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PIRATE MOM
Random House, 2006
ISBN
0-375-83323-4 (paperback)
0-375-93323-9 (hardcover)

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A writer friend offered to read her young son an early draft of this book. "Won't he like it just because you're reading it to him?" I asked. She assured me that he was extremely critical. So I was delighted when she reported to me his encouraging--if somewhat reserved--response: "This is actually good. She should keep working on it." I did!

Pete thought it would be fun to have a pirate for a mom, but he was wrong! This book is aimed at kids just learning to read on their own.

Cassandra Reigel Whetstone has written a terrific Teacher's Guide for this book, which you can download here.

"From the Step into Reading series comes this amusing take on the ever-popular pirate theme...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."
-Booklist

"A stock shtick receives a fresh, funny treatment in this reader for primary grades...Appealingly cartoony illustrations suit the silly fun: a winner."
-Kirkus Reviews
Writing this book was a long process--first getting the plot in shape, then paring down the vocabulary so that beginning readers could enjoy it. Learning to read can be a real struggle for some kids, and I think it's important to give them a good pay-off for all their work.