Shiver Me Timbers!: Pirate Poems & Paintings

Florian provides young pirate lovers with a profusion of arrrghs and ahoy mateys, enough to keep their piratephilia alive for a long time. Using stereotypical pirate-speak, each poem explores a familiar aspect of pirate lore and takes it to a new level of rhythm and rhyme, usually with a final line calculated to evoke a chuckle. In "Pirates Wear Patches," rhyming couplets list pirate clothing and accessories, from patches to puffy shirts to tricorne hats. The final stanza reads, "Pirates have parrots / And eat alligator. / Pirates shoot first / And then ask questions later." Sometimes the poems veer into the deliciously disgusting. "Pirates’ Meal" ends with the crowd-pleasing line, "Methinks that I will puke." Neubecker’s digitally colored India-ink illustrations play well with the light verse. While some of the images feature close-ups of faces, many of a pirate (or just his bloodshot eyes on a black background) staring directly at the reader, there is nothing to be afraid of here, and the reader knows that these poems are balanced between light gore and outright silliness. robin l. smith