TWO SPLENDID SEAFARING PICTURE BOOKS + 2 GIVEAWAYS

 If you're like me, you give books as presents. On today's blog, I have two fun books published by Sleeping Bear Press that will make great presents for a young pirate or sailor in your life. Both books use great wordplay which will tickle the ears of both kids and adults.

REVIEWS

PIRATES DON'T DANCE

What happens when a young man (who loves to dance) signs up to be a pirate? Author-illustrator Shawna J.C. Tenney answers that question in this action-packed picture book.

More than anything, Jack wanted to be a pirate. 

......

When Jack heard the 

slosh slosh slap of the waves,

the flip flip flap of the sails,

the creak creak crack of the ship,

he felt the rhythm in his soul

But, he quickly found out that,

Jack danced without knowing it. At sword-fighting practice, he saw the pirates-in-training stumble and fumble. Jack couldn't help himself.

He showed his fellow trainees how to grand jete' over gullies during a treasure hunt. But that got everybody in trouble.

Finally, a feared pirate came on board. Jack and his friends hid and watched.

Jack couldn't just stand by and do nothing--he had to dance! 

It was a fierce battle. In the end, the Captain conceded. "Blimey! Keep dancing, Jack! KEEP DANCING!"

Jack's amazing dancing steps won the battle, the Captain's heart, and the reward of becoming an official pirate. From then on, everyone put their best foot forward.

Parents, grandparents, and teachers will enjoy the pleasure of reading this story out loud and children will enjoy the onomatopoeia and how an unlikely hero wins the day.

To read about Shawna's backstory for writing and illustrating this book, please see this post on Kathy Temean's blog.

Back matter includes an author's note, explanations of dance movements, and pirate speak definitions.

MONSTERS IN THE BRINY

Lynn Becker's rhyming debut picturebook is about mythical sea creatures and the mayhem they cause when they meet up with a boat full of hardy, young sailors. Scott Brundage performs his magic with marvelous illustrations that are as funny and rollicking as the text. 

The first monster who appears even before the first page is a Kraken.

You would

Share some jokes and your best riddle,

Feed her cakes from Cookie's griddle,

Teach her how to bow the fiddle,

Kraken in the briny.

Just when the sailors successfully tame a surly, scruffly, sea goat, the ship gets a visit from a

The sailors 

Keep a bucket at the ready,

Mop his forehead if he's sweaty,

Tuck him into serpent beddy,

Serpent in the briny.

Next, the brave sailors meet a tearful turtle. They find innovative ways to cheer him up.

 Readers will be anxious to find out what sea monster is next. 

How about a hungry hydra?

"Yo! Ho! And up he's rising, Yo! Ho! He's quite surprising,

But wait. 

One of the sailors is sick of shipwrecking monsters.

So,

Yo! Ho! And up we're rising,

Yo! Ho! We're all surprising,

Yo! Ho! We're harmonizing,

Monsters in the briny.

The back matter includes two pages about sea monsters and the music to "Monsters in the Briny" which is based on an old sea shanty about a drunken sailor. 

If you're interested in reading about Lynn's book journey, you can find it on Kathy Temean's blog. 

I recently took a webinar with children's book author Pat Miller. She encouraged picture book writers to look at different frameworks for their story idea. Using a song was one of her suggestions. Now I see how that can work so well--particularly with the imaginative team of Lynn Becker and Scott Brundage. This week Lynn and Scott will share some of the inside scoops behind this sea-faring creation in the Talking Story Facebook group. Don't miss the childhood game that inspired Lynn and some of Scott's drafts! (P.S. If you're not a member yet, just click on the link and request to join it.)

GIVEAWAYS

Please leave a comment by November 23 and let me know which book you're interested in winning. MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE YOUR NAME AND EMAIL ADDRESS IF YOU ARE NEW TO MY BLOG. If you follow my blog or sign up to follow it, I'll give you two chances. 

Congratulations to Theresa Milstein who won SUPERPOWER? from last week's blog. 

SHIPS, SECRETS, and SURVIVORS: A Book Review and Autographed Giveaway

In a departure from my recent run on picture book reviews, today I'm recommending, Ships, Secrets, and Survivors, a YA fantasy debut novel by co-authors Sarah Rodecker and Helena George. 

REVIEW

If you or a teen reader you know, enjoy stories that include a princess who would rather be a sailor; evil pirates who are related to the good guys; assassins--on both the good and bad side of the coin; sea dragons (always evil and scary); and a process to select the next ambassador that rivals the Hunger Games; a sprinkle of magic, PLUS talking ships (my favorite characters)...then this will be a book that you or (your favorite teen reader) will want to read.

Illustrations proceed each chapter are by Mars Evan.

In the first part of the book, the reader meets an elaborate crew of characters who are competing to be the next Ambassadors of the Alliance. This selection process unveils the backstories of the two point of view characters, Princess Avi and assassin Ravin, and ends with the two of them escaping from life-threatening calamities and being on board the same ship--the legendary Red Wind. 

The second part of the book details the Red Wind's crews' adventures in their journey to hunt down the infamous pirate Captain Rev Martin. Along the way they encounter traitors (proving you can never really tell who you can trust), have countless sword fights with pirates, are threatened by sea dragons, suffer shipwreck, and are abandoned on a deserted island. 

In the process, the reader discovers that the Red Wind is truly magical and can feel, speak, and suffer wounds.  Each chapter begins with a short paragraph written by the narrator (whose identity is revealed at the end) about the Red Wind legends. Since I am a fan of stories within stories, I really enjoyed these snippets that made more and more sense as the story progressed.  As I mentioned above, the ship itself is a wonderful character with a mind of her own and fiercely loyal to her captain and crew.

I was curious about how these young authors came up with the idea of talking ships, and Helena said, "When the concept of Jay (the captain) and his ship originally came to me, Red Wind had no sails. When Sarah and I started delving into WHY and HOW, we came up with the "live ships" concept. How ships come alive, and why they move on their own is explored in the other books. 

The next book in the PIRATE HUNTER CHRONICLES was released in May. Click here to read about Sin, Sons, and Siren Songs and the upcoming titles in the series. 

In case you're thinking of collaborating on a book, Helena shares about their co-writing journey on her blog. I asked her how long it took them to co-write this book. She replied: "We brainstormed and wrote about half the book in around a year. It was totally on the backburner. Then I wrote the last half by myself in late 2019 for NaNoWriMo. After that, it took us about half a year to edit, get cover art, and plan for self-publishing. Not counting any pre-writing/brainstorming, I'd say it takes us around half a year to draft, edit, and format everything. 

GIVEAWAY

I have a gently used, autographed (by both authors) copy to give away. PLEASE leave me your email address if you are new to my blog; continental U.S. addresses only. Giveaway ends on June 18. 

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Congratulations to Lois Bartholomew who won Dorothea's Eyes  from last week's blog.