No Bath, No Cake!: Polly's Pirate Party
The pirates aboard the Mary Anne are excited to receive Polly’s birthday party invitation, and they anticipate sweets and cake. But, according to bossy parrot Pete, they can’t go as they are. First, they must bathe, and then replace their ratty togs with “smart” clothes, which sends the crew to town for snazzier duds. And although the buccaneers brainstorm gift ideas—including a saber (“You can give someone a lovely poke in the bottom,” says Spoonbelly, demonstrating), a wooden leg, or a cannon—Pete vetoes all of them. He asserts that a doll is an appropriate gift, so it’s back to town they go. Finally, the pirates are ready, but at Polly’s they discover their efforts are resoundingly unappreciated, and Pete’s assumptions about the party are off the mark. This peppy take on out-of-their-comfort-zone pirates gets a boost from a lively text and color-washed, intricate cartoon line drawings. Some of the humor is edgy—Pete is left bound and gagged on the ship mast—and may draw slightly older kids, while the parrot-in-charge premise is amusing. A supplementary pirate picture-book addition. Grades K-3. --Shelle Rosenfeld