Customer Reviews

Archie and the Pirates

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This is a delightful book about an extremely resourceful monkey named Archie, who finds himself shipwrecked on an island, but goes on to find friends and defeat some nasty pirates -- every kid's dream. My preschooler kids love this book (though they find the pirates a tad disturbing -- probably because Daddy did the pirate "Aaargh!" a little too convincingly). I got on Amazon to try and find more Archie books, hoping there would be a string of them, but alas, this is the one and only! Please, Mr. Rosenthal, write and draw more of these charming Archie books!

I read this book to my 1st grade class to the first time (all of our first times) and they not only loved the book, but have been obsessing over the pictures and the story ever since.
Archie is a monkey who wakes up one day (his bed floats on the ocean) and discovers that he is stranded on a beach. He has a close encounter with a tiger (who befriends him), builds a clever tree-house (the many details of my students love to look at and discuss), and then meets a bird. Life is good and Archie is happy with his new home and friends. Then one morning he wakes up and discovers pirates! Pirates who have captured his friend the tiger. Springing into action, Archie and his bird friend devise a scheme (complete with elaborately drawn plans) to free the tiger and rid the island of the pirates.
The story is fun, exciting, with a hint of danger, and emphasizes the importance of friendship and rewards the idea of clever thinking throughout the tale. Archie looks quite similar to Curious George, but where George always gets into trouble before doing good, Archie lives a peaceful life and deals with the troubles that come his way.
Excellent illustrations, a detailed but not too elaborate story, and an all around good read for elementary students.

Archie lay on his bed in the middle of the ocean blue and in the distance an ocean liner sailed away. The little monkey was in dream land and he didn't awaken until his bed washed up one the shores of a "strange beach." The only things around him were a bunch of coconut trees and one lone crab who seemed to be as surprised to see Archie as Archie was surprised to find himself on the island. He sat on a rock and looked very sad, but was quickly startled when he heard a big ROAR. He quickly scampered up to the top of a coconut tree and saw a "dangerous-looking tiger" who had come "searching for a meal."

Later, when the scary tiger left, he began to build himself a fabulous tree house in the coconut grove. After he was done, he met Clarice, an ibis who had been watching him. Archie not only had a new tree house, he had a new friend. Beatrice, his next friend scared him half to death when she leapt at him. He thought he was a goner, but she unexpectedly gave him a "big wet kiss" instead of eating him up. Beatrice was that ferocious tiger and SLURP . . . he now had two friends! Life was good on the island until one day some nasty pirates came and captured and tortured Beatrice. "HAR . . . HAR . . . HAR!" Archie and Clarice were very scared and didn't quite know how to save her. Would Beatrice be taken away on the pirate ship to shores unknown or would they be able to hatch a plan and save her?

This is delightful adventure story that your imaginative youngster is going to want to pore over or have you read time and time again. Archie, of course reminded me of Curious George and could have been his peer in the adventure department. The unlikely band of friends and their island home are what childhood dreams are made of. The artwork is busy, colorful and detailed scenes such as the inside of Archie's home make this book lots of fun. I especially liked the ingenious bed that can be turned into a breakfast table. This shipwrecked monkey and crew are hit in my neck of the woods and are sure to be in yours!

I got this for my niece kaylie.
She sent me an email a few days ago and made sure to tell me how many times she had read it (13!) and how was she going to read it again after she finished writing me!
So, curiosity peaked, I read a copy at the bookstore today and can see why she liked it.
its a wonderful escape; an adventure. I think she totally got that.
was very impressed!!

We are a fan of Mr Rosenthal's other work, kids books, and drawings / cartoons in the New Yorker. So we were delighted to get this book, and even more delighted when we read it with our almost 7 year old, who has very strong opinions about "literature". He remains enthralled with this book, it's moved into the pantheon of frequently read or requested books. The story is lighthearted, but has some suspenseful moments...there's a bit of danger to be overcome, but not so much that a smaller child would be concerned.

Without giving too much away (after all part of the fun of reading a book with your kid is that the two of you discover it together), Archie, a thoughtful and playful monkey, has to figure out how to live in a new place, and how to deal with the challenges therein (including some pirates). How he does so, with the help of his new neighbors, is fun to find out.

The drawings are amazing; they reference, in a wonderful way, old kids books, you'll see elements of classics - Curious George, Tin-Tin, and Babar - not so much in homage or reliance upon, but as a visual name check; Mr Rosenthal's style is all his own, yet it is pleasing to realize the continuity with the greats. Let's face it, so many kids books are saccharinely drawn, and the plots equally annoying. This one, not at all, it should take it's place with those classics. And in the same way, it's one of those books that is helping to teach our kid to read; because he knows the story, but unlike other easy to read books, there's an interesting story, that is fresh time after time.

The book itself is also very well printed and nicely made, a rare thing lately. And it'd make a great gift should you have a bunch of 5 - 7 year olds to be purchasing gifts for!