The T-Rex, the Pirate, and the Supply Closet: Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs

In a cheerfully off-beat English fantasy, the red-haired Flinn's two faves, pirates and dinosaurs, combine to provide a hearty, sea-faring adventure for kids of similar tastes in Giles Andreae's Captain Flinn and the Dinosaur Pirates.

Flinn's teacher Mrs. Pie sends him to the classroom supply closet for a packet of markers, but he is distracted by sniffles and snuffles emanating from a mound of old curtains. It's a whimpering pirate captain, by name of Cap'n Stubble, who tells a sad tale of the hijacking of his ship, The Acorn, by mysterious pirates roaring

Yo ho ho, Yo ho ho
(Something?, Something?,)
Go! Go! Go!

Flinn, joined by three adventurous classmates who have slipped into the closet behind him, vows to help Stubble recapture his ship. Following the traditional English fantasy formula, the back of the closet disappears, and the kids find themselves the crew of a disreputable privateer closing on Stubble's flagship, now flying the Jolly T-Rex as its ensign. Captain Flinn and his mateys board and take on the pirates, a crew made up of a diplodocus, a triceratops, and a pterodactyl, led by the fiercest pirate of all, Captain Tyrannosaurus Rex himself.
Flinn and Captain T-Rex duel for two hours before the T-Rex yields to his superior swordplay and swears fealty to Flinn as his new captain.

However, the prudent Flinn declines the honor for the moment in order to make it back to Mrs. Pie's classroom, toting his pirate hat and the markers, just in time for lunch with his class.

Russell Ayto (coincidentally a native of Penzance, England) provides quirky, busy illustrations which provide far more action than the rather British understated text, and the font design and layout keep the story moving along at a proper rate to the conclusion. Devotees of pirates and dinosaurs will find plenty to plunder in this fantasy adventure story.

Prepping for Piratehood: How I Became a Pirate and Other Tales of Treasure

If your young hearties are hankering for more of the buccaneering business, you can't go wrong with Melinda Long's and David Shannon's How I Became a Pirate.

In their first tale, young Jeremy Jacob is shanghaied from his sandbox by a pack of pirates who need his digging skills to bury their treasure chest. Jeremy willingly takes to pirate life, enjoying the relaxation of parental strictures in the matter of, say, table manners, bedtimes, and dental care, as he cavorts with the colorful band of buccaneers led by Cap'n Braid Beard. Of course, Jeremy soon begins to miss the amenities of life at home, including being lovingly tucked in at night. To get himself discharged from service, he persuades the pirates to return him to the perfect place to bury the chest--in his own backyard. David Shannon, known for his No, David! and sequels, provides exuberantly plump and gap-toothed plunderers and a perfectly rigged privateer which make for clear sailing all the way.

And "th-e-y-'-r-e back" in the new sequel Pirates Don't Change Diapers. Cap'n Braid Beard and the kooky crew return to dig up their treasure in Jeremy's sandbox, but the boisterous buccaneers wake up his baby sister, Bonney Anne, who won't stop bawling. Jeremy does a deal: no digging 'til the baby's dozing, and the buccaneers turn out all hands to babysitting. Luckily, there's a pirate flick on television, and a rocking good time is had by all as baby Bonney Anne goes back to dreamland. Again, Shannon's grandly goofy illustrations bag the booty for a wonderful pirate party.

As we know, for guys at sea, there is nothing like a dame, and Lisa Wheeler delivers a delightful dairy diva in her Sailor Moo, Cow at Sea. Written in bouncy rhyme, this is the tale of Moo, who longing to see the sea, trades her "waves of grain" for ocean waves and a job as a ship's cook. Washed overboard, Sailor Moo is rescued by, what else, a group of sympathetic sea cows, who boost her aboard the pirate ship of buccaneer bull Red Angus. Moo is udderly shocked to learn that the handsome Red is the leader of "looting steers? Cow buccaneers?" and, taking the bull by the horns, confronts him with the evil of his ways. Captain Red falls hard for "his dairy queen" and promises to put down his pirating ways if she will but wed him. In a happy blend of beef and dairy, Red Angus and Sailor Moo retire to the "Jersey shore" to raise their little calf, "Half and Half." The cow puns keep coming, and the illustrations are a pure joy in this bovine buccaneer romp.