Pirates

It's a quiet, dark, and rainy night and Ellery takes her little brother, Max, their sleeping bags, a flashlight, and the pirate book downstairs to the den to read. This is the tale of wicked and vicious Jose Gaspar. "He loots ships that hold treasure and murders anyone who tries to hold on to their gold." Gaspar picks his teeth with the bones of his shipmates, and wears the bloody shirt of a murdered ship captain tied around his head. He doesn't bury his booty in treasure chests, but in coffins, and sometimes the gem incrusted rings are still attached to fingers! "They bury treasure in the soft sand, scratch out maps with their jagged fingernails, and mark X on the spot where they'll dig again." The night grows darker, and the wind blows harder. The thunder crashes, lightning flashes in the sky, and the rain pours down. And that's when Ellery and Max hear the thump, thup-thump of a wooden leg, the scratch, scrat-scratch of long filthy nails, and the sour smell of salty breath..... C. Drew Lamm has written a marvelously spooky pirate tale for kids looking for a bedtime ghost-story scare. His well paced, engaging text is full of foreboding, tension, and suspense, and begs to be whispered aloud in dramatic fashion. But it's Stacy Schuett's large, detailed, dark, and ominous illustrations, that really make this story come alive. With its humorous twist at the end to take the pressure off, Pirates is perfect for young swashbucklers 7 and older, though younger children may want to heed Mr Drew's warning..."Do not read this book right before bed or during wild storms."

A wonderfully funny and scary book! It is not only the humorous story of Ellery and her little brother, Max--but the spine tingling one of pirate Jose Gaspar as well. The author weaves the two tales together to create an extremely enjoyable reading experience, along with a great surprise ending!