January 2017 Book of the Month In suitably jolly rhyme Ed Eaves describes just what joining Captain McGrew’s pirate crew entails, from the reasonably easy – climbing the rigging, shouting ‘Land Ahoy!’ – to the downright difficult – digging up treasure, cleaning the hull. Mark Sperring’s lively illustrations show a young would-be crew coping with everything the captain throws at them and with admirable resilience, until a surprise final twist. Sperring’s illustrations are full of colourful detail and nicely at odds with the text, which remains relentlessly upbeat as the crew appear more and more exhausted and cheesed off. It all makes for a fun picture book that puts a new spin on the ever-popular pirate theme. ~Andrea Reece
Meet Captain McGrew: He's in need of a crew to do all those jobs that pirate crews do. Can you sploosh down the poop deck? Get up that rig? Find X marks the spot and get ready to dig? Could this be the job for you?
A rollicking tale of some kids who just might find that being a pirate isn't quite as fun as they think! By a super commercial author and illustrator pairing with combined sales of over 230,000 in the UK alone.
Mark Sperring worked as a printer before becoming a bookseller, and later becoming a children's book author. Mark is the author of Dino Mummy, Dino Baby, Dino Daddy, Four Silly Skeletons, I'll Love You Always and The Naughty Naughty Baddies (Bloomsbury), Captain Buckleboots on the Naughty Step (Puffin) and The Sunflower Sword (Andersen). He lives in Bristol.
