Customer Reviews

Everything I Know About Pirates

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Everything I Know About Pirates is one terrific book that your kids will be fighting over. Tom Lichtenheld asks and answers many of those age old questions that we've always wondered about. For instance, you can find out about pirate clothes and accessories, pirate ships and pirate maps; why pirates look mean, smell bad and walk the plank...and this is just the start. And the text is complimented by wonderful, busy illustrations that everyone will love. There's even a name chart to help you pick your own pirate name and a handy glossary to explain pirate words and terms. A rip roarin' time for the whole family. This book is a must for all home libraries.

A couple years back I suffered an eye injury, and as a result I had to wear a drugstore-issue eye patch for a while. Now, when you're wearing an eye patch you find yourself answering a lot of questions. Understandably, I began to pepper my answers with words like "Aaaaaarrrggh" and "Matey."

So when Tom Lichtenheld's book "Everything I Know About Pirates" came out, I had to look into it - if only to pick up some tips about my new high-seas alter ego. I picked up a lot more than I'd bargained for.

Lichtenheld has produced a children's book predicated on the gleeful acknowledgement that he knows absolutely nothing about the subject at hand: pirates. But he forges ahead fearlessly with preposterous explanations of who the pirates are and what makes them tick. It's dopey, smart, hilarious stuff - that rare brand of humor that manages to make rather profound sense by throwing logic out the door. The brand of humor that's been proven effective at turning kids into masses of laughing jelly. The brand of humor that a lot of us grown-ups would do well to get back in touch with.

Lichtenheld not only wrote the book; he illustrated it, too. And the drawings are every bit the equal of the writing. Detailed, witty, filled with hidden jokes that reward repeated readings, they make "Pirates" a delight even for kids so young they wouldn't know a printed word from a soiled diaper.

In sum, "Everything I Know About Pirates" is like a mom or dad who can spin funny, wonderful bedime stories out of thin air, time after time. In other words, a rarity. If you have kids, you and they will both love it. If you don't have kids...well, this book might make you want to.

A great book. My kids LOVED it.

They were HOWLING. In fact, while I was reading it to my 7 and 5 year old boys, my wife came in to see what they were laughing so hard about.

The boys also played pirates the next day. And the next day. And the whole week.

Overall, it is a very witty, well-written and well-drawn book that parents will enjoy even more than their kids.

Heck, even pirates would enjoy it. If they could take a few minutes away from plundering to bother reading it.

I haven't read this book, but my 5-yr-old grandson, Ryan Shaffer of Houston, Texas, has and he said in a phone call: "This is my favorite book ever." Sounds like a pretty good endorsement to me!

Carol Shaffer

How do pirates get their eyes poked out so they have to wear eyepatches? While they're swimming, a clumsy swordfish comes along and pokes him in the eye! If you liked that, you'll love the book Everything I Know About Pirates. It can answer just about every question you have and is guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. Can't wait for the author's next book.

As a 45 year old Kindergarten teacher, I picked this book up over summer and had tears in my eyes I was laughing so hard! Lichtenheld's pictures are comical, too. I hope he writes many more "everything I know about..." books. I hope to have my students write 'everything I know' essays.

If all looking for is a few laughs, this book is worth reading.

However, I have a big problem with this kind of book for kids, and we are seeing more and more of this. Anyone who has kids knows that they usually take things at face value. If an adult or a book tells them something, they believe it.

This book is full of mis-information and jokes that only an adult or a young adult would understand. Younger children will be utterly perplexed by the information presented here.

More and more, I see so-called "children's" books that are marketed towards the ADULTS who read to their children (Hey, it's the adults who are shelling out the money, why not market to the adults?). The kids won't get the jokes. But at least the adults can be entertained while reading to their kids. This mentality is an insult to the child's intelligence. It assumes that the kids can't really process the real facts - that they wouldn't understand the truth.

If your child has a genuine interest in pirates, this book will only confuse them with information about pirates that is outright wrong. It is ANTI-educational.

Although this book may seem humorous to adults and some children, I will NOT be reading it to my students. I thought this book would be a cool way to talk about something fun in studying the oceans, however, I am working completely with students living in poverty. In reading through the text I found a lot of the things Mr. Lichtenheld describes about the lives of pirates are actually applicable to the lives of people living in poverty (lack of showering, fighting, stealing, beat up clothing). Not in are a lot of the things applicable to their lives, but Lichtenheld also puts a humorous spin on these things, maybe making a child feel bad about his pair of shoes that have a hole in the toe (because he certainly knows he is not a pirate and that the hole is not there to "prevent toe crud") or making them think its cool/funny to get into a fight. Anyway, it may work for some kids/teachers, but I will not be using it with the students I am working with and wanted to give a heads up to teachers in the same situation.

I hope this is just the first in a long line of work from Tom Lichtenheld. I haven't had this much fun searching the corners of the page since Tomi Ungerer's, BEAST OF MONSIEUR RACINE. Wit, charm, wisdom and humor exude from every nook and cranny. Every page has discoveries to share; which, in my opinion, is the hall mark of great children's literature. I collect children's books. I like them because they stimulate playful thinking. Few do it at a level that evokes the lighthearted joy of feeling like a kid again. This one does. EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT PIRATES is a peek into one of the freshest, most playful new brains in children's literature. I rate it five skull and crossbones and a yo ho ho.

My 6 year old son thinks this book is wonderful. I recommend it for boys aged 5-9.