Pirates on the Farm

by Denette Fretz

Overview

The Pirates Next Door, written by Denette Jenkins Fretz and illustrated by (TBD), tells the tale of five brazen pirates who swap high seas adventures for life on a farm. When your neighbors are mischievous pirates, calamity becomes commonplace. Each member of the unadventurous Sanders family must choose how to respond to the pirates and their antics. Mother forms a Ban the Buccaneers Brigade, eight-year-old Joey imitates everything the pirates do, his older sister keeps her distance, and Dad quietly helps the outcasts find their “land legs.” Humor encases the story’s theme of loving eccentric neighbors… as yourself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310734253
Publisher:	Zonderkidz
Publication date:	09/25/2013
Series:	The Next Door Series
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishing
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	901,361
File size:	90 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Denette Fretz is the critically acclaimed author of two books in “The Next Door Series”––Pirates on the Farm and Conrad and the Cowgirl Next Door. A perpetual doodler and songster, Fretz teaches elementary art and music in Medford, Oregon.

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/19/2013
Chaos reigns in this humorous and heartwarming first book in the Next Door series, in which pirates become neighbors to a staid farm family. The daughter narrates her family’s varied responses to the pirates’ strange speech, style, and customs. For example, when they build a new barn to resemble a pirate ship: “Mother called it ‘disgraceful.’ Joey begged to walk the plank. Dad nailed down loose boards.” Barretta’s (Sheetzucacapoopoo: My Kind of Dog) illustrations capture the hilarious incongruity of the pirates’ attempts to join their new community: a church scene shows the pirates looting the offering, to congregants’ dismay. Another scene has them commandeering the Christmas pageant, upset that “anyone would put a baby in a feeding trough.” Although the townspeople initially rally against the perceived interlopers, they gradually become more welcoming as they come to know their neighbors. This well-crafted, entertaining story delivers a subtle but powerful message. An endnote to parents includes discussion topics for the family. Ages 4–7. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

11/01/2013
K-Gr 3—Drop five "swashbuckling pirates" into a small farming community and there's plenty of fodder for humor and life lessons alike. The neighbors have differing opinions on the situation; the narrator's mother is horrifed, her father is open-minded, her brother is thrilled, and she is coolly observant. The pirates' many ineptitudes are milked for full effect, including shearing sheep, harvesting corn, attending church, and hosting dinner parties (hardtack and fish heads). Their fate seems sealed when they destroy the Christmas pageant as they rescue the "baby in a feeding trough." The colorful cartoons fill in details and flesh out distinct personalities. When the mother smiles for the first time, close observers will know things are changing. A list of tongue-in-cheek definitions in pirate-ese and a "Letter to Parents" with Christian-centered discussion points conclude the book.—Carol S. Surges, formerly at Longfellow Middle School, Wauwatosa, WI

School Library Journal