Anyone can be a pirate, if they’ve got the right skill set. Don’t believe me? Just look to the darling new picture book, How to Be a Pirate by Isaac Fitzgerald & illustrated by Brigette Barrager.
In the book, CeCe asks her grandfather for tips about being a pirate, after a bunch of boys tell her she can’t be one with them. Why Grandpa? Well, he’s got a lot of tattoos — including one of a ship — so he MUST know a bit about pirates, right?
And so CeCe’s grandfather shows her the ropes of piracy, and she learns that it’s not so much about treasure and saying “Argh!,” but more about being brave and independent and having fun.
If you’re a regular follower of mine on social media, you may have picked up on the fact that my husband & I are really big fans of pirates, pirate-centric events, and dressing up in pirate costume whenever we can find an excuse. (And oh, we find plenty of excuses.) So when I opened my recent book mail and found a copy of How to Be a Pirate inside, I was STOKED — and my excitement only increased when I started reading this delightful book.
We’ve got boy-girl twins on the way this spring, and it’ll be a little while before I can read this one with them, but I can’t WAIT for that time to come. It’s the perfect way to share a love of fictional pirate lore with young kiddos, and teach them a kinder, friendlier way to imagine you’re a buccaneer on the high seas.
The story is clever and witty, and the illustrations help bring each of Grandpa’s lessons to life. How to Be a Pirate is available March 3rd. Here is the official synopsis:
CeCe dreams of being a pirate. When the neighborhood boys tell her that she can’t, she wonders where to begin. Luckily, she suspects her grandpa must know something about being a pirate–why else would he have all those tattoos?
As he shares each tattoo, Grandpa and CeCe are transported from adventure to adventure, and CeCe discovers that there are all kinds of ways to be a pirate–Be BRAVE! Be QUICK! Be INDEPENDENT! And FUN!–and most of all, whether you’re a pirate or not, the most important thing you can do is to BELIEVE IN YOURSELF.
Novel Novice 
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