The Terrible, Horrible, Smelly Pirate

by Jacqueline Halsey, Carrie Muller, Eric Orchard (Illustrator)

This fun read-aloud pirate story follows the adventures of a terrible, horrible, smelly pirate named Sydney and his friend Parrot Polly. After answering a riddle set by a tricky mermaid the rascals dig for treasure by the old lighthouse. Children will enjoy the anticipation as the chest is raised to the surface, and the surprise as its unexpected contents are revealed. The clean and dirty theme will make this book a circle time favourite with many daycare and library programmers. Parents will love it too.

Genres: Picture Books, Pirates

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2008

About the author

For Jacqueline Halsey, growing up in post-war London meant walking to school past numerous bombsites and listening to her mother's stories about food rationing and air raids. Consequently, she always admired the courage of women and children coping with the tasks of everyday life in wartime situations. This courage inspired Peggy's Letters, Jacqueline's first book.

After High School she went to art college in Worthing, Sussex and then much later obtained a BA degree at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, which she attended as a mature student.

Jacqueline loves traveling and has visited many countries, including South Africa where she lived in a sugar mill village for four years.

She currently works in the Alderney Gate library in Halifax. Her days are filled with books, rhymes, puppets and lots of children to share them with. Jacqueline lives with her husband Ray, her granddaughter Ashlee, two cats and a very old goldfish in a house by a lake in Nova Scotia - a very different place from Peggy's war torn neighborhood.

Reviews

[Pascale · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book developed my then overly serious son’s funny bone.

[Sue Slade · Rating 5 out of 5]

That sneaky, tricky Mermaid is back with another riddle, this time it's for the not-so-terrible, horrible, smelly pirate, his rickety rackety crew, and Parrot Polly. What a fun follow-up to the Terrible, Horrible, Smelly Pirate. I particularly enjoy the fact that both these wonderfully illustrated books are set in our very own Halifax Harbour.

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the setting, the concept, and the ending. Also, I laughed at the mermaid’s treasure. It was funny. But once you know the joke, there’s not much to make you want to read it again.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a fun book to read aloud. With ebbs and flows, humour, great illustrations, enjoyable use of words, and a surprise ending, it is sure to become a favourite.

[Concetta Kellough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute story. Great pictures. I love how the pirate talks.

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is pretty good. The illustrations are wonderful and so are the text. I'm glad that the treasure chest was soap to clean the bug boy. I think this is weird, but I think this book is kinda like Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. Well this is a good book.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mermaid is disgusted that the beach she loves is covered with smelly garbage. She can find no one to clean it up, until a pirate ship arrives. The pirates are looking for buried treasure and the mermaid has a plan. Cute story featuring a beach cleanup. On the last page the authors give tips on how young readers with adults' help can conduct a beach cleanup.