumbling into each other. Johnny Heller reads with a wonderful rocking gait while maintaining the basic rhythm and rhyme of the story. The competent tone he gives Jeremy's voice is also just right as Jeremy tries to stay in charge and keep sister Bonnie Ann from caterwauling. Although the pirate chorus could be bolder and more emphatic, Heller's Captain Braid Beard is delightful, with his hearty "aye!" and his perfectly rolled "r's." Although almost farcical for adults, kids love these books! W.L.S. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

January 1, 2007
Plucky young Jeremy Jacob is reunited with Captain Braid Beard and his crew of daft, dentally challenged buccaneers in a follow-up to the bestselling How I Became a Pirate
. This time, Jeremy clearly has the upper hand: he won't let the pirates dig up the treasure they buried in his backyard at the end of the previous book until they help him placate his cranky baby sister, Bonney Anne (pirate aficionados will note that her name is a nod to real-life female pirate Anne Bonny). The story unfolds rather predictably—but just as entertainingly as the original: the pirates turn out to be washouts as nannies, jokes fly about dirty diapers and strained spinach, and, of course, "the wee lass" Bonney Anne ends up being the key to recovering the treasure. But Long's piratical dialogue still delivers a juicy read-aloud: what reader of any age won't relish the opportunity to say "Aargh!" or declare "Rock on!" as the crew does in unison when Braid Beard orders them to rock Bonney Anne to sleep? And Shannon's voluptuously colorful and comic paintings runneth over with comic mayhem, sly details (somehow, the pirates manage to find a pirate show on Jeremy's TV) and no end of goofy expressions. Ages 3-7.