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Pocket Pirates #1
The Great Cheese Robbery
In the junk shop at the end of the street is a dusty old ship in a bottle. And when the world isn't watching, a tiny pirate crew come out of the ship to explore. They aren't much bigger than a matchstick, but they have a HUGE appetite for adventure...
When the skirting-board mice kidnap Jones, the ship's cat, and ransom him for cheese, the Pocket Pirates spring into action. But to get the cheese, they must venture to the freezing cold place where it's always winter ... The place called Fridge. Can the Pocket Pirates survive their perilous journey and get their ship's cat back ...?
The first in an unmissable series about tiny pirates who have BIG adventures, with gorgeous illustrations throughout, from the illustrator of A Boy Called Christmas.
When the skirting-board mice kidnap Jones, the ship's cat, and ransom him for cheese, the Pocket Pirates spring into action. But to get the cheese, they must venture to the freezing cold place where it's always winter ... The place called Fridge. Can the Pocket Pirates survive their perilous journey and get their ship's cat back ...?
The first in an unmissable series about tiny pirates who have BIG adventures, with gorgeous illustrations throughout, from the illustrator of A Boy Called Christmas.
144 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 6, 2015
17 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Chris Mould
157 books54 followersChris Mould is the illustrator of Captain Beastlie’s Pirate Party, written by Lucy Coats. Chris went to art school at the age of sixteen. During this time, he did various jobs, from delivering papers to washing-up. He has won the Nottingham Children’s Book Award and been commended for the Sheffield. He loves his work and likes to write and draw the kind of books that he would have liked to have on his shelf as a boy. He is married with two children and lives in Yorkshire.
Chris Mould spends his working day in one of the prestigious art studios at Dean Clough Mills in Halifax. His studio is clearly marked with a skull and crossboned warning as to what might lie within.
Chris is not confined to book illustration. He has worked for the RSC, the BBC, the FT and many other famous initials, aswell as film development work for Aardman Animations which included character and environment development work on the film Flushed Away.
When away from his studio, Chris spends most of his time with his wife Sue and his two daughters Emily and Charlotte.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
June 4, 2018
Thank you to Aladdin and Edelweiss for a digital ARC of this book -- including illustrations!
Reading this book gave me a Borrowers vibe. The little pirates live in a ship inside a bottle. Their bottle is on a shelf in a junk shop. The in mice in the baseboards steal the pocket pirate's cat and demand cheese as a ransom. Now the pirates mus embark on a journey to the frozen land of Fridge. The devices they use to get around in the junk shop and accomplish their goals are creative and will keep kids on their toes. A great new series for the Geronimo Stilton crowd.
Reading this book gave me a Borrowers vibe. The little pirates live in a ship inside a bottle. Their bottle is on a shelf in a junk shop. The in mice in the baseboards steal the pocket pirate's cat and demand cheese as a ransom. Now the pirates mus embark on a journey to the frozen land of Fridge. The devices they use to get around in the junk shop and accomplish their goals are creative and will keep kids on their toes. A great new series for the Geronimo Stilton crowd.
July 27, 2018
First sentence: At the end of the street is an old junk shop.
Premise/plot: The pocket pirates live in a dusty ship in a bottle in an old junk shop. When the shop owner isn't around they explore the shop. But exploring can be dangerous when you're only a few inches tall. Their cat gets kidnapped by mice! It's up to these pocket-sized pirates to rescue him. The mice are demanding a huge block of cheese. The pirates will have to venture to the freezing place where it is ALWAYS winter.
My thoughts: This one has plenty of characters--most of them pirates. It's an action-packed fantasy for young readers relatively new to early chapter books. I liked it. It was over-the-top silly. But silly isn't a bad thing if you're in a just-right mood for a laugh.
Premise/plot: The pocket pirates live in a dusty ship in a bottle in an old junk shop. When the shop owner isn't around they explore the shop. But exploring can be dangerous when you're only a few inches tall. Their cat gets kidnapped by mice! It's up to these pocket-sized pirates to rescue him. The mice are demanding a huge block of cheese. The pirates will have to venture to the freezing place where it is ALWAYS winter.
My thoughts: This one has plenty of characters--most of them pirates. It's an action-packed fantasy for young readers relatively new to early chapter books. I liked it. It was over-the-top silly. But silly isn't a bad thing if you're in a just-right mood for a laugh.
September 30, 2020
This book is quite good as a heavily illustrated short chapter book, perfect for kids starting to stretch their attention spans for longer narrative. I love the illustrator’s work in A Boy Called Christmas, so when I saw his name on the 2nd book in this series as a summer reading prize option for my son, I thought we’d give it a try (after I picked up book 1, of course!) It’s a light, fun, and engaging adventure story that was fairly enjoyable for the adult (me) reading as well. It wasn’t scary either which is important for us right now. We read it in one day, split between afternoon and bedtime reading sessions. My son is eager to read the rest of the series now, so it’s a win for us!
January 24, 2020
This was a really fun elementary grade chapter book. It’s listed for our junior readers, grades Kindergarten through Second grade, but it is definitely a higher difficulty for these students. This book would work great as a read-aloud, or for kiddos who are reading way above their reading level.
This is the first book in a brand new series about pocket sized pirates! In this adventure, the pocket sizes pirates realize their cat has been taken hostage by the evil mice that roam the junk shop, where they all live. Every few pages include wonderfully funny illustrations, depicting the heist and goings on of the pocket pirates on their adventure to get their cat back!
The pocket pirates end up using the Trojan Horse method to rescue their cat. I really enjoyed how this fun light-hearted story, was able to add a quick history lesson right in the middle of all the action. For such a quick read (for me, as a 27 year old avid reader) I thought the characters were fleshed out really well. Each pocket pirate had a distinct personality, good qualities, and flaws. These qualities and flaws helped the pirates work together as a team to rescue their faithful friend.
This story was a bunch of fun! I’m going to be encouraging more of my students, and even our teachers, to be checking this one out and enjoying it in their classrooms.
This is the first book in a brand new series about pocket sized pirates! In this adventure, the pocket sizes pirates realize their cat has been taken hostage by the evil mice that roam the junk shop, where they all live. Every few pages include wonderfully funny illustrations, depicting the heist and goings on of the pocket pirates on their adventure to get their cat back!
The pocket pirates end up using the Trojan Horse method to rescue their cat. I really enjoyed how this fun light-hearted story, was able to add a quick history lesson right in the middle of all the action. For such a quick read (for me, as a 27 year old avid reader) I thought the characters were fleshed out really well. Each pocket pirate had a distinct personality, good qualities, and flaws. These qualities and flaws helped the pirates work together as a team to rescue their faithful friend.
This story was a bunch of fun! I’m going to be encouraging more of my students, and even our teachers, to be checking this one out and enjoying it in their classrooms.
February 21, 2016
At the end of the street is an old junk shop. In that shop is a ship in a bottle on a shelf. And in that bottle are Pocket Pirates. Button, Lily, Captain Crabsticks, and Old Uncle Noggin. They are all about 2 inches tall and their ship’s cat Jones is even smaller.
Old Uncle Noggin loves telling stories, and the others love listening to them, but Lily and Button sometimes doubt whether his adventure stories are real. One day while having a nap after listening to a story, they woke to realise that Jones (the ship’s cat) was missing. In his place was an envelope. It's a ransom note! Pepper Jack and his gang of skirting board mice had kidnapped Jones and they want cheese!
The Pocket Pirates know what that means. A voyage to Fridge, where it is always winter.
Avoiding Doyle the dog, Mr Dregby (a large spider), the owner of the junk shop, and the skirting board mice, they all set off on a real adventure across the junk shop.
Chris Mould’s illustrations add life to this series that boys especially will love. With drawings of the characters in front and a drawing of the junk shop itself in the back of the book, the reader can connect even more with the story.
Old Uncle Noggin loves telling stories, and the others love listening to them, but Lily and Button sometimes doubt whether his adventure stories are real. One day while having a nap after listening to a story, they woke to realise that Jones (the ship’s cat) was missing. In his place was an envelope. It's a ransom note! Pepper Jack and his gang of skirting board mice had kidnapped Jones and they want cheese!
The Pocket Pirates know what that means. A voyage to Fridge, where it is always winter.
Avoiding Doyle the dog, Mr Dregby (a large spider), the owner of the junk shop, and the skirting board mice, they all set off on a real adventure across the junk shop.
Chris Mould’s illustrations add life to this series that boys especially will love. With drawings of the characters in front and a drawing of the junk shop itself in the back of the book, the reader can connect even more with the story.
April 29, 2016
The art was the only really good thing, the story was just boring and felt like it went on and on.
February 11, 2018
This book is inconsistent and lacking. Wouldn’t recommend it.
January 16, 2018
Pocket Rocket
This is the first book in the four volume Pocket Pirate series. I was drawn to it because I think Chris Mould's brilliant "Something Wickedly Weird" series is one of the funniest, wickedest, weirdest set of books out there for advanced chapter readers and I wondered what he had in store here for slightly younger readers. The book did not disappoint.
The setup is that our crew of tiny pirates lives in a ship in a bottle in an old jumble shop. There's a captain, a tall tale telling first mate, and a young ship's boy and ship's girl. They get along famously, know all of the standard pirate blarney, and have great little people adventures. I never entirely warmed up to the Borrowers type books, but I think that's because sometimes they tried too hard to create a tiny realistic world. These books are more high, wide and handsome with the slapdash fantasy, which keeps the plotting and action brisk and cheery. (In this one they have to steal some cheese to pay ransom to the baseboard mice and secure the return of the kidnapped ship's cat.)
As I say, the fun here is in the slapdash action, the quick witted moves of the mini-pirates, and the gungho good cheer of the enterprise. There is suspense and danger!, but not really. Sometimes in books like this it's all rollicking along until suddenly some rat gets torn apart by a dog and you think - "Wow! That was a bit gruesome". Not here. Here, the pirates are more likely to be licked and slobbered on by the guard dog Doyle, not eaten. There's just enough of a hint of danger to keep up interest and tension, not to generate nightmares.
The chatty and above all friendly tone is nicely enhanced by Mould's drawings. They are spare pencil and ink, but he catches more than enough character and expression to carry, support, and illustrate the action. "Charm" is an overused word, but it fits nicely here, and the comic exaggeration of the drawings and little bits of business around the edges contribute greatly to the book's appeal.
So, once again I am impressed by Mould - his storytelling is brisk, his sense of humor is firmly in place, and the whole series is cheerful, engaging, and upbeat. A nice choice for the family shelf.
(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
This is the first book in the four volume Pocket Pirate series. I was drawn to it because I think Chris Mould's brilliant "Something Wickedly Weird" series is one of the funniest, wickedest, weirdest set of books out there for advanced chapter readers and I wondered what he had in store here for slightly younger readers. The book did not disappoint.
The setup is that our crew of tiny pirates lives in a ship in a bottle in an old jumble shop. There's a captain, a tall tale telling first mate, and a young ship's boy and ship's girl. They get along famously, know all of the standard pirate blarney, and have great little people adventures. I never entirely warmed up to the Borrowers type books, but I think that's because sometimes they tried too hard to create a tiny realistic world. These books are more high, wide and handsome with the slapdash fantasy, which keeps the plotting and action brisk and cheery. (In this one they have to steal some cheese to pay ransom to the baseboard mice and secure the return of the kidnapped ship's cat.)
As I say, the fun here is in the slapdash action, the quick witted moves of the mini-pirates, and the gungho good cheer of the enterprise. There is suspense and danger!, but not really. Sometimes in books like this it's all rollicking along until suddenly some rat gets torn apart by a dog and you think - "Wow! That was a bit gruesome". Not here. Here, the pirates are more likely to be licked and slobbered on by the guard dog Doyle, not eaten. There's just enough of a hint of danger to keep up interest and tension, not to generate nightmares.
The chatty and above all friendly tone is nicely enhanced by Mould's drawings. They are spare pencil and ink, but he catches more than enough character and expression to carry, support, and illustrate the action. "Charm" is an overused word, but it fits nicely here, and the comic exaggeration of the drawings and little bits of business around the edges contribute greatly to the book's appeal.
So, once again I am impressed by Mould - his storytelling is brisk, his sense of humor is firmly in place, and the whole series is cheerful, engaging, and upbeat. A nice choice for the family shelf.
(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
June 13, 2018
The Great Cheese Robbery is a delightful book about pocket sized pirates. In this first book the pirates set off on an adventure to procure cheese from the fridge in exchange for the ship’s cat who is being held for ransom by a gang of mice. This book is full of wonderfully detailed illustrations that add to the fun of the story. The characters were likable and the storyline pulled me in until the last page. Looking forward to the adventure which is introduced in a brief sample at the end of the book. Great fun, I highly recommend this book.
June 2, 2019
Honestly, though this was an easy read, I just found it to be utterly average. It was kind of cute but the characters just didn't seem very developed (they felt somewhat two-dimensional) and the plot felt both drawn out and rushed at the same time.
The illustrations were cute and it did have an obvious plot person from problem to solution, I just found the plot to not be that great and I don't think I'll continue the series. I read this because it was a ssyra jr book for 2019-2020, but it is an average beginner chapter book in my opinion.
The illustrations were cute and it did have an obvious plot person from problem to solution, I just found the plot to not be that great and I don't think I'll continue the series. I read this because it was a ssyra jr book for 2019-2020, but it is an average beginner chapter book in my opinion.
November 18, 2019
I believe my daughter and I have only one book left to read on this years Sunshine State Young Readers Jr. list after finishing this adventure/heist story. There are some funny bits and cute illustrations, so we both enjoyed it for our weekend buddy read.
May 7, 2019
This is the 15th of 15 books I’ve read of the SSYRA Junior books for the 2019-2020 school year and oddly enough this is the one I enjoyed the least. It is reminiscent of “The Littles” and is considerably longer than the other beginning reader chapter books in this year’s SSYRA Junior list.
May 15, 2019
This was a very good book. The book was funny. Is about some pirates what are gone to go in the fridge but that's more dificult for them. I don't want to say spoilers so i'm gone to finish with this.
P.S : I'M FROM ROMANIA🇦🇩
P.S : I'M FROM ROMANIA🇦🇩
July 28, 2019
An odd choice for SSYRA. I’ve read a LOT of beginner chapter books and this was one of the worst. The characters were weird and though they had an adventure it wasn’t very exciting and didn’t make a lot of sense. It was fairly long for a beginner chapter book too. I did enjoy the pictures.
May 31, 2020
This book tickles my fancy in a number of ways. The writing flows well, making it easy to read the characters with voices. The story is fairly simple, but that makes it easy for the boy who is practicing his reading skills to follow along and be entertained.
April 7, 2021
I read this tale about tiny pirates who live in a small glass-bottled ship to my 6 and 9 year old and we all enjoyed it very much. It’s witty and silly and full of pictures to help compel our younger reader forward. We will be buying the other three for sure.
August 6, 2018
The idea of this book is excellent, but the execution leaves a little to be desired. It's cute but forgettable. Not one to read over and over.
July 14, 2019
Hikaye: 3*
İllustrasyonlar: 4*
İllustrasyonlar: 4*
February 20, 2021
Lower elementary kids would love this book. Drawings are fantastic.
May 4, 2021
My son and husband LOVE reading these books together. 😊
February 3, 2022
Fun kids book, easy chapters, and great illustrations.
June 14, 2023
Creative book for kids. Fun short story.
March 29, 2018
I especially loved the illustrations. They’re very Tim Burton. The story has a lot of action. It’s fun to see how these little people get around a world made by humans--they build some very clever contraptions. The narrative isn’t consistently good, but it was consistently enjoyable to read.
January 9, 2016
Pocket Pirates are exactly as you’d imagine – daring adventurers, treasure-hoarders, and fire-side-tale-tellers. Their swords are darning needles, they have bottle-top cups, cotton-reel stools, and their ship rests in a bottle on a mantle shelf in a dusty old junk shop. Quiet though it seems, it’s a very dangerous place when you’re smaller than a teacup…
I used to obsess about mini folk as a little girl, and fantasise about the places in my own house and garden that I’d hide, and the objects that I could utilise. I think all kids have Borrower-brain at some stage. I believe some kids never lose it. Mine was ignited by Peter Mayle and Arthur Robins’ ‘Chilly Billy’, and now I’m delighted that kids are discovering brand new mini adventures courtesy of the Borrower-Brained Buccaneer, Chris Mould.
This first thrilling appearance of Captain Crabsticks and crew has the scheming skirting-board mice, a rescue mission involving the place called Fridge, and a clever cheese-based ruse. The chapters are short and moreish and the glorious inky illustrations throughout help to focus the reader on the scale of these two-inch swashbucklers. You might expect fine visuals from a celebrated illustrator, but you might not expect a touch of something on every single page. Curled corners, teeny tears, tiny details. A fantastic read made perfect by its small touches. I can’t wait for more!
I used to obsess about mini folk as a little girl, and fantasise about the places in my own house and garden that I’d hide, and the objects that I could utilise. I think all kids have Borrower-brain at some stage. I believe some kids never lose it. Mine was ignited by Peter Mayle and Arthur Robins’ ‘Chilly Billy’, and now I’m delighted that kids are discovering brand new mini adventures courtesy of the Borrower-Brained Buccaneer, Chris Mould.
This first thrilling appearance of Captain Crabsticks and crew has the scheming skirting-board mice, a rescue mission involving the place called Fridge, and a clever cheese-based ruse. The chapters are short and moreish and the glorious inky illustrations throughout help to focus the reader on the scale of these two-inch swashbucklers. You might expect fine visuals from a celebrated illustrator, but you might not expect a touch of something on every single page. Curled corners, teeny tears, tiny details. A fantastic read made perfect by its small touches. I can’t wait for more!
Want to read
January 9, 2018Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews