Are Pirates Polite?

by Corinne Demas, Artemis Roehrig, David Catrow (Illustrator)

Overview

"Pirates are unruly and pirates love to fight,
but pirates still say 'please' and 'thanks'
'cause pirates are polite."

Are Pirates Polite? shows pirates' rowdy activities and teaches manners lessons. These pirates remember to say "please" and "thank you." If pirates can be polite, surely young readers can, too!

Fun, rhyming text by Corinne Demas and Artemis Roehrig pairs pirates' questionable activities with their lead-by-example lessons in manners. David Catrow's humorous, zany illustrations depict the swashbuckling nature of the pirates. Follow along as pirates have fun on a pirate ship, divide up their treasure, and teach manners. Aargh!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545628747
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	11/29/2016
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	11.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD850L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Corinne Demas is the award-winning author of numerous books for children and adults, including Pirates Go to School, illustrated by John Manders, and Always in Trouble, illustrated by Noah Z. Jones. Corinne is a professor of English at Mount Holyoke College, and her website is www.corinnedemas.com. She divides her time between Western Massachusetts and Cape Cod.

Artemis Roehrig lives in Western Massachusetts and loves to share stories with her two children. This is her first book.

David Catrow is the award-winning illustrator of numerous books for children, including Monster Mash, the Max Spaniel series, Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs, and Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon. He lives with his wife, Debbie, and their dogs. Please visit his website: www.catrow.com.

Editorial Reviews

09/19/2016
In an uneven send-up of pirates’ manners, Catrow’s (Fun in the Sun) boisterous mixed-media illustrations spotlight a bumbling pirate crew demonstrating respectful and unacceptable behavior alike, though they tend to blur together. At times, the action in the images takes some work to decode, or doesn’t quite match up with the verse; in one scene, the pirate captain sobs while building a model pirate ship (his parrot has apparently stolen his miniature flag) as three mateys look on (“pirates never interrupt/ when another pirate’s talking”). Demas and Roehrig, the mother-daughter team behind the recent Does a Fiddler Crab Fiddle?, establish a playful, singsong rhythm as they jump between bad behavior and good, but several rhymes require linguistic somersaults to come together (“While pirates are in battle,/ to push ahead is fine./ But when it’s time to board the boat,/ pirates wait in line”). Even so, Catrow’s caricatures will keep many readers giggling as these scallywags try—more or less—to mind their manners. Ages 3–5. Author’s agent: Mitchell Waters, Curtis Brown. Illustrator’s agent: Brian Keliher, Keliher Literary Management. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Pirates Go to School by Corinne Demas and illustrated by John Manders:
"The eager-to-learn pirates learn to clean up after their parrots and not to swear.... A humorous read." -- School Library Journal

Praise for Saying Goodbye to Lulu by Corinne Demas and illustrated by Ard Hoyt:
* "Demas uses sensory details to bring the story to life.... A sensitive, hopeful portrayal." -- Booklist, starred review

Praise for Max Spaniel: Funny Lunch by David Catrow:
"Catrow's watercolor illustrations are exuberant and clever, full of humorous details that kids will love to discover." -- School Library Journal

Praise for Monster Mash by David Catrow:
"Catrow has created a hilarious picture book with inventive illustrations. Electrifying pictures.... The artwork shows everything readers might think would frighten them in a humorous light." -- School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Sure, pirates are an unruly bunch who loves to fight. Yet right off the bat, readers learn pirates “still say ‘please’ and ‘thanks,’ ‘cause pirates are polite.” Then each silly scene celebrates how pirates carouse amid a mash up of conflicting priorities. Outside on deck, they shout while counting gold, but they use ‘inside voices’ to talk in the hold. “They have to plunder; it’s their duty. Yet they do say thanks for all the stolen booty.” Pirates do not admire clean faces or washed hair, “but they always show respect and never point or stare.” Cartoony, colorful art brings some edginess to the waves of rollicking couplets and quatrains. For example, a pirate will apologize instead of screaming “You rapscallion!” for bumping a mate who blocks his way—but that bump will toss that same mate overboard into the gaping jaws of a shark. Overall, demonstrating good manners is clearly the almost-pedantic point. Readers are left to infer this for themselves until the last page that succinctly, yet rather inorganically, lists “12 Pirate Manners.” Fortunately, the underwater shot of a well-sated shark in a party hat distracts from this didactic blast through the fourth wall. Reviewer: Katie Engen; Ages 3 to 7.

Children's Literature - Katie Engen

2016-08-17
Mutinous manners and piratical politeness are the name of the game in this swashbuckling story. It might surprise readers to hear that pirates are the positive pinnacle of politeness, but it’s true! Twelve mannerly qualities are listed, with these mostly white pirates making the grade. As the book says from the start, “Pirates are unruly and pirates love to fight, / but pirates still say ‘please’ and ‘thanks’ ’cause pirates are polite.” And here’s the captain merrily handing over a crewmate’s molar after a scuffle. Other guidelines are checked off the list as well, including chewing with one’s mouth shut (particularly if it’s someone else’s food), always saying “thank you” (even when stealing booty), and using one’s inside voice (in the hold). Catrow lends his considerable talents to the tale, yet the result is strangely disjointed, leaving readers unsure if the book is serious or sarcastic. For example, readers are told not to barge into private situations, so the pirates leave the captain alone during his bubble bath, which seems literal enough. Yet earlier in the book, the verse on sharing is depicted with a lone pirate marooned with only a single coin from the latest haul—that’s sharing? Mind you, not all young pirate lovers will note these discrepancies. If it’s grotesque pirate misadventures they seek, this book delivers in spades. As a manners book, hide your doubloons. But as a pirate book, it’s yo-ho-ho and away you go! (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews