Best Pirate written by Kari-Lynn Winters and illustrated by Dean Griffiths
This picture book, to be released at the end of the summer, continues with the characters introduced by Winters and Griffiths in the earlier Bad Pirate and Good Pirate books.
In this story, there are two pirate ships converging on Crossbones Island, both after treasure supposed hidden there. We first see the dog pirates, led by Barnacle Garrick. Augusta is Barnacle's daughter, and he aims to see her learn from one of his best crew members, Scully. Augusta tries very hard, but when an accident incapacitates Scully, she is determined to mend matters by going alone to the island to find the treasure.
In her search for the treasure, she finds that she isn't alone in her search. Scuppers, the son of the cat pirate ship's Captain Fishmonger, is also on the hunt for doubloons. When they end up in a fix together, Augusta tries to put the skills she learned to work, and find an innovative way out. With teamwork, they both make it to safety, and with treasure in hand return to their ships.
There is lots of lovely pirate language, and the end papers help define a lot of these for enchanted readers. The illustrations are wonderful, showing emotions and lovely details. The dogs are a variety of breeds, easily identifiable, and the cats range in type while still being entirely cats. And I love that the story shows how working together pays off.
Both author and illustrator are Canadian and known internationally for their great work. I'd already read and loved Kari-Lynn's Hungry for Math poetry book, and loved Dean's illustrations in the children's novel The Stowaways. It's great to see them come together in this series.
Thanks to Pajama Press for providing me with a pre-publication copy.
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