Pirate Treasure [Hardcover]

Loretta Krupinski (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: K and up

When a gale wind drives the pirate ship Daisy upriver, Captain Oliver and his first mate, Rosie, decide to settle in the small village of Mousam and live as farmers.They soon discover that learning how to grow grain is easy compared to trying to make friends, especially with their pirate reputations. Then a sudden storm comes up, and the captain’s talent for sailing and his uncanny ability to predict the weather help to uncover the greatest treasure of all for both the captain and the villagers of Mousam.

Loretta Krupinski’s wonderfully satisfying picture book about community, self-reliance, and friendship is rich with detailed gouache paintings that also illustrate the weather sayings woven throughout.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3–Captain Oliver, weather-wise pirate mouse, and his agreeable wife, Rosie, are blown off course and must scuttle their plans to steal grain. When they decide to drop anchor and grow their own, the nearby villagers are concerned about the pirates proximity. When another storm blows in, the ship saves the tiny villagers from certain death, and the newcomers become friends with the locals. Krupinskis city mouse/country mouse story is brought to life via paintings rich in detail and color, with charmingly dressed mice as the main characters. However, there is an agricultural problem with the illustrations: on one page, the text says the mice are trying to keep crows and rabbits out of their corn, but they are shown in a field of mature wheat. Still, this gentle story of community and friendship, combined with Olivers weather folklore, will find an audience.–Angela J. Reynolds, Annapolis Valley Regional Library, Bridgetown, NS, Canada
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 2. When the pirate ship Daisy is caught in a furious storm and blown upriver, Captain Oliver and First Mate Rosie, who happen to be mice, scuttle plans to raid warehouses for grain in favor of planting their fortune: "We can grow our own corn and grain." They settle in the small village of Mousam, where Captain Oliver trades his sash and plumed tricorn chapeau for overalls and a straw hat. When another storm threatens to drown all of Mousam, Captain and Rosie rescue all the mice, discovering that real treasure isn't gold or grain but friends. Seven weather adages are cleverly worked into the narrative ("No weather is ill if the wind be still"), and witty, meticulously rendered gouache illustrations, surrounded by nautical-themed borders, animate the fetchingly attired mice, showing every tiny detail of their fur. Captain and Rosie are adorable mouse pirates, who turn the tide by using their seafaring skills to help others. A list of weather proverbs concludes. The artwork here is an absolute delight. Julie Cummins
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (April 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525475796
• ISBN-13: 978-0525475798
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,238,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A different kind of pirate adventure, June 12, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pirate Treasure (Hardcover)

Shiver me timbers! It's a different kind of pirate adventure when you substitute cute mice for humans in Loretta Krupinski's Pirate Treasure, telling of mice whose pirate ship has been driven upriver by a storm. Captain Oliver and first mate Rosie decide to settle down as farmers - but their troubles growing grain and making friends comes from bad reputations as pirates - until a storm comes up and Captain Oliver's expertise might save the day.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pirates, Weather and helping out in a storm!, January 7, 2007

By 

William Fleck "Rod Fleck" (Forks, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pirate Treasure (Hardcover)

This is a great book for kids. The pirates, two adorable mice, find themselves taking cover with their ship in-land, where the small mouse village hasn't seen the likes of these two before. Throughout the book are references to "weather sayings" that kids may have heard but not really understood what was being said - red at night sailor's delight, etc. Krupinski's illustrations are absolutely wonderful. This is a fun book that gets read aloud over and over in our Northwest home.