The Gingerbread Pirates
Checking Availibility...Description
What if a brave Captain Cookie stood up to Santa? A fresh, funny story that sparkles with all the excitement of a pirate adventure — and all the magic of Christmas morning.
It’s Christmas Eve, and Jim and his mother are making pirate gingerbread men to leave for Santa. Jim’s favorite is Captain Cookie, who carries a gingerbread cutlass and has a toothpick peg leg. The captain is much too good to be eaten, so Jim keeps him close by his bed. But late that night, when Jim is fast asleep, Captain Cookie steptaps away on a daring adventure to find his pirate crew — and rescue them from that mysterious character he’s heard about: a cannibal named Santa Claus. At once contemporary and timeless, suspenseful and joyous, this masterfully illustrated tale is destined to be a new holiday classic.
About this Author
Kristin Kladstrup is the author of the middle-grade novel The Book of Story Beginnings. She lives near Boston, Massachusetts.
Matt Tavares is the illustrator of Lady Liberty, by Doreen Rappaport; Iron Hans: A Grimms' Fairy Tale, retold by Stephen Mitchell; Jack and the Beanstalk, retold by E. Nesbit; and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. He has also written and illustrated three books inspired by baseball: Mudball, Oliver's Game, and Zachary's Ball. He lives in Ogunquit, Maine.
Reviews
Swashbuckling gusto and a poignant finish should make this a new favorite.
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Large in scale and dramatic in effect, watercolor-and-gouache paintings create believable settings, sometimes seen from unusual perspectives, and sympathetically portray the characters, especially the pirates, whose icing-sugar mouths and eyes are surprisingly expressive.
--Booklist
An exciting story and full-page, dramatically composed paintings depicting harrowing adventures with a mouse, a cat, and the crew imprisoned in a cookie jar make this a good holiday read-aloud.
--School Library Journal
Captain Cookie's quest to rescue his crew from their cookie-jar imprisonment is not without peril, and humorous obstacles abound...Tavares's vivid watercolor and gouache paintings dramatize Kladstrup's lively text with vigor in this imaginative adventure story.
--The Horn Book
Cookie's-eye-view illustrations and a story enlivened with dialogue make this boy's version of the nutcracker sparkle.
--Foreword
Kladstrup makes the most of the adventurous possibilities, while Tavares's sumptuous full-bleed spreads and spot illustrations play with a cookie's-eye perspective.
--Shelf Awareness
An adventurous, hilarious story that brims with the magic of Christmas...pure delight.
--Kendal Rautzhan's Books to Borrow, Books to Buy
An imaginative kid-pleaser.
--News Tribune
Red and green dominate Tavares' bold illustrations, making this one of the most festive
Christmas books.
--St. Paul Pioneer Press
If the product is in stock at the store nearest you, we suggest you call ahead to have it set aside for you, or you may place an order online and choose in-store pickup.
