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The Pirates Are Coming!
Tom has a very important job: every day he climbs to the top of the hill and watches for pirate ships. When he rings his bell and shouts “PIRATES!” a few too many times — even though there’s no pirate ship — the villagers start to get tired of hiding. But what will happen when the pirates really do show up?
32 pages, Hardcover
Published July 7, 2020
54 people want to read
About the author
John Condon
13 books7 followersWhen John Condon was a child, he was always drawing, so his mother and most of his teachers assumed he would become an illustrator or a designer. He did become a designer, and now he’s an author, too. John Condon was born and raised in London, but he currently lives on its outskirts where it’s a little leafier.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
November 26, 2023
Το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο, το ξεκίνησα γιατί μού τράβηξε την προσοχή ο τίτλος του και γιατί ήθελα να δω γενικά τι ρόλο θα έπαιζαν οι πειρατές σε αυτή την ιστορία.
Ομολογώ βέβαια, πως ξενέρωσα σε κάποια φάση, καθώς θεώρησα πως αυτό εδώ, θα είχε κάποιο διδακτικό μήνυμα του τύπου "Μην λες ψέματα, γιατί μετά και να λες την αλήθεια δεν θα σε πιστεύουν" όπως το παραμύθι του Ψεύτη Βοσκού. Στο τέλος όμως, είχε μια μικρή ανατροπή, η οποία άλλαζε όλη την ιστορία, πράγμα που μπορώ να πω ότι με εξέπληξε ευχάριστα και σίγουρα παίζει ρόλο στο ότι δεν του βάζω 3/5, βαθμολογία την οποία σκόπευα αρχικά να βάλω.
Επίσης, είχε ωραία εικονογράφηση, η οποία θεωρώ ότι θα τραβήξει και την προσοχή των μικρών αναγνωστών.
If you made it this far, congratulations.
'Til next time, take care :) :) :)
Ομολογώ βέβαια, πως ξενέρωσα σε κάποια φάση, καθώς θεώρησα πως αυτό εδώ, θα είχε κάποιο διδακτικό μήνυμα του τύπου "Μην λες ψέματα, γιατί μετά και να λες την αλήθεια δεν θα σε πιστεύουν" όπως το παραμύθι του Ψεύτη Βοσκού. Στο τέλος όμως, είχε μια μικρή ανατροπή, η οποία άλλαζε όλη την ιστορία, πράγμα που μπορώ να πω ότι με εξέπληξε ευχάριστα και σίγουρα παίζει ρόλο στο ότι δεν του βάζω 3/5, βαθμολογία την οποία σκόπευα αρχικά να βάλω.
Επίσης, είχε ωραία εικονογράφηση, η οποία θεωρώ ότι θα τραβήξει και την προσοχή των μικρών αναγνωστών.
If you made it this far, congratulations.
'Til next time, take care :) :) :)
June 13, 2020
El cuento de Pedro y el lobo con piratas. Me ha encantado todo el cuento y el giro final, más todavía.
December 11, 2020
A fun new take on the Boy Who Cried Wolf trope. I loved this little book!
I read this one in Dutch but wanted to share my review in English. Because this book was just so fun and I want more people to read it.
Meet Tom. He has a very very very important job. He has to sit on the highest hill near the village and has to ring his bell and alert the villagers when the pirates are coming. However, Tom is a bit too eager and we see him run down for various boats… until.. and those who know the boy who cried wolf story know how this will end. Poor Tom, but he really should just have done a better job and maybe brought some binoculars with him. Because clearly his dad’s descriptions (who tries to help Tom after each failed bell alert) isn’t helping. 😛
I had such a laugh when the pirates did come in, strolling in casually. And then something very fun happens, something I really didn’t see coming and something that had me giggling and smiling. OH MY GOSH, that is certainly a fun surprise. And a cute/sweet one. That is all I will say.
The illustrations are very well done, I loved how everyone was drawn, and I loved seeing Tom run around waving his bell crying Pirates Pirates PIRRAAAATTTES.
All in all, this is a wonderful spin on Boy Who Cried Wolf, I thought for sure it would go x direction… but it totally surprised me. I would recommend it to all.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I read this one in Dutch but wanted to share my review in English. Because this book was just so fun and I want more people to read it.
Meet Tom. He has a very very very important job. He has to sit on the highest hill near the village and has to ring his bell and alert the villagers when the pirates are coming. However, Tom is a bit too eager and we see him run down for various boats… until.. and those who know the boy who cried wolf story know how this will end. Poor Tom, but he really should just have done a better job and maybe brought some binoculars with him. Because clearly his dad’s descriptions (who tries to help Tom after each failed bell alert) isn’t helping. 😛
I had such a laugh when the pirates did come in, strolling in casually. And then something very fun happens, something I really didn’t see coming and something that had me giggling and smiling. OH MY GOSH, that is certainly a fun surprise. And a cute/sweet one. That is all I will say.
The illustrations are very well done, I loved how everyone was drawn, and I loved seeing Tom run around waving his bell crying Pirates Pirates PIRRAAAATTTES.
All in all, this is a wonderful spin on Boy Who Cried Wolf, I thought for sure it would go x direction… but it totally surprised me. I would recommend it to all.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
December 29, 2025
Een leuke variant op the boy who cried wolf met een leuke plottwist
February 6, 2022
Dochter Iza heeft niet vaak een boek dat ze 4x achter elkaar weer lezen! 🙂
September 25, 2023
Geweldig boek. Ik moest zo lachen op het einde, ik had dit einde niet verwacht. Perfect gedaan. Leuk getekend, goed opgebouwd met de herhalingen in het begin, en ideale lengte.
October 15, 2020
The Boy Who Cried Wolf, with pirates!
This is a fun book about a boy who watches the sea for pirates and every time he sees a boat, he runs to town yelling, "The pirates are coming!" until no one believes him!
Cute illustrations and repetitive text!
This is a fun book about a boy who watches the sea for pirates and every time he sees a boat, he runs to town yelling, "The pirates are coming!" until no one believes him!
Cute illustrations and repetitive text!
August 25, 2020
A humorous take on the Boy Who Cried Wolf folk tale, but with an unexpected twist at the end too. I think children will love this story.
June 28, 2020
Richie’s Picks: THE PIRATES ARE COMING! by John Condon and Matt Hunt, ill., Candlewick/Nosy Crow, July 2020, 32p., ISBN: 978-1-5362-1216-7
“We are rough!
We are tough!
We are gruff, gruff, gruff!”
-- Pirate chant from Phoebe Gilman’s GRANDMA AND THE PIRATES (Scholastic, 1990)
“And once again (but not quite as quickly this time), everybody hid.
They waited...and waited...and waited UNTIL it was very clear there were definitely NO pirates, just a big merchant ship pulling into the dock.
‘TOM!’ said the villagers. ‘That is NOT a pirate ship!’
‘That’s OK, Tom, said his dad gently. ‘Just remember, pirate ships are big and fast, and they have a special pirate flag.’
When Tom trudged up the hill the next day, he brought his favorite book, some crayons, and his teddy bear, and got ready for a long wait.
But suddenly…”
A generation ago, when GRANDMA AND THE PIRATES was first published, I was an early childhood educator. It wasn’t that long before then that Title IX was enacted. I knew it was essential to disabuse the younger generation--my preschool students--of the notion that girls couldn’t be this or that. And the sooner the better.
Now there’s another new generation, but we still hear the same old statistics: Women in equivalent jobs earn only 80 cents for every dollar men make. Black women in equivalent jobs earn only 61 cents for every dollar men make. This is intolerable. We cannot ease up on our demands that opportunity in America truly be equal until, in fact, we really get there.
I imagine that the trajectory of my comments gives a big hint as to the punchline of this incredibly fun pirate yarn. But before we reach the climax, THE PIRATES ARE COMING! is a clever, twisted retelling of the traditional tale, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Again and again, Tom climbs the hill to watch for pirates. He innocently mistakes various vessels for pirate ships and, as the townspeople repeatedly get irritated at him, Tom’s father patiently instructs him as to what to watch for.
By time a real pirate ship comes into view, the townspeople are no longer paying him any mind...until they hear the telltale squawk of the captain’s parrot.
Matt Hunt’s lively, mixed-media illustrations include a charming multicultural cast with priceless expressions on their faces.
As has long been the case, today’s kids are enchanted by the notion of pirates. It will be easy to draw young people into a read-aloud of THE PIRATES ARE COMING! It’s a fun story with a surprise ending that subtly proposes that girls can do anything boys can--even the naughty stuff.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
richiepartington@gmail.com
“We are rough!
We are tough!
We are gruff, gruff, gruff!”
-- Pirate chant from Phoebe Gilman’s GRANDMA AND THE PIRATES (Scholastic, 1990)
“And once again (but not quite as quickly this time), everybody hid.
They waited...and waited...and waited UNTIL it was very clear there were definitely NO pirates, just a big merchant ship pulling into the dock.
‘TOM!’ said the villagers. ‘That is NOT a pirate ship!’
‘That’s OK, Tom, said his dad gently. ‘Just remember, pirate ships are big and fast, and they have a special pirate flag.’
When Tom trudged up the hill the next day, he brought his favorite book, some crayons, and his teddy bear, and got ready for a long wait.
But suddenly…”
A generation ago, when GRANDMA AND THE PIRATES was first published, I was an early childhood educator. It wasn’t that long before then that Title IX was enacted. I knew it was essential to disabuse the younger generation--my preschool students--of the notion that girls couldn’t be this or that. And the sooner the better.
Now there’s another new generation, but we still hear the same old statistics: Women in equivalent jobs earn only 80 cents for every dollar men make. Black women in equivalent jobs earn only 61 cents for every dollar men make. This is intolerable. We cannot ease up on our demands that opportunity in America truly be equal until, in fact, we really get there.
I imagine that the trajectory of my comments gives a big hint as to the punchline of this incredibly fun pirate yarn. But before we reach the climax, THE PIRATES ARE COMING! is a clever, twisted retelling of the traditional tale, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Again and again, Tom climbs the hill to watch for pirates. He innocently mistakes various vessels for pirate ships and, as the townspeople repeatedly get irritated at him, Tom’s father patiently instructs him as to what to watch for.
By time a real pirate ship comes into view, the townspeople are no longer paying him any mind...until they hear the telltale squawk of the captain’s parrot.
Matt Hunt’s lively, mixed-media illustrations include a charming multicultural cast with priceless expressions on their faces.
As has long been the case, today’s kids are enchanted by the notion of pirates. It will be easy to draw young people into a read-aloud of THE PIRATES ARE COMING! It’s a fun story with a surprise ending that subtly proposes that girls can do anything boys can--even the naughty stuff.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
richiepartington@gmail.com
February 26, 2020
https://www.thebreadcrumbforest.com/2...
I've never known pirate stories NOT to be popular - either at home or in the classroom. But even if there's some disagreement on that then I'm prepared to bet that this new release will strike GOLD with little ones.
Open the pages and leap into a TREASURE TROVE of wonder. The fantastic artwork by Matt Hunt sucked me instantly into the page, making me feel like I was actually there, Tom's endearing excitement and anticipation was highly contagious and the plot brilliantly simple and catchy in it's repetitiveness.
Can you see the pirates coming? Tom is convinced he can! His job is super important. Alerting the villagers by ringing the bell will mean they can hide in plenty of time. There's only one problem. Tom may need to invest in a pirate telescope or go to Specsavers...for maybe it's not the pirates after all...or is it?
The story, like the original Aesop's fable, carries a pretty serious message but the twist at the end is new and refreshing and lightens the story in a fun and humorous way. The language is perfect for both the younger end of the picture book market and for children with SEN. (My daughter is 9, has autism and responds amazingly to texts that she can memorise and repeat.)
So sharpen your cutlasses and find your hiding places quick. For if Tom rings that bell...
then the PIRATES ARE COMING!
I've never known pirate stories NOT to be popular - either at home or in the classroom. But even if there's some disagreement on that then I'm prepared to bet that this new release will strike GOLD with little ones.
Open the pages and leap into a TREASURE TROVE of wonder. The fantastic artwork by Matt Hunt sucked me instantly into the page, making me feel like I was actually there, Tom's endearing excitement and anticipation was highly contagious and the plot brilliantly simple and catchy in it's repetitiveness.
Can you see the pirates coming? Tom is convinced he can! His job is super important. Alerting the villagers by ringing the bell will mean they can hide in plenty of time. There's only one problem. Tom may need to invest in a pirate telescope or go to Specsavers...for maybe it's not the pirates after all...or is it?
The story, like the original Aesop's fable, carries a pretty serious message but the twist at the end is new and refreshing and lightens the story in a fun and humorous way. The language is perfect for both the younger end of the picture book market and for children with SEN. (My daughter is 9, has autism and responds amazingly to texts that she can memorise and repeat.)
So sharpen your cutlasses and find your hiding places quick. For if Tom rings that bell...
then the PIRATES ARE COMING!
July 23, 2021
The Pirates Are Coming is a fun story that the children love. It is very much like the boy who cried wolf with Tom going to the top of the hill each day to announce whether the pirates are coming. After many false alarms people lose trust in his warnings but what will happen when the warning is true.
The children love pirates so this interested them as soon as they saw the front cover. The repetitive nature to the book got them excited as they waited in anticipation to see if the pirates really were coming and they loved guessing what kind of boat would turn up each time. I liked how each time Tom would describe the boat with a little more details as it got the children thinking about describing words and how they'd describe a boat.
The pirate and seaside illustrations are so much fun to look at and give the book a lovely seaside feel. The end of the book was particularly exciting to look at but the children also loved seeing the ships and wondering whether they were the pirate ship like Tom was expecting.
This is a great book which young pirate fans will love but also helps teach the lesson that if you keep lying or giving false messages people will lose trust in you. A brilliant read.
The children love pirates so this interested them as soon as they saw the front cover. The repetitive nature to the book got them excited as they waited in anticipation to see if the pirates really were coming and they loved guessing what kind of boat would turn up each time. I liked how each time Tom would describe the boat with a little more details as it got the children thinking about describing words and how they'd describe a boat.
The pirate and seaside illustrations are so much fun to look at and give the book a lovely seaside feel. The end of the book was particularly exciting to look at but the children also loved seeing the ships and wondering whether they were the pirate ship like Tom was expecting.
This is a great book which young pirate fans will love but also helps teach the lesson that if you keep lying or giving false messages people will lose trust in you. A brilliant read.
January 8, 2024
A brilliant book with a lovely twist at the end! I must read this 10 times a day to our daughter and I love it every time. The book reads so well with really fantastic illustrations to accompany the story as it unfolds on each page. I love how the repetition and exaggeration builds throughout and concludes in a crescendo with a twist… not even I was expecting upon the first read! Definitely worth a read and the repetitive nature of the story means this is a great book to get your kids involved with the story telling too!
August 2, 2021
Verliefd geworden op de tekeningen en nog meer toen ik de plot ontdekte. Heb het boek gebruikt als uitwerking voor een Piratenkamp voor kleuters en het was een schot in de roos. De herhaling, de opgebouwde spanning, de grappige verstopplaatsen en uiteindelijk de verrassende plotwending. Zalig boek!! (Superleuk om na dit boek een belletje te zoeken en om de zoveel tijd spontaan te rinkelen ‘Ze komen! Verstop je!!’).
February 9, 2020
If you think you’ve got enough pirate stories, think again....This is a refreshingly different take on pirates. A young boy tries to warn his village that pirates are coming, but keeps getting it wrong. A couple of great twists at the end. Text that allows you and your child to interact with the story, and beautiful vibrant illustrations, makes this a book you will come back to again and again.
June 16, 2024
A cumulative tale about the clues that the little boy should be looking for before telling the village that "The pirates are coming!" There are two surprise endings at the end and they are both sweet. This is very fun for a read aloud. I had kids ringing the bell to accompany the refrain, "The pirates are coming!"
March 2, 2021
A book about a boy who is on the watch for pirates. He tells everyone pirates are coming but don't come. Then when the pirates do arrive everyone is slow to hide. They end up surprising the pirates as it is a pirate town!
October 16, 2021
Like the boy who cried wolf, but instead of a prank, this boy is on the lookout for pirates. Overexcited, he runs into town ringing his bell every time he sees any boat in the distance. When the pirates show up, no one believes him. With a twist ending that was actually surprising.
February 21, 2022
This cute story is a take on the well-known story "The Boy Who Cried, Wolf". Kids easily should be able to get involved with this book and become the main character as they are reading along together with parents, babysitters, and/or teachers.
January 31, 2026
Dit boek mocht ik voorlezen bij de kleuters tijdens de Nationale Voorleesdagen. Altijd leuk om in een andere klas voor te lezen. Ik vond dit een heel leuk boek en het einde verrassend! Het is dat de tijd om was, anders had ik het nog een keer gelezen! Tingelingeling!
February 10, 2020
A hilarious retelling of 'the boy who cried wolf' with a clever modern twist. A joy for both kids and parents.
February 22, 2020
I really hate annoying characters/peoole like that - it had a positive message, but poorly presented.
June 19, 2020
Very pleasant, unexpected, and pleasing twist at the end!
June 28, 2020
Interesting story about perception of things. Pirates are coming, watch out.
Illustrations were cool
Illustrations were cool
January 11, 2021
Tom is too excited for the pirates to come to town so, he gives the town three false alarms.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2021
Super fun!
June 30, 2021
Didn't see that twist coming! Reminds me a bit of the boy who cried wolf but enjoyed it nonetheless. And I loved how expressive the illustrations are, even the side characters :)
July 26, 2021
«Ένα καράβι παλιό, σαπιοκάραβο
με κάτι ναύτες τρελούς, πειρατές»…
Ο ψεύτης βοσκός, ένας ευσεβής πόθος και ένα απρόσμενο τέλος…
με κάτι ναύτες τρελούς, πειρατές»…
Ο ψεύτης βοσκός, ένας ευσεβής πόθος και ένα απρόσμενο τέλος…
March 18, 2022
Really funny story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews