When You're a Pirate Dog and Other Pirate Poems

by Eric Ode, Jim Harris (Illustrator)

Overview

A rip-roaring ride on the high seas with the most lyrical pirates around!

Pirates find their literary voices in this rollicking romp on the salty seas. Hilarity ensues as they go about their tasks narrated in poetry and song. The jolly illustrations bring their adventures, above and below decks, to life. See all their silly exploits in this swashbuckling adventure!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455614936
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	02/22/2012
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	1,058,773
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Eric Ode is an award-winning performing artist who carried his love of loopy word play into the classroom as an elementary teacher. After earning a master's degree in education technology, he hung up his teaching hat to travel the country. During his performances, Ode focuses on engaging even the youngest of learners with his collection of rollicking characters immortalized in poetry and song. He lives with his wife, Kim, and their two children, two dogs, and four chickens in western Washington.


Jim Harris is a prolific illustrator of children's books who employs great detail and humor in his artwork. His trademark style has earned him numerous awards, including a silver medal from the Society of Illustrators, the coveted Communication Arts' Award of Excellence, and the Colorado Children's Book Award. Harris has also written and illustrated a long list of children's books, including Dinosaur's Night Before Christmas and The Three Little Dinosaurs, both published by Pelican Publishing Company.

Editorial Reviews

This well-executed collection of swashbuckling verse features a broad cast that includes a lonely sea serpent (“It could be my manners they find unappealing./ It could be the way that I greet them./ It could be my temper, but I’ve got a feeling/ It’s mostly the fact that I eat them”); the ghost of pirate Red Eye Jack (“We’ll pilfer, swindle, lie, and curse,/ When things get bad, we’ll make them worse”), and a pirate who has been transformed into a walrus by a witch. Harris’s detailed and sea creature–studded illustrations have a touch of Steven Kellogg and Mercer Mayer, while Ode’s poems read like rambunctious tall tales. Ages 4–7. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 3—This enjoyably goofy, rowdy collection of verses covers pirate life from a multitude of entertaining angles. Readers meet magical creatures and a host of bumbling characters, including a pirate ghost, while also getting a chance to explore a ship and sample the cuisine: "'You best beware the biscuits, men,'/the cook called from the galley door./'They're tougher than they should have been./I dropped one, and it cracked the floor.'" The expressive cartoon illustrations have a lot of personality, exaggerating the characters to match the tone of the poetry. Full of jokes and fun, the singsong rhymes give the selections the feel of lively, sea shanties. These high-sea adventures make for comical armchair travel.—Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA

School Library Journal