Customer Reviews

Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor

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Captain Slaughterboard was a mean and ferocious pirate who made hundreds of men walk the plank, and along with his nasty crew, Billy Bottle, Jonas Joints, Timothy Twitch, Charlie Choke, and Peter Poop, the cook with a cork nose, he traveled the oceans looking for battles and adventure. Then one morning, while looking through his telescope, he spied a beautiful pink island inhabited by "preposterous creatures." Once he and his crew had landed, they captured the "Yellow Creature", and took him back to their ship. And that, as they say, was the beginning of a beautiful and unusual friendship..... Though Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor was originally published in 1939, it's as fresh and entertaining today, as it was over sixty years ago. Mervyn Peake's magical and whimsical text transports children to a pirate ship on the high seas for a once in a lifetime adventure. But it's Mr Peake's amazingly detailed illustrations, full of imaginative and engaging characters, that really makes this picture book stand out. Together, word and art create a timeless masterpiece. Perfect for youngsters 5 and older, Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor is a wonderful read-aloud classic the entire family can enjoy, and a treasure to share with friends and pass on to future generations.

From cover to the last page I found that my 6 year old friend could not put this book down. The illustrations will make adults long for quality books for our children. The text though written in 1939 is fitting for todays adventure seeking youth and it is truely a book for the 4 to 8 or 4 to 80 age group.
Being a Master Captain, I had a natural likeness for such a seafaring book but the relationship and transformation that occurs in Captain Slaughterboard because of a warm little fruit eating creature found on a pink Island is a lesson for land lubbers and cattle ranchers as well as those with seafaring interests. I had to buy a copy for my own collection. The illustrations of this book are pure art and nothing less.
You have to buy this 1939 classic no matter what age you are and if you don't like it I will buy it.
Capt. Steve Olsen

Yo Ho! Your news about the reprinting of "Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor" sent me searching my shelves for my tattered old copy. Out of the disgusting pirates, Charlie Choke (he was covered all over with dreadful drawings in blue ink) was my favorite. And a harder choice, the Plummet (underwater, he couldn't see anything happening but he could feel that it was) was my favorite creature. I think. This story of the capture of Yellow Creature and how it changes Captain Slaughterboard has been the first book I think of when I think of pirates. The black and white line drawings were too tempting for me as a child. I'm afraid I colored some of them (says the librarian, ashamed). And, as a creative teenager, I recreated the Plummet, the Hunchabil, and the Saggerdroop "with his meloncholy eyes as rich as topaz" with my needle and embroidery thread. This book should be on every child's shelf. See what creativity it can spark in them! For more excellent pirate stories try High Wind in Jamaica for older kids and Captain Abduls Pirate School for a great read aloud picture book.

This is one of the great picture books of the century, along with "Rotten Island" and "Where the Wild Things Are," and I'm thrilled to see this (and anything by the great Renaissance man Mervyn Peake) back in print.
This is particularly welcome as the only previous American edition was hindered by the addition of ugly rounded frames around the pictures and the splattering application of yellow over almost everything. And I believe most of the original British edition was lost when Nazis bombed the warehouse! Everyone should buy this beautiful, hilarious book while it's around.

My six year old son adores this book. The illustrations engage the mind beyond the text the way a good metaphor does, while remaining appropriate for this age. His imagination is clearly being lured by the illustrations so that he interacts with the possibilities of the story and the subtext of the illustrations in immediate ways. And of course it is funny, bizarre and poignant as well.

I am happy to recommend this book, which first I read when I was an exchange student in England in 1974. I am pleased that it has been re-issued; it is a treasure. Peake's verbal and visual wit are fused in this work, a children's book that was clearly written as much for his own enjoyment as for any children with whom he might have shared it. The eponymous Captain is as bloodthirsty a buccaneer as any child might wish to emulate, and his crusty crew as colorful as any pirate ship worth its salt could hope to have. His quest is an aesthetic one, for an elusive, beautiful beast (that's Peake all over). One may be tempted to read too much into the story; but still, an adult may appreciate it on several levels without losing the joy that a child might feel on first seeing it, in all its baroque splendor.

This is a wonderful story, especially for any child who is fascinated with pirates. The illustrations are very unique and there is so much to look at on each page. The one exception to the story is that some of the language and the meaning behind the phrases may be too harsh for some parent's liking (i.e., chopping people to bits, killing other pirates, etc.); however, if you simply changed the words/phrases as you read them like I do, you will be able to share a wonderful pirate adventure story with your child.