What If You Met A Pirate?

by Jan Adkins

"You know all about pirates. They were big guys with fancy hats, silk jackets, peg legs, and parrots cursing on their shoulders. They sailed big ships with brass guns and made lubbers walk the plank . . . right?
Wrong. . . . "

Pirates and piracy, buried treasure, and life on the high seas are brought to life in this colorful, appealing book.

Jan Adkin's talent for combining words, illustration, and design is uniquely well-suited to the world of ships and seafaring, maps, weapons, larger than life characters and larger than life stories are vividly presented in Jan's signature, design-driven style. This large format, full color picture book presents pirate history and pirate lore, pirate ships and equipment, and pirate life.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Childrens, Historical, Pirates

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

Jan Adkins is an author, illustrator, designer, storyteller, and explainer. Most of his life he has unraveled snarls, straightened paths, and made a clearer understanding of complex and subtle matters. He has published more than 45 books, many of them non-fiction for young people. He was associate art director for National Geographic Magazine, 1980-88, researching and explaining science, medicine, technology and archaeology to its millions of readers. It was a job described by his editor-in-chief as “getting a doctorate every third month.” He taught editorial illustration at Rhode Island School of Design and at Maryland Institute College of Art. He has a regular 8 pp feature, “Getting Started In Boats,” in WoodenBoat Magazine and contributes often to several sailing magazines. He’s delighted to be a member of the iNKthink team that produces nonfictionminute.com (quick, check it out!). He’s one of the Eisterhold Associates (Kansas City, MO) designing and producing museum exhibits. A great deal of his satisfaction lies in nurturing and herding his 3 grandchildren in Gainesville, Florida, where he lives, and his 2 grandsons in Washington, DC. He walks, canoes, cycles, sails, and cooks, but his neighbors don’t know exactly what business he’s in. On Friday evenings you will often find him holding forth at an outdoor table with friends at his son-in-law’s Cypress & Grove Brewing Company, his version of Rick’s American Cafe.

Reviews

[Alexia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has fantastic imagery. This book shows what a true pirate is and how it differs from what we see in movies. Maybe pirates have a wooden peg leg and search for gold, but pirates may not be the mean killers we see in movies. This book tells that dead people are worthless, and pirates would hold people captive for rewards. This book would be a great book to use in my future classroom. I could use this book to teach the real history of pirates and master narratives. To add creative arts into an English language Arts activity I could do a scavenger vocabulary hunt.

[Lily]

Children and the life and manners of a pirate are absolutely amazing and interesting. The author compares what would be more historically true to our popular conception of a pirate. Additionally, he explores other aspects of piracy, such as historical piracy, battles, weapons, and ships. His writing is humorous and evocative, which prevents factual information from appearing so boring. I feel like I could use this in my class and have students do a find the treasure and do it along with what we are learning in class.

[Bradie Gilstrap · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing story about the true history of pirates! This story gives us information about pirates that the movies doesn’t. This book has amazing imagery to help students get a grasp knowledge of the life of a pirate. Movies don’t give us a clear view on the lifestyle. I would use this book in my future classroom as a history lesson to show the real history of pirates. As for an activity, I would do a scavenger vocabulary hunt.

[Pyrate Queen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Factual information on pirate lives, how they came to become pirates (from working in the English army) and what other national governments had pirates in their employ. This book also talked about the most notorious pirates like Blackbeard and some of the female pirates like Anne Bonny. The most interesting fact was learning about they lived on board the ship.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good history nonfiction book for the fact hungry reader. Short but dense. Full of info about everything from how ships maneuvered, to what pirates ate, to the politics of pirating. Bios of the most famous pirates. Detailed hand drawn illustrations. Does not glamorize “piracy has always been associated with the stink and sadness of slavery.”

[Emily H · Rating 4 out of 5]

The life and lifestyle of a pirate are very intriguing to children (and adults!). This author/illustrator starts by taking our cultural image of a pirate (one we obtained through movies, texts, etc.) and comparing it to what would be more historically accurate. Furthermore, he delves into other pirate related topics including battles, weapons, ships, pirate economics, and pirating history. His writing is descriptive and funny, keeping factual information from sounding dull.

Although the author sounds very knowledgeable and the information seems correct based upon my limited knowledge of history, I would recommend better citations or lists of sources. Where did he acquire all that realistic pirate information? That would be a helpful addition for me.

[KidsNonFiction Teton County Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teton County Library Call No: J 364.164 Adkins
Kurt's Rating: 5 Stars

Author/Illustrator Jan Adkins begins this book by comparing the image one is likely to have gained of the average pirate through movies or novels with that of the average pirate as seen through historical fact. He uses humorous language and imagery to help convey these differences. He then goes on to provide information about pirate ships, weaponry, and tactics in fighting (or avoiding!) battles in their quest for booty. He also provides information about the kinds of loot pirates were likely to find, how they might sell it, and how they spent their money. The life of a pirate was not like the glamorous image that Hollywood tries to sell to us in movies, and this comes across in the book. The reader will learn a great deal about actual pirates and the history of piracy, from the days of the Greeks until present times.

[Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

It had lots of learning! I learned that pirates didn't attack ships almost every day, but they would be lucky to attack a ship every month. I also learned that pirates didn't actually kill people when they attacked ships, but just scared them by waving weapons around, and throwing stinky balls at the Sailors.They had three flags: a disguise Spanish flag, a flag that meant they would let the sailors go if they gave them money, and a flag meant that if they don't give them the money, the pirates would kill them. It wasn't always a skull and crossbones, but a skeleton with a spear over a heart. It is so cool! READ IT LEARNERS!

[Sarah Maddaford · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only real problem with this book is that there is no list of references or a set of qualifications for the author/illustrator to prove that he knows what he is talking about. It seems that the author is very knowledgeable and has done his research, but Adkins does not offer his qualifications or research for a reader seeking more information. The author presents the information in a very interesting format that speaks to the reader while dispelling common myths about pirate life.

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short and quick is this book goes over what life was like in oldy times. And to completely spoil it for you things were kind of sucktastic and shitty. So shitty in fact that people pooped out of wooden outhouses on the sides of their castles. Best part of this book is about midway through there is a diagram of a castle and I have to say that I love things like that.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What If You Met a Pirate? is filled with lots of facts about pirates through the ages. The movie image of a pirate is not what pirates are really like.

Used for "Pirates: Arrrrggg Mateys" Storytime-June, 2010.

[Bekka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Goodreads page has the wrong cover on it -
the book is fun! very informative about actual pirates and their lives. The illustrations are good and some good information. The layout is really nice.

[Trina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but the jam packed graphics were hard to read at times.

[Tanya Wadley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and educational... not a book for one sitting with kids.

[Azcuiseao · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that it is a good because it has action in it. It tolkes a lot about pirates.

[Bree · Rating 1 out of 5]

Notes::
I hate pirate books.
Lots of gross-out illustrations and descriptions.

[Kelsey Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny and informative

[Debbie DeKoeyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just when you think you know about pirates......this book is full of lost of interesting facts. Did you know 'real' pirates never made people walk the plank. It was made up for a book!

[Abraham Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

nice book of medieval times and people.