David over at What’s Good To Read has reviewed this treasure of a pirate book with a twist. Written by debut author David Crosby and illustrated by Lee Cosgrove, Pirates Vs. Monsters is all about lies and the consequences of our actions;
Reading (or being read to) from an early age on a daily basis can help improve a child’s intelligence. It helps with listening to how words are formed and sounded, teaches them structure on how to form words, sentences and paragraphs and helps with communication skills – written and verbal. Reading for pleasure is the best way to do this, not just for the educational aspects but also for the joy a good story can bring like the book in this review – Pirates vs. Monsters.
Maverick Books are an independent publisher of children’s books – picture books, early readers and junior fiction – and have an excellent variety of books to choose from. We were delighted when we received Pirates vs. Monsters, written by David Crosby and illustrated by Lee Cosgrove, from their picture book collection.
Overall, this is a very good picture rhyming book. The text is very easy to follow and rhymes very well. It is a tale of pirates and monsters (what child doesn’t love them?) but has an underlying message about not telling the whole truth and that if you don’t you will always be found out. It is a lot of fun to read and the kids really enjoyed it (as did I).
Whilst the text makes a very good quick story, the illustrations and absolutely brilliant – bold and colourful and really bring the words to life. For a story containing pirates and monsters that could be quite dark with wooden pirate ships and horrible monsters, the colours and illustrations are all bright and appealing and will really engage the young readers. Lee Cosgrove is an excellent artist.
Pirates vs. Monsters is a book that we enjoyed immensely. The rhyming text is excellent (especially when you read it with pirate voices), the illustrations are bold, vibrant and engaging and the underlying message of it is never good to tell lies makes it a fantastically fun read.
A picture book that the kids and their adult readers will absolutely enjoy reading. It will make a good bedtime story (or story for anytime) as it is fun and really not scary.
Rating: 5/5