Logo-Pilferers Beware! The Word Pirates by Susan Cooper

It was early morning on the pirate ship.

"W O R D S!"

roared Captain Rottingbones.

"BRING ME FRESH WORDS! I NEED BREAKFAST!"

The Pirate King is ravening, and his crew releases their logo-hunting birds to ravage the shore-dwellers morning newspapers and steal author's manuscripts right from their typewriters, to feed their prey of fresh words to the Captain and crew.

Captain Rottingbones grabs and gobbles down the biggest word--antidisestablishmentarianism--for himself, while his crew fill their cereal bowls with bites like fib and pop and zip that stay crunchy in milk.

But Rottingbones' big maw is never filled. He cruises the oceans of the world, pillaging books and pulling words right out of the storytellers' mouths.

Still, Captain Rottingbones' logo-lust only grows more insatiable.

He had learned of a Word Wizard, a zany New Zealander, whose stories would be extra delicious.

He licks his large lips as he orders his mateys to set the sails for the South Seas, where the Word Wizard flourishes and delicious words flow fast from her lips and perfect from her pen.

And Rottingbones releases his voracious Bumblebirds to peel her tasty word morsels right from her pages. The story circle kids are first bemused, then confused, perplexed and then VEXED.

The Wizard was furious. So were the children.

"GIVE US BACK OUR WORDS!" the children yelled.

"WORDS ARE PRECIOUS!" the Wizard cried.

The Pirate Captain draws his cutlass. This is WAR. But the Word Wizard knows the pen is mightier than the sword, and she peppers the pirates with a scattering of Fi, Fie, Fos, a rapid fire of Rabbit Holes, and a barrage of Wild Rumpuses. And the story stealers are bested, their brains all a-buzz with stories!

What amazing things words could do if you didn't eat them!

And with their treasure trunk loaded with the seeds of literacy, the pirate ship sets sail, the world now safe for letters and syllables (and even Latin roots) and imagination blooms with all the words that are and can yet be, safe in books...

Like this one .

Words are the winners in this collaboration of superstars, multi-Newbery-winning author Susan Cooper (for The Dark Is Rising series) and noted author-illustrator Steven Kellogg, The Word Pirates (Neal Porter/Holiday House, 2019). Artist Steven Kellogg's warm and comic watercolor illustrations wash over this tale and welcome Cooper's apt logophilia, flowing through this one with obvious love for her craft. A book which ends with pirates learning their letters and the youngest picking up his pen to write, "Once upon a time..." is a welcome event. School Library Journal says, "Cooper's words are deliciously funny, and Kellogg'c comical style perfect complements Cooper's flair."

Whatchamacallit? My Father Knows the Names of Things by Jane Yolen

MY FATHER KNOWS THE NAMES OF THINGS.

EACH BIRD THAT SINGS, THEIR NICKNAMES, TOO.

HE KNOWS THE NAMES OF DOGS. AND CHEESE.

AND SEVEN WORDS THAT ALL MEAN BLUE.

Knowledge begins with nomenclature, and this lucky kid's dad specializes in the science of whatchamacallitology. He knows the names of the planets and lots of the stars. He knows the names of fish and human bones, mosses and bugs--and not just the names, but scientific characteristics of the things he names:

HE KNOWS WHICH FLOWERS ARE THE TALLEST.

AND WHICH BEETLES ARE THE SMALLEST.

AND WHEN WE FLY, HE SAYS OUT LOUD

THE NAME OF EVERY KIND OF CLOUD.

In a fond tribute to her late husband and to those wonderful early childhood years in which kids believe their parents know just about everything, Jane Yolen's newest picture book, My Father Knows the Names of Things (Simon & Schuster, 2010) is an ebullient offering for Fathers Day reading. Illustrator Stephane Jorisch offers an energetic long-legged dad who tries out seven samples of blue paint in broad swaths, all with intriguing names, for his son's room, one who flies him aloft in a bright red two-seater airplane just to point out the types of clouds and mans the tiller while his son snorkels among the various fishes in the sea. He reels off breeds of cats, varieties of candies in the sweet shop, and even shares the names of the dinosaurs that are meanest, not to mention the soaps that get a kid cleanest.

Yolen's easy-going rhymes and Jorisch's sweeping two-page spreads keep the story moving at a jolly pace, one that an inquisitive and energetic dad (or mom) would approve.

HE POINTS OUT EVERYTHING WE SEE

AND TEACHES ALL THE NAMES TO ME.

Read it to your daughters and read it to your sons; here's to dads who know just tons!