The Grumpy Pirate

Aye aye, matey! This book by co-authors Corinne Demas and Artemis Roehrig is a keeper! The Grumpy Pirate is a humorous tale filled with fun rhyming quatrain stanzas, diverse characters, secondary visual plots in the background of the colourful illustrations, and, at the core of the story, a transparent message about personal responsibility for emotional regulation. Grumpy Gus, the protagonist, is a major downer and demonstrates his negative perspective in contrast to his upbeat and eager crew members. While his pirate community wishes for him to have a change of heart, ultimately, Gus only sees the error of his ways when he’s given a copycat parrot and subsequently vows to make an effort to be more positive. Since the pirate theme is often a hit with children in preschool or primary classrooms, Grumpy Pirate is a great book for reading aloud as students are learning about their role in self-social-emotional regulation.

Ashlyn Anstee’s bright and vibrant illustrations bring the story to life. The endpapers cleverly depict a treasure map, pre- and post-adventure. While the text, itself, does not mention a treasure hunt, Anstee’s illustrations lead Grumpy Gus and the entire pirate crew on a voyage to an island for buried treasure. Further to this background story, Anstee creates fun visual details that are sure to delight readers, details such as a pirate crab with a hook for an arm who meets a companion crab on the deserted island. In some ways, Anstee’s pint-sized depiction of Grumpy Gus is somewhat reminiscent (without being iterative) of Ashley Spires main character in her pirate book, Small Saul. Without the need for competition, these two books could work nicely together as a series of read-alouds or for comparative textual analysis since both books promote the concept that pirates are not always as tough and cutthroat as they’ve been stereotypically represented in the past. Nay, pirates can be fun-loving and caring too!

I reviewed The Grumpy Pirate in a digital format and look forward to purchasing a hard copy for my personal home library for my children so that we can see the treasure maps, as well as the other illustrations, in full double-page glory. Without hesitation, I would recommend this book for classrooms and libraries. When it comes to small children, there are never too many books about pirates!