Common Denominator: Pirate,Viking, and Scientist by Jared Chapman

PIRATE WAS FRIENDS WITH SCIENTIST.

SCIENTIST WAS FRIENDS WITH VIKING.

VIKING AND PIRATE WERE NOT FRIENDS.

Scientist has a problem. His birthday party is coming up soon, and he'd like to invite all his friends. But Viking and Pirate can't stand each other. And these two can cause some major mayhem when they get together.

But Scientist believes in the scientific method. There's got to be something they can enjoy together.

Birthday cake?

The cake doesn't survive the fight over it between the two.

Party games?

A furious free-for-all follows!

Results of the experiment are negative. But before Scientist scraps his hypothesis, he decides to try again to find common ground between the warring factions: he asks three questions:

"DO YOU LIKE BOATS?"

"YES!" SAID PIRATE. "YES!" SAID VIKING.

"WHAT DO YOU KEEP UNDER YOUR PILLOWS?"

"A SWORD!" THEY BOTH ANSWERED

"WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND SATURDAY MORNING?"

"PILLAGING AND PLUNDERING!" THEY SHOUTED!

Bingo! Scientist has his conclusion. With common ground established between Pirate and Viking, it's time for something else they both like--ice cream, in Jared Chapman's Pirate, Viking, and Scientist (Little Brown and Company, 2014). While pillaging and plundering are not exactly recommended weekend pastimes, Jared Chapman's goofy little tribute to the scientific method does establish the value of negotiation to get even these ruffians to YES. Chapman's zany cartoon characters are over the top in a way that makes his point that almost any antagonists can find something to agree upon, and he does so in a way that hits a couple of curriculum targets as well. As Publishers Weekly puts it, "... it’s great inspiration for classroom science units or at-home Venn-diagramming."