UKMG Extravaganza Blog Tour: My Magnificent Seven Pirates by Huw Powell (author of Spacejackers)

Ahoy there, space shipmates!

I’m so excited to be taking part in the UKMG Extravaganza in Nottingham Central Library on 17^th October with over 30 top MG (Middle Grade) authors.

In the build up to this event, I was asked to write a guest post for the brilliant Book Zone. I’m a huge fan of MG novels and have previously blogged about how this category has produced some of the best books ever written, which is why I think MG should stand for ‘Magic Gateway’ (as there is nothing ‘middle’ about these books).

As it was International Talk Like a Pirate Day last week, I’ve decided to do something a bit different for this blog and share my ‘Magnificent Seven’ pirates from children’s literature. There are plenty of great characters to choose from, but here are some of my favourites:

·      Dread Pirate Roberts – this pirate captain from The Princess Bride is feared across the seven seas for his ruthless nature and sword fighting skills. His reputation precedes him and everyone fears him, but how much of it is true and how much is just clever PR?

·      Nancy Kington – in the novel Pirates! the character of Nancy has her comfortable English life turned upside when she’s shipped out to the West Indies. Nancy and her slave friend, Minerva Sharp, become fugitives and they are forced into a swashbuckling life of piracy.

·      Cheng Li – the Vampirates novels are packed with wonderfully dark characters, however one of my favourites is Cheng Li, who serves aboard the pirate ship, The Diablo. Cheng Li is the daughter of a famous pirate captain and she has to work hard to build her own reputation.

·      Jack Havock – this plucky pirate is only fifteen years old and the captain of a non-human pirate crew in the enchanting Victorian space adventure Larklight. Jack rescues Arthur (Art) Mumby and his sister Myrtle, before they embark on an adventure to save the universe.

·      James Turner – not strictly a pirate, but this unfriendly uncle is known as ‘Captain Flint’ in the novel Swallows and Amazons. At first, James Turner is moody and withdrawn, but is reminded how to have fun by two families of children and he ends up walking the plank.  

·      Captain Hook – few pirates are as bitter or flamboyant as the notorious Captain James Hook from Peter Pan. In addition to his elaborate clothes and wide-brimmed hat, he wears an iron hook to replace the hand that was severed by Peter Pan and eaten by a crocodile.

·      Long John Silver – no list of fictional pirates would be complete without mentioning this colourful quartermaster from Treasure Island. Long John Silver is a complex character, whose courage and cunning help him to overcome his physical disadvantages, while his moral ambiguity and sense of survival make him difficult to predict. Arrr, Jim lad!

~~~

Huge thanks to Huw for this wonderful list of fabulous literary pirates. If you've not yet discovered Spacejackers and its sequel The Lost Sword then you are in for a treat - it's pirates in space. What more could you ask for?

As for the UKMG Extravaganza, you can find out more about this awesome sounding event (and it's sister event, the UKYA Extravaganza) over at its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ukyax 

The blog tour continues tomorrow at Matt Ralphs' YouTube channel and then on through the rest of September and well into October. Full details below:

 

Review: The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones by Will Mabbitt

When Mabel Jones unknowingly commits “The Deed” she finds herself swiftly bundled into a sack by one Omynus Hussh – a dastardly silent loris and the chief child-bagger on board the pirate ship the Feroshus Maggot.

Crewed by the strangest bunch of pirates you would ever want to meet and captained by the dreaded Idryss Ebeneezer Split (a wolf with a false leg carved from a human thighbone, a rusty cutlass sheathed in his belt and a loaded pistol tucked in his pants with no fear of the consequences), the Feroshus Maggot whisks Mabel Jones off on the adventure of a lifetime.

This book carries an incredibly important message that all readers, young or old, should heed or face the appalling consequences: if you are in the habit of picking your nose, it would be wise to pick and flick or pick and wipe, but never, ever pick and eat. Unfortunately for young Mabel Jones, she elected to eat the fruits of her nose-picking labours, and as such commits "The Deed". And if you are observed doing "The Deed" by the piratical crew of the Feroshus Maggot then like Mabel, you will find yourself press-ganged, and spirited away to a strange world by the super-silent-stealthy (and we're talking ninja assassin style super-silent-stealthy here) and wonderfully appropriately named loris, Omynus Hussh.

So begins a laugh-out-loud, swashbuckling fantasy adventure, with boisterous and irascible animal pirates, and a gutsy, fiery heroine, albeit a pyjama clad one (but it's ok, as she gets to wear a belt and carry a cutlass, rather than have a leg amputated in order to look more pirate-like). It's also really rather silly, not quite in a Mr Gum way silly, but certainly not far off at times. In fact, if Spike Milligan was alive and well and writing for 21st Century children then there's a damn good chance that this is the kind of brilliant, pants-wettingly funny story he would be producing.

The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones is writer Will Mabbitt's debut book for children, and if it is anything to go by then Mabbitt is certainly one to watch. His writing voice is as infectious as it is off-the-wall bonkers, making the book perfect read-out-loud-to-children material (especially if you can 'do the voices'). There is also just the right level of yuk and gross-out for 8-11 year olds, so have the masking tape and staple gun ready for when their sides start splitting with laughter.

You only need half a brain to realise these days that books like this for this age group are made even better with high quality illustrations to add to the comedy, and those good people at Penguin Children's Books obviously have the requisite 50%+. As well as the brilliant writing of Will Mabbitt, The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones features the wonderfully awesome illustrations of Ross Collins, which bring Mabbitt's colourful characters to life in a style that is somewhere between Tazzyman's crazy energy and Riddell's rich detail. Mention should also go to Mandy Norman for her dynamic, attention-grabbing text design.

The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones is due to be released on 4th June. I believe there is a second adventure planned for Mabel, although I do not know when this will be published, I really hope that we will see more adventures beyond this sequel. I believe there is also an audio book version of The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones in the offing, narrated by the hugely talented Toby Jones (the voice of Dobby in the Harry Potter films, but also an incredibly talented British comedic actor). I've included a trailer below as a taster - this could be one book that needs to be bought in paper-form and in audio form.

My thanks go to the fab people at Penguin Children's Books for sending me a copy.

Review: The Pirates of Pangaea by Daniel Hartwell and Neill Cameron

The year is 1717. The newly discovered island of Pangaea is the most dangerous place on Earth, where dinosaurs still walk the land - Sophie Delacourt has been sent to Pangaea to stay with her uncle. But little does she know its perils - for Pangaea is a lawless wilderness, teeming with cut-throat pirates! Kidnapped and imprisoned, Sophie must escape from the ruthless Captain Brookes and embark upon an epic journey, to find her way home.

It's nothing more than simple maths where this book is concerned:

Yes, Daniel Hartwell (no relation) and Neill Cameron's brilliant The Pirates of Pangaea, first seen in The Phoenix comic has finally been given its first collected edition, courtesy of those wonderful people at David Fickling books. Seriously, if you have kids who love comics (or kids who you would love it if they loved comics) then The Pirates of Pangaea is a must-buy book. I was a weekly purchaser of The Phoenix in its early days (and I still would be if I had kids), and although I adored the zany and madcap work of the Etherington Brothers, my favourite part of the comic by far was Hartwell and Cameron's dinosaurs and pirates mash-up.

The story follows the adventures of Sophie Delacourt, who, following the death of her parents, has been sent to live with her uncle, the governor of the remote tropical island continent of Pangaea. What Sophie doesn't realise until the voyage is almost at its end, is that Pangaea is not like the other islands she has heard of as it is still home to many species of dinosaur. 

The interior of Pangaea consists of vast areas of long grass that hide deadly predators, much the same as a quite and serene ocean may hide a school (or is it a shiver?) of vicious killer sharks. In order to travel throughout the interior, ships arriving at the port are craned onto the backs of huge sauropods, which then proceed to transport said vessels across the land. However, as this is set in the early 18th Century, there have to be pirates a plenty as well (of course), and they lie in wait for passing vessels, ready to attack with their own sauropod-mounted ships. Poor Sophie has barely made landfall when her own ship is attacked by a bloodthirsty band of cutthroats, and she is the only survivor.

Sophie is not your typical demure and retiring 18th Century young lady - she is quick to leap into the fray and the incredible creatures that inhabit Pangaea do not faze her at all. In fact, she quickly discovers that she might have a gift similar to that of a horse whisperer, something that will come in very handy as she attempts to escape captivity.

Daniel Hartwell's exciting, dinosaur-laden, swash-buckling adventure story is perfectly complemented by Neill Cameron's stunning graphic work. Neill was the talent behind the brilliant and visually stunning Mo-Bot High, but in Pirates of the Pangaea he has taken his artwork to a new level. Everything about his art in this comic is right: the sprawling Pangaea landscapes; the details of the dinosaurs and their ships; the depictions of the characters (especially the evil pirates); and the great colour palette used throughout (just feast your eyes on the image below, a promo poster that Neill Cameron produced for the launch of the comic). 

The Pirates of Pangaea is due to be published by David Fickling books on 5th February and it is well worth every penny of the £8.99 cover price. My thanks got to the wonderful people at David Fickling Books for sending me a copy to read and review.

(Pirates of Pangaea, all images and concepts ©2011 Daniel Hartwell & Neill Cameron)

Review: Sam Silver - Undercover Pirate by Jan Burchett and Sara Vogler

Book 1: Skeleton Island

Sam Silver finds a gold doubloon which whisks him back in time to 1706. Suddenly he's on board a pirate ship - the Sea Wolf - with her fearsome captain and crew and sailing the Caribbean Sea. If Sam can't think of a very good reason why they should keep him alive, he'll be forced to walk the plank!

Book 2: The Ghost Ship

When Sam Silver and the crew of the Sea Wolf board a galleon looking for Spanish gold, they find it's already been stolen - by a ghost ship! Can our pirate heroes outwit a ghostly crew or is the treasure gone for ever?

Kids love pirates. Fact! Although I teach at secondary level many of my friends have kids in the 6-10 age range and nearly every one of them, boys and girls, is fascinated by pirates. Their parents tell me they are often getting non-fiction books about pirates out from the library, and they are always on the look out for pirate fiction. It is not an area I am expert on, although for the younger kids I have lost count how many time I have  recommended Jonny Duddle's The Pirate Cruncher and The Pirates Next Door to friends. Recently I received an email from the lovely people at Orion, asking if I would be interested in reading and reviewing the first books in their new pirate series, Sam Silver: Undercover Pirate, and I felt that it would be letting down my friends and their kids if I said no.

Sam Silver is like any typical boy. He lives in Backwater Bay, where his parents own a chip shop, and like many kids of his age he has a collection of found items. When he finds a bottle on the beach with a note rolled inside he assumes it to be a cry for help, and imagines the fame he would achieve if his discovery led to the rescue of a stranded person. However, on opening the bottle he finds a note written in 1705, and signed by Joseph Silver, Captain of the Sea Wolf. Excited at the thought he might be descended from a pirate, his elation is raised even further by the letters mention of  buried treasure. Also in the bottle is a gold doubloon, but when Sam shakes this out of the bottle it looks like just an old dull brown coin. On rubbing it though Sam  is given the surprise of his life as his world begins to spin, and when he lands again he finds himself back in 1706, on a genuine pirate ship, surrounded by genuine pirates.

Being a suspicious bunch the pirates are about to make Sam walk the plank because of his strange clothes and way of speaking, but his is saved by this fate as he stutters out his name, and the pirate captain proclaims him to the the grandson of Joseph Silver, a highly respected pirate who went missing a year earlier. So begin the piratical adventures of Sam Silver as he starts to win over the mistrusting pirates and they set of in search of the treasure mentioned in the letter.

Skeleton Island, and its equally enjoyable sequel The Ghost Ship, are perfect stories for pirate-fixated kids aged 6 and above. At about 140 pages each they are just the right length for children of this age, and they are littered with images that help fire young imaginations even further. Naturally, they wouldn't be proper pirate books if they didn't have maps printed in the front, and we all know how much kids love maps.

The stories are full of action and adventure, with Sam being thrown in at the deep end and having to evade rival bloodthirsty pirates, or navigate his way safely through Tortuga (anyone who knows anything about pirates has heard of Tortuga), whilst in between the action having to carry out his pirate duties like swabbing the deck and manning the crow's nest. With Sam being a 21st century boy sent back in time, this adds another layer of discussion for younger readers who will be able to relate to him very easily, and will probably daydream about what they would do if they were ever lucky enough to find a magic gold doubloon that sent them back in time.

Orion tell me there are more adventures planned for Sam Silver in the future, and there are currently a total of seven books listed over at Amazon, so if you have kids of this age I suggest you buckle your swashes, shiver your timbers and go out and get your hands on these first two adventures. Or you could come back here later this week and have the chance of winning one of three pairs of books that I will be giving away.

Review: The Pirate Cruncher by Jonny Duddle

One dark and stormy night, a salty old sea dog tells the tale of a mysterious island, bursting with pirate booty! Captain Purplebeard and his crew have already set sail by the time the cove mentions the hideous Pirate Cruncher who guards the gold…

I first came across Jonny Duddle's work through the incredible illustrations he has done for Barry Hutchison's Invisible Fiends books. His drawings of each of the Fiends sets the reader up with a perfect mental image before they even start reading the book. I have followed Jonny's blog for some time, but never had the chance to read any of his books until now. Thanks to the generous people at Templar I am now the grateful owner of this book, The Pirate Cruncher, and Jonny's latest offering, The Pirates Next Door (review to follow some time soon).

Jonny has already demonstrated to the world that he has a talent for drawing detailed characters through that Invisible Fiends work, but my first question was whether he would be able to bring these skills as effectively to a whole picture book. The answer is a resounding yes! In The Pirate Cruncher Jonny Duddle introduces us to a motley crew of fully detailed and beautifully rendered pirates, each with their very own character traits, making it the kind of picture book that young boys will love. This band of pirates is led by the avaricious Captain Purplebeard, a man who will becomes obsessed with the promise of a great treasure, and will not be swayed from his quest even when warned that a horrible sea monster may be waiting for him at the journey's end (a big old beast, who likes nothing more than a pirate feast).

This book is worth buying purely for the artwork (just wait until you get to the huge double fold-out page near the end!), but there is also a nice little tale accompanying these stunning illustrations. We first meet our pirate crew supping their ale in the Thirsty Parrot. Their carousing is interrupted by the song sung by a passing fiddler, who tells the tale of "an island of gold in the scurvy sea". As the sun rises the next morning the pirates have already embarked on their quest for the treasure, unaware that their greed as already set them on the path to their ultimate doom. Within this tale is also a subtle moral message regarding greed and how it can affect your judgement, and also blind you from the fact that you may be being manipulated (look very carefully at the mysterious fiddler).

The text of the story is largely written in rhyme, although this is not Mr Duddle's strongest attribute. Sometimes these rhymes scan very well, at other times the pattern of the rhyming changes and so some children may find this a little difficult to read for themselves. There are also some sections of text, notably that which appears in the thought bubbles of the various pirates, that do not fit with the rhyming sections and although they add to the various pirates' characters they can also tend to interrupt the flow of the story.  

Kids will probably get the most from this book when it is read by a parent. However, some parents may feel a little daunted at the thought of doing the different pirate voices in character. Have no fear, for the edition I received came complete with an audio CD featuring Jonny Duddle reading the story and himself changing voice for each different character, accompanied by various sound effects and some suitably piratical music. This is one picture book that is so stunning that it is going to remain in my own collection and not get passed on to my little nephew.... sorry James!