We read more than our fair share of books and this summer during Pirate Week for our at-home summer camp. We discovered a ton of super cool new books that Arrr a lot of fun to read. Here is a list of our new favorites!
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How to be a Pirate by Sue Fleiss( Little Golden Book)
A funny story that teaches kids how to talk, look and act like a pirate in a kid friendly rhyme (& your best pirate accent)!
Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC Book
The captain and his crew are on a mission to capture all the letters of the alphabet! This is a super fun way to search and learn letters of the alphabet.
Berenstain Bears Pirate Adventures by Mike Berenstain
This is a beginning reader book with simple text meant for kids who are beginning to read on their own. In this newer Berenstain book the cubs are using their imagination, being cubs and playing pirates.
Pirate Boy by Eve Bunting & Julie Fortenberry
A story about a boy, Danny & his mom. He imagines what it would be like to be a pirate and quickly realizes he might miss his mom too much. She reassures him that she’d come and get him no matter what pirate obstacles there were. A cute & simple story about a mother son bond.
Pirates Magnified by David Long
This is a wonderfully illustrated educational Pirate version of “Where’s Waldo”, complete with a magnifying kit. A must for any true pirate lover!
The Pirate of Kindergarten by George Ellalynon
Ginny has a medical condition that is causing her to see double and it’s making life pretty hard. To correct the problem she wears and eye patch and becomes the pirate of kindergarten!
Pirates Don’t Change Diapers by Melinda Lunt
This silly companion to How I Became a Pirate tells a tale of pirates who accidentally wakes up Jeremy’s little sister & now has to care for her and help calm her down.
A Year on a Pirate Ship by Elizabeth Hovercraft
Great book to learn more details about pirate life and enrich Pirate Dramatic Play. This book doesn’t literally show a calendar year but gives great details on what pirate life was like and even has a page on pirate women.
Dinosaur Pirates by Penny Dale
Best suited for a dinosaur lover, this Jurassic spin on pirates is a simple story. The text was not my favorite but my son didn’t mind it. He especially loves the illustration pages with single word descriptions of “pirate stuff”.
Good Night Pirate by Michelle Robinson & Nick East
How I became a Pirate by Melinda Long
Free on Kindle and Audible in this story Jeremy joins a captain and his crew and has amazing pirate adventures. He soon realizes pirate life may not be for him. This is a must for your home library!
The Pirates Next Door by Sue Fliess
The Jolley-Rogers (a pirate family) move to a small town near the sea. They have a young son who makes friends with a little girl. The neighborhood is pretty awful to the new family because they are different. There is a surprise twist at the end. Highly recommend this book even though it doesn’t “teach” directly about how pirates spoke & lived it offers a valuable lesson of it’s own.
Pirateology by Captain William Lubber and Dugald A Steve
I LOVE these types of books, even as an adult. They teach about taking your time to soak in the details and just reading for pleasure. So much time is spent on learning how to read that sometimes reading for fun is lost. This book has a lot of little treasures that makes opening a book exciting again! It may be suited for older children as these treasures do get lost or torn, unless supervised. I recommend this for your home collection but stored up high when not in use, until kids are old enough to care for it.
DK Eyewitenss Pirates by Richard Pratt
Best suited for older kids, Amazon suggests 8-12 years old but there are parts that (I think) are too graphic, even for that age group. Knowing this ahead of time this is a great (but graphic) reference book. In fact the Eyewitness books are all fantastic but sometimes are geared for a older audience.
Pirates in Pajamas by Caroline Crove
Adorable board book perfect for bedtime!
Captain La Plank the Perfect Pirate by Mr. Hilbert T. Gibbet
An silly tale with an important lesson about not being afraid to make mistakes.
Pete the Cat & the Treasure Map by James Dean
Pete the Cat is a household staple, or he is at least in our household! We love this series by James Dean & very appreciated Pete the Cat and the Treasure Map. This book is does have more words and not have the same cadence as other Pete the Cat books but it’s still a great read.
The Book of Pirates Howard Pyle
A Dover’s Children’s classic Howard Pyle’s accounts for tales of famous (and not so famous) pirates like The Ghost of Captain Brand, Tom Chist and the Treasure Box, Jack Ballister’s Fortunes, The Ruby of Kishmoor, and other exciting tales. This book may be best suited for children 6 and up due to the length in text and content.
That’s Not My Pirate by Fiona Wyatt
Great textures & simple repetition with this touch and feel board book!
Mabel and the Sock Pirates by Elvyn Tate
This is one for your home collection! A delightfully well written rhyming book that tells an unconventional pirate story. A cat named Mabel who must defend her home on the farm from Pirates! Such a great read again & again.
The Pirate Cruncher by Johnny Duddle
This book is most appropriate for die- hard pirate fans or kids 5 and up. Without spoiling too much of the story there is a “sea monster” and the ending isn’t happily ever after. That didn’t stop my son from loving it, he loved the surprise ending (on the flap).
Count with the Pirates 2-4 years by Laura Coleman
Super cute search & count book that is “self-correcting” (asks a question “can you find ___” and shows the answer on another page).
How to Train your Dragon: How to be a Pirate by Cressida Cowell
Great older sibling pirate book (maybe first grade and up, depending on their love for pirates, dragons and read alouds)!
Wind up Pirate Ship by Louie Stowell
This interactive book includes a wind-up toy ship that moves around the pages.
Ten Little Pirates by Mike Brownlow BOARD Book
Great beginning book for preschoolers, early counters and pirate fanatics! This book is a fun way to practice counting (and counting down) as well as a simple rhyming predictable text. Definitely one for your home library!
The Best Book of Pirates by Barnaby Howard
Wonderful pictures in this colorful and historically accurate book! This book tells the tales of famous pirates known throughout the world including 2 pages dedicated to pirate women!
Pirates go to School by Corinne Demas
A silly story about how pirates take a break from their day-to-day activities to go go school & learn! Very short text that may be better suited for a younger audience (2-4 years).
Pirates Past Noon Magic Treehouse #4 by Mary Pope Osborne
Bestselling author Mary Pope Osborne created this #1 selling series 25 years ago and it is still a favorite chapter book with children today! This book is best suited for ages 8 & up.
Portside Pirates (Singalongs) by Oscar Seaworthy
This super fun pirate book comes with with it’s very own CD to sing along with!
Pirate Mom (Step-into-Reading) by Deborah Underwood
My son & I love the step-into-reading series books! This is a super silly story about a boy who’s mom gets hypnotized and thinks she’s a pirate. She is misbehaving all over town and he has to help get his mom back to normal. Super cute and funny book! This is a level 3 reader so it will need to be a read-aloud for non readers.
Pirate Pete’s Talk like a Pirate by Kim Kennedy
This is the 3rd installment of the Pirate Pete books. If you like reading books and doing the voices this is a super fun way to get in some pirate voice practice while entertaining the kids!
Pirate Potty by Samantha Burger
Cute potty training book with a highly motivating theme. Our family does not have secrets so we had to have a talk about the page that suggests keeping a secret. For non-readers you can always make up your own words for that page… they’ll never know.
Pirate Princess by Sudipta Bardar-Quallen
Princess Bea wants to be a pirate. With rhyming text and colorful illustrations her journey to becoming a unconventional princess unfolds when she realizes she’s not quite there yet. She meets with unforgiving pirates who do not treat her well but she doesn’t give up on her dream of becoming a pirate princess. Cute story but I personally would check it out at the library first before purchasing the story. It may be better suited for older kids as the unforgiving pirates are pretty mean.
Pirate Chicken: All Hens on Deck by Brian Yansh
Punny book about a chicken who dreams of more than her coop and want’s to be a pirate. This silly story will surely get some giggles.
