Tough Boris

This is a wonderful story about a pirate who's rough and tough on the outside, but has a soft side too. Death is treated matter-of-factly with no philosophical overtones (you fill in the blanks when they ask, "why did the parrot die", or "what happened when the parrot died?") and children identify with Boris about their self-concepts and reactions to conflict and fears in their life. In the end, Boris teaches children that it's okay to be a nice guy and still be tough, and that it's okay to be sad and cry sometimes. I recommend this book to children over the age of 4 (mainly because of the slightly scary pirate scenes involving angry faces, swords and scuffling-nothing gorry)- all the way through adulthood!

My mom found this book for my three year old "tough pirate" daughter and gave it to her in preparation for the death of her little brother. It was such good medicine! She asked to have it read to her many times a day for months - and we still read it almost daily. This book was so much better for her than books that attempt to help children understand death and deal with the subject more directly, and it didn't insult the intelligence and insight that she and all young children have. It allowed her to enjoy a great story - in words and pictures - and process the meaning in her own way.

Mem Fox's _Tough Boris_ is a picture book about Boris Von Der Borch and his gang of pirates. The text is very simple. Basically, it simply states "Boris was greedy." for one pair of pages, and then "All pirates are greedy." on the next pair, and then substitutes other words for greedy, like "massive," and "scruffy," etc. The pictures tell the story, though. Boris and his group find a treasure chest, filled with treasure and a violin. The crew drags the treasure chest aboard the ship, and divvies up the loot. A boy steals the violin from Boris's room, and Boris seeks the boy out for punishment. The boy plays the violin so well, however, that Boris has him spared. Next, Boris' pet parrot dies, and gets a solemn and appropriate burial at sea, in the violin case. Boris and all the pirates are very sad, and, as the text states, "all pirates cry." This book required repeated readings with my 3-year old to get the whole story. The simple text says so little, but in the end the text complements the illustrations well.Kathryn Brown's illustrations are wonderful. The colors are bright, and the renderings of the pirates are fantastic. They are the best pirates I've seen in over a dozen pirate picture books. While I'm at it, I'll salute the author and illustrator together for creating a pirate picture book which doesn't include any battles, swordplay, cannons, or gunplay. I give _Tough Boris_ 5 stars.ken32

Tough Boris is a book I would recommend reading to children. The writer and illustrator do a good job working together and portraying how Tough Boris is tough but not heartless. This book would also teaches a good lesson to the readers, that is not all people that look tough, fearless, scary, and greedy are heartless.

Tough Boris is a wonderful story which students love to read along with. The words such as scary, tough, and massive are rich with expression and children enjoy speaking those words. There is also a wonderful subplot which complements the main plot very well.