Pirate Mom

September 1, 2006
K-Gr 2 -Pete loves to play pirates, but his mom never wants to play along. Her latest plan to get out of it includes tickets to see the Amazing Marco. When it is time for the Hypno-Trance, it is, of course, Pete -s mother who is called up on stage. Marco asks what she should be turned into and Pete calls out, -A pirate! - Suddenly, Marco is called away. His wife is having a baby and Pete -s mom is left as a pirate. There are many pages of her shaking her mixing spoon, her eye ablaze (the other eye has a black patch), and shouting at people. The worst part is when the PTA arrives for their meeting and she demands their loot. Pete then rushes her to the hospital, where the Amazing Marco restores her to her former self. In the end, Pete receives two more tickets from the magician to make up for his trouble. With fairly realistic illustrations but a dry plot, there is nothing particularly bad about "Pirate Mom", but there is little to recommend it, either." -Susan Lissim, Dwight School, New York City"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2006
PreS-Gr. 2. From the Step into Reading series comes this amusing take on the ever-popular pirate theme. When Pete and his mother attend a magic show, the Amazing Marco hypnotizes Mom and convinces her that she is a pirate. Before bringing her back to normal, the magician is called away by an emergency. Meanwhile, Pete has his hands full with Mom, who calls an inoffensive neighbor a "bilge rat," attacks the mailman with her wooden spoon, and conducts a bizarre PTA meeting. Children will relish the role switch as Mom shows her dark side and Pete makes desperate attempts at damage control. With clean lines, muted colors, and comic-style exaggeration of the characters' features, Gilpin's illustrations make the most of the humorous situations in the simply written text. Fun for independent readers and for reading aloud to younger children.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2006
At a magic show, the Amazing Marco hypnotizes Pete's mom into believing she's a pirate. This causes extremely un-momlike behavior (she tells the PTA: "Give me your loot!") until Pete can find the magician and get him to reverse the transformation. Cartoony illustrations accompany the predictable but occasionally funny story.

(Copyright 2006 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)