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Melinda Long

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How I Became a Pirate Kindle Edition

by Melinda Long (Author), David Shannon (Illustrator) Format: Kindle Edition

4.8 1,215 ratings

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In this New York Times bestseller illustrated by Caldecott Honor–winning illustrator David Shannon, a boy sets off on a pirate adventure—with surprising results!

When Braid Beard’s pirate crew invites Jeremy Jacob to join their voyage, he jumps right on board. Buried treasure, sea chanteys, pirate curses—who wouldn’t go along?

Soon Jeremy Jacob knows all about being a pirate. He throws his food across the table and his manners to the wind. He hollers like thunder and laughs off bedtime. It’s the heave-ho, blow-the-man-down, very best time of his life. But then Jeremy Jacob finds out what pirates don’t do. . . .

Caldecott Honor illustrator David Shannon teams up with Melinda Long for a hilarious look at the finer points of pirate life. Shiver me timbers—it’s a pirate adventure!

How I Became a Pirate is a swashbuckling adventure with fantastically silly illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Young Jeremy Jacob is plucked from obscurity while innocently constructing a sand castle and is thrust into a brand-new life as a pirate. Captain Braid Beard and his crew recognize Jeremy as an exceptionally talented digger and they happen to be in desperate need of a digger to help them bury a treasure chest. Jeremy thinks a pirate life sounds like fun, as long as hes back the next day in time for soccer practice, and so he goes along with the ragtag group of seafaring thugs (with hearts of gold, naturally). And while Jeremy adores the pirates lack of table manners and opposition to vegetables, he comes to realize that a life away from his parents lacks some of the niceties to which hes become accustomed. Nobody tucks him in at night, for instance, and the only book available to read is a treasure map. Melinda Longs story, narrated with a sense of boastful exaggeration by Jeremy, is full of a sense of high adventure that's lovingly evocative of Robert Louis Stevensons classic tales. David Shannon's illustrations, full of a goofy vibrancy, are a perfect accompaniment to the story. (Ages 4 to 8) --John Moe

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3-Long has selected an irresistible combination for this age group-pirates and soccer. Jeremy Jacob is building a sand castle when a pirate ship lands nearby. His parents are preoccupied with other chores, so he takes off for an adventure on the high seas to help the men bury their treasure chest. He learns that buccaneers don't bother with manners or bedtimes, which is just fine with him, but it also means no bedtime stories or being tucked in. He tries to teach the pirates to play soccer, at least until the ball gets swallowed by a shark. When a storm hits, forcing the crew to return to shore, Jeremy solves the dilemma of where to bury the treasure-in his own backyard. He even makes it home in time for soccer practice. Paired with Shannon's energetic acrylics of a colorful crew of pop-eyed, snaggly toothed pirates seen from a variety of zany viewpoints (including upside down) and a small boy who is clearly having the time of his life, this rollicking adventure is sure to be a favorite with the storytime crowd.
Laurie Edwards, West Shore School District, Camp Hill, PA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 3. "Pirates have green teeth--when they have any teeth at all." So begins young Jeremy Jacob's witty recounting of his unexpected high-seas adventure. While building a sand castle at the beach, Jeremy spies a pirate ship. When he's asked to join its crew, he can't resist. On board, he does all sorts of fun pirate stuff: singing sea chanteys, learning pirate lingo, eating with one's hands. And he doesn't have to eat vegetables or take a bath! But, alas, Jeremy soon discovers, there's no goodnight kiss or bedtime story, so there's something to be said for home; besides, he has soccer practice. The rollicking tale is a charmer, with a lively, witty, first-person narrative, highly expressive characters, and farcical elements, including pirate captain Braid Beard's braided beard and his crew's enthusiastic vocal repetitions, in big, bold type, which add read-aloud pep. Shannon's acrylic art is marvelously animated, with bright, bold colors and extraordinary details, from the not-too-scary pirates' green teeth to the deep-blue sloshing sea. Along with swashbuckling humor and fantasy, kids will find much to relate to and appreciate--from excitement and family comforts to the joy of playing soccer. Shelle Rosenfeld
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Long's dry, tongue-in-cheek humor serves as an ideal springboard for Shannon's gleefully madcap illustrations."
― Publishers Weekly (starred review) Published On: 2003-07-07

"A roaring good read."
― Teaching K-8 Published On: 2003-09-01

"Shannon's illustrations... are a page-turning glory. Long's clever and spirited text leaves other pirate books in the bilge."
― San Diego Union-Tribune Published On: 2003-09-07

"Caldecott Honor-winner Shannon spices up this spirited pirate tale with vivid, appropriately zany acrylics."
― Child Magazine Published On: 2003-09-01

"Readers will be blown away by this rowdy gang, depicted in richly robust, humorous paintings."
― School Library Journal Published On: 2003-11-20

About the Author

Melinda Long, a long-time pirate fan, lives in Greenville, South Carolina with her husband, Thom, and her three spoiled dogs. She has two adult children, Cathy and Bryan. She graduated from Furman University and was a teacher for twenty-three years. Melinda loves acting, yoga, reading, and of course, writing. She really enjoys going to schools to talk to kids about reading and writing because she likes kids as much as she likes pirates. She is the winner of many awards and a number one, New York Times bestseller.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0095K8KR6
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Clarion Books; First edition (December 27, 2012)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 27, 2012
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 25803 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Not enabled
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 44 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #732,838 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #126 in Children's Pirate Action & Adventure
- #699 in Children's Humorous Action & Adventure
- #1,620 in Children's Books on Boys' & Men's Issues

Customer Reviews:
4.8 1,215 ratings

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Melinda Long is the author of WHEN PAPA SNORES and HICCUP SNICKUP, both published through Simon and Schuster. Her third book, HOW I BECAME A PIRATE is published through Harcourt Brace. It was chosen by Children’s Book of the Month Club as a main selection for September 2003, and has also been translated into more than thirteen languages. It is the winner of many awards and a number one, New York Times Bestseller. It is also making its way around the country in the form of a musical, written by Mark Friedman and Janet Vogt. Their musical, JINGLE AARGH THE WAY, is also based on Melinda’s work.

Melinda’s second pirate book is PIRATES DON’T CHANGE DIAPERS, also illustrated by David Shannon and is a Booksense, Publisher’s Weekly, and New York Times Best Seller. Recently, Harcourt also released the PIRATES ACTIVITY BOOK.

In October, 2010, Sterling Publishing released THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN SOUTH CAROLINA, written by Melinda and illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss also available in board book format.

Her newest book is a chapter book, ART SMART, SCIENCE DETECTIVE: THE CASE OF THE SLIDING SPACESHIP… December, 2018.

Melinda, a long-time pirate fan, lives in Greenville, South Carolina with her husband, Thom, and her three spoiled dogs. She has two adult children, Cathy and Bryan. She graduated from Furman University and was a teacher for 23 years. Melinda loves acting, yoga, reading, and of course, writing. She really enjoys going to schools to talk to kids about reading and writing because she likes kids as much as she likes pirates.

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4.8 out of 5

1,215 global ratings

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Mike

Teachers

Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2024

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Great book! Kids love the pictures.

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Shuttleworth

awesome book and illustrations!

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2023

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My family and I loved this book when my girls were young! The illustrations and color are amazing, and the story is totally entertaining!! we recently got this book for my grandnephew and his Mom says he loves it!

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Aunt Kiki

Ahoy! Beware of Grand Adventure Ahead!

Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2004

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This fun-filled, adventure fantasy about pirate life is perfect for any imaginative child. It was even selected by child judges as the winner of the 2003 Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature. Set in contemporary times, the adventure begins when five or six-year-old Jeremy Jacobs runs off with 18th century pirates who have landed on the beach. Jeremy's delight in his adventures with Captain Braid Beard and his bedraggled crew of ruffians is obvious from the colorful, humorous, cartoon style illustrations. (They are similar to those in Shannon's own No David! book and its sequels). Brimming with amusing situations and characters, the illustrations match the tone and content of Long's story perfectly. A great example is the cover where Jeremy sits gleefully on the Captain's shoulders with a pirate scarf atop his head and the Captain's parrot on his own shoulder. A lesson that "the grass isn't always greener on the other side" is provided when Jeremy begins to realize the things he misses aboard the pirate ship (i.e., being read a bedtime story and then tucked in). Highly recommended for ages 4 to 8.

I just HAD to get this book for my niece - a Peter Pan lover - for her 7th Birthday and now I'm somewhat sad that I'll no longer have it around! Perhaps I'll have to buy another for myself!

Another great, amusing pirate adventure is "Roger, the Jolly Pirate" (2004), by Brett Helquist (ISBN 0066238064).

8 people found this helpful

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S. Hamilton

Great illustrations and totally entertaining story

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2007

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I bought this for my 3 1/2 year old grandson and he loved it. Whenever Grammy comes to visit I try to have scoured Amazon.com for what look like the best children's books and as he had loved David Shannon's books I bought this one as I knew the illustrations would be colorful. It is a fun story but the best part, it lends itself so well to playing imaginatively. Immediately after reading it, we went outside and I played cartographer helping my grandson draw our own treasure map with instructions how to get to the tree in his backyard where we buried a seashell. He was so excited to show his Mommy and his baby brother how well the map worked and where our treasure was buried. Great little story and we read it several times over the next few days...always noticing something else in the pictures we hadn't seen before and then making up our own stories about what we saw. So I bought "Pirates Don't Change Diapers" also and pirate tattoos to continue the saga. Lots of scope for the imagination here!

6 people found this helpful

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Pat Miller

Cute story, nice illustrations.

Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2021

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Unfortunately my grandson didn't care for this book. Not sure why. He loves pirates. Maybe it's too kidsish for him, he's 6 1/2. Great illustrations!
I will donate it.

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Nicholas Dujmovic

This be terrific, me hearties!

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2004

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It's hard to say what's more endearing and fun: the engaging text or the clever (and amazingly detailed) illustrations. Most children's books are OK, a few are totally lame, but a very few are simply super and do not fade even with the 100th re-reading: this is one of those that stays funny and will be handed down from boy to boy in this family. Can't say enough about the illustrations, there's so much to look for: the pirate who wears TWO eyepatches (and is always holding one up except when he goes to bed), the other mean pirate who wears pajamas, the way the parrot and the scurvy cat eye eachother with suspicion, the wild look on the boy Jeremy Jacob's face (it's a true to life wild look of a real boy!). Anyway, this is highly recommended.

10 people found this helpful

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Tenn Jazz Man

Fun Story About Pirates

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2021

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Became aware of this book while substitute teaching in an elementary school due to David Shannon's "David" books.
Fun story about Pirates! Great illustrations and story lines. If you have first to second grade children, it keeps the interests and questions coming plus laughter.

One person found this helpful

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CJ's Mom

A classic in our household.

Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2016

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I've probably read this book a few hundred times between my 2 kids. Both of them loved it, and I often suggested it. It's one of those few kids books that you can tolerate and enjoy a few hundred times, until you don't really need to look at the words anymore. I found it to be an amusing story with an charming ending that values parents. The drawings weren't my favorite but they've grown on me after time. I'm reviewing this now, years after my children have outgrown it, so I can buy it for my niece and nephew. Worth every penny.

15 people found this helpful

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Ruth Noble

Shiver MeTimbers, I loved it!

Reviewed in Canada on March 2, 2023

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Melinda Long has perfectly captured the thought processes of a young boy as he embarks on a pirate career on a whim. Of course he’ll be back in time for soccer practice! One doesn’t lose one’s priorities completely!

The illustrations have so much detail that truly rounds out the story.

I didn’t like that it ended so soon….

fola

The book is a pleasurable read and with lots of catch words young adventurers would enjoy. Thanks loads I definitely would be buying from ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 14, 2018

Verified Purchase

Absolutely incredible customer service. I bought this book after listening to it for months for my son's World book day. Due to time constraints I contacted the supplier who dispatched the book at an upgraded service at no extra cost. The moment my son saw the book he started reading it straight away and has not dropped it.
The book is a pleasurable read and with lots of catch words young adventurers would enjoy.

Thanks loads I definitely would be buying from this supplier again.

Beatriz

A los niños les encanta

Reviewed in Spain on August 2, 2016

Verified Purchase

El libro llegó rápido y en perfectas condiciones. Trabajo con niños pequeños y les encantó su lectura y las imágenes.

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Cynthia Lee

Story will keep toddlers engaged!

Reviewed in Canada on March 21, 2023

Verified Purchase

Story was great from beginning to end. My granddaughters loved the pirate voices I made with each character in the story. Nice size book with great illustrations! You and your little one/s won't be disappointed in this adventure book.

Ladygrey

Be a pirate

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 21, 2021

Verified Purchase

Grandson aged 3 loves it, read most nights as he wants to be a pirate when he grows up, thank you.

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