The Pirate's Bed

by Nicola Winstanley, Matt James (Illustrator)

Overview

A pirate is sleeping snug in his bed, dreaming pirate dreams, when a great storm comes up at sea. The pirate sleeps on, but his bed is awake and scared of the thunder and the angry waves. Tossed this way and that, the ship finally crashes, sending the pirate to a tropical island and his bed off to sea.
At first, the bed is overjoyed. It's free from smelly feet, snoring and scratchy wool. It floats in the now peaceful water, meeting friendly gulls and playful dolphins and basking in the sun. But soon the little bed begins to feel like something is missing...
This fanciful tale of a bed lost at sea will capture the hearts of little pirates everywhere and send them off to sleep with dreams of tropical birds, swooshing waves and chattering monkeys.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781770496163
Publisher:	Tundra
Publication date:	03/10/2015
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Nicola Winstanley has always believed in the power of stories to bring comfort. So when her toddler Sam started making nighttime travels, she would tuck him back under his covers and tell him a story that let him know how much his bed needed him. (Now bed is his favorite place and she can't get him up in the morning, but he still loves stories... ) Nicola's previous book, Cinnamon Baby, won an honor prize for the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer award and was shortlisted for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book award.

Matt James is a painter, illustrator and musician. His books have won many prestigious awards, including the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, the New Mexico Book Award and the Governor General's Award. Matt lives in Toronto with his family.

Editorial Reviews

What sets The Pirate's Bed apart from other tales of its ilk is the main character - the bed itself .... James also has an impressive ability to convey the emotional journey of the secret-laden bed, especially through its bedpost eyes. This unique viewpoint, both in narrative and art, makes The Pirate's Bed charming and memorable.” - Quill & Quire

From the Publisher

★ 05/01/2015
PreS-Gr 2—A pirate snoozes through a great storm while his frightened bed is buffeted about. The storm pitches the sleeping pirate and his crew overboard then to an island where they live "in peace for the rest of their days, eating sweet fruit and teaching parrots to talk." Meanwhile, the pirate's bed drifts away from the island, free from stinky feet and loud snores. Ocean life is filled with wonders. "When the dolphins sliced the air with their silver, sickle-shaped bodies, the bed thought it had never seen such a beautiful sight." In time, the bed misses the weight of a sleeper. It drifts to shore where a carpenter finds and restores it. After it's been waiting in a shop, a young mother brings the bed home for her little boy, and years later he passes it to his. "As time went on, the bed was passed from family to family. And whoever slept in that square-framed, solid and sensible bed felt the rock of the ocean on dry land. It might be that the bed was passed down to you!" The illustrations are as rich and wonderful as the language and story. They are rendered in acrylic paint and India ink on board. James uses layering, scratching, and solid dark outlines to pack emotion into the images. The art gives the impression of having been painted by a child, but the textures show a formidable talent. VERDICT This is a treasure of a book.—Amelia Jenkins, Juneau Public Library, AK

School Library Journal