August 1, 2018
A bold, black-bearded pirate gets dressed for the day, describing each item of his pirate garb by color in rollicking, rhyming text.Jack the pirate awakens at 6 sharp wearing his gray long johns, which serve as both pajamas and the first layer of his costume. He adds a black eye patch (though he appears to have two intact eyeballs), gold earrings, a silver prosthetic hook on one hand, and clothes of many colors on following pages. His outfit includes a brown boot on one leg and a wooden peg on the other. Pirate Jack, who has golden-tan skin, meets his racially diverse "motley crew," which includes two women pirates. One of the women has a peg leg and the other has a prosthetic hook. As with most children's books with a pirate theme, these piratical tropes disregard concerns about disability awareness and sensitivity. The rhyming text is spunky and humorous, filled with familiar pirate lingo such as "matey," "aye, aye," and "me" and "ye" for "my" and "you." Computer-generated illustrations use bright, saturated colors and an oversized landscape format with double-page spreads that provide lots of room for amusing details in Jack's well-furnished stateroom aboard ship. A tiny mouse character with a teeny-tiny eye patch is hidden somewhere within each spread. Yer pirate-lovin' tender-aged readers will give Pirate Jack a thumbs-up, but they won't find many surprises, and disability advocates will find the same old, same old. (Picture book. 3-6)
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January 1, 2019
Jack the pirate gets dressed in this rhyming tale featuring colorful Photoshop illustrations. On each spread Jack dons another item of clothing ("What else? Egads, me toes be cold! / Thick socks o' pink are warm, I'm told") until he's fully dressed and ready to "join me motley crew!" It's a clever twist on two tried-and-true topics, making it a must-have for preschool collections.
(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)