The Great Piratical Rumbustification and The Librarian and the Robbers

by Margaret Mahy, Quentin Blake (Illustrator)

Overview

A former pirate and a band of robbers meet their match in these two funny stories for children.

Piratical Rumbustification introduces us to Alpha, Oliver, and Omega Terrapin, home alone with none other than Orpheus Clinker, a reformed pirate cleverly transformed into a respectable babysitter. Or has he reformed? Before you can say “yo ho ho” the Terrapin household has become headquarters of the century’s biggest pirate party.

The Librarian and the Robbers is an equally tickling tale of a band of wicked robbers who one day carry off Serena Leburnum, a beautiful librarian. Follow what happens as the lovely and learned Miss L. not only outwits the robbers, turning them into outstanding citizens, but also teaches them the everlasting pleasures of the Dewey Decimal System.

This two-in-one collection by masters of humor for children (the equally sublime Margaret Mahy and Quentin Blake) is a treat for any kid who loves to laugh.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781567921694
Publisher:	David R. Godine, Publisher
Publication date:	04/30/2013
Pages:	64
Sales rank:	707,580
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 8.56(h) x 0.19(d)
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

About the Author

Margaret Mahy was a New Zealand author of children’s and young adult books. Many of her story plots have strong supernatural elements but her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growing up. She wrote more than 100 picture books, 40 novels, and 20 collections of short stories and, at her death she was one of thirty writers to win the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Medal for her “lasting contribution to children’s literature.”

Quentin Blake is one of the UK’s cultural treasures. He has written and illustrated dozens of books and provided pictures for hundreds more, including the children’s novels of Roald Dahl.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 3-6 Available in the U.K. since 1978, this is a well-balanced pair of humorous pieces, one a novella, the other a short story. In The Great Piratical Rumbustification , the boys of the Terrapin family find themselves with a pirate babysitter who wants to use their house for a long-delayed pirate party. In The Librarian and the Robbers , Serena Laburnum, the beautiful librarian, is kidnapped and held for ransom by a gang of ill-read robbers. How she achieves her own rescue, then rescues the Robber Chief, is enough to delight the hearts of young readers and of librarians everywhere. The pirate party, too, is a great success, and not just for the participants. Both stories clamor to be read aloud and will be just the answer to the Friday afternoon doldrums. Blake's illustrations are right in keeping with the general zaniness yet perfect logic of the texts. Barbara Hutcheson, Greater Victoria Public Library, Canada

School Library Journal