My Granny Is a Pirate

K-Gr 2—After swearing readers to secrecy, the narrator of this slight offering reveals his family secret. In uneven verse, he tells of his grandmother's cabin-girl origins, and how her fierce reputation grew until "every other pirate feared/she'd capture their ship too." Granny's typical piratical habits are detailed-making the crew swab the decks, walk the planks, etc. Then things get confusing, as the woman rows for shore, changes into her granny clothes in a dark cavern, and follows a secret passageway to a ruined castle. There, she runs into a band of marauding skeletons that are after her gold. Fortunately, she beats them into dust with her handbag, and the story ends happily. Several flaws combine to sink this book. The verse doesn't scan in some places, which makes the text read awkwardly. Additionally, there are verb inconsistencies that lead to confusion about the sequence of events. Finally, the muddy cartoon illustrations do little to enhance the lackluster text. There are several richer choices in the piratical picture-book world, including Melinda Long's How I Became a Pirate (2003) and Mem Fox's Tough Boris (1994, both Harcourt).—Rachael Vilmar, Eastern Shore Regional Library, Salisbury, MD