Pirate Pete
Ages 5-8. Gold puts the twinkle in Pirate Pete's eye, and where there's gold, he's a-goin'. After stealing a treasure map from the queen, Pete and his parrot set sail for Mermaid Island. Unfortunately, they are sidetracked by the possibilities of gold elsewhere. Nothing pans out until a baby dragon, hatched from the golden egg Pete steals from Dragon Island, sets the ship afire, causing it to sink conveniently near Mermaid Island. It's there Pete finally finds a treasure--only to be caught by the angry queen, who seizes the booty and leaves Pete and his parrot marooned. Lucky for Pete and Parrot, she forgets to take the rowboat, which Pete points toward the sunset, "where the ocean glistened like a thousand coins of gold." The appealing, richly colored, cartoonlike paintings have a robust, sculpted look, derived from Kennedy's use of clay models that allowed him to visualize the characters and their movements. Particularly inventive is the first view of each stop along the journey, which is presented in a circular illustration set against a black background, as if seen through a telescope.Julie CumminsCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved