Pirate Pearl

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Captain Plunk is master of a rough-and-rowdy pirate ship. One day, he
and his crew spot a wooden object floating in the ocean. Certain they
have discovered a treasure chest, they joyfully haul the object on board
only to learn that their “treasure” is actually a wooden cradle
containing a baby named Pearl. In pirate tradition, they try to make
Pearl walk the plank, but she hasn’t learned to walk yet. The scurvy
seafarers realize that there is nothing left to do but to raise Pearl to
be a swashbuckler like themselves. And she grows up to be the greatest
pirate of them all. Pirate Pearl and her buccaneer uncles are the
scourge of the seven seas, until a chance meeting with Prince Basil
leads her to find out how she came to be floating in the ocean in the
first place.

This is yet another fine, high-spirited tale from award-winning
author/illustrator Phoebe Gilman. Both text and illustrations tug
playfully at the reader from every direction. Gilman likes to tease her
readers with familiar landmarks, such as Toronto’s Casa Loma, and she
even makes a cameo appearance herself in one of her illustrations.
Gilman also gently challenges readers to see beyond the obvious. Pirates
turn out to be kind. Princes turn out to be paupers. Girls turn out to
be as good as boys at having adventures. Pirate Pearl will entertain
readers of all ages. Highly recommended.