Aargh Ya Readin' Any Good Pirate Books?

This past week, Shane (hubby) and I traveled to the Outer Banks of NC, one of our favorite places -- and where my best-friend-since-fourth-grade-lives.  It's about a 5-hour drive, but Shane wanted to stop off in Bath for the first night of our trip.  He secured a spot at an Air BnB in Bath, NC. It is our oldest town -- since the early 1700s, so it's a veritable history lesson on its own -- and perfect for any history buff.  There are copious historical markers on almost every street.  And, it sits right on the water, so it is charming, beautiful and picturesque.  The place we stayed is owned and hosted by Deryck and Daniel, and is historic in its own right -- having served as a doctor's home/office/surgery in its early days; later as an outright bed and breakfast as well as a personal residence.  It's old, beautiful, and right on the water.  If you're a fan of pirates, you should definitely check it out. (There's a link to it at the very end of the post.) Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, made this village his home for a while, and that fact is its most macabre claim to fame.

After stopping off in Newbern (another historic NC town) for dinner, we arrived around 10PM.  We walked down to the water after a bit and stretched out to enjoy the lights on the water and the brisk breeze.

This was our view from the wharf looking back up toward the residence. Beautiful all lit up. They've done such a nice job installing lights for safety and comfort.

When we went back inside, we were checking out the inside of the place.  It's a small space -- living area/kitchenette, bedroom and bathroom are the extent of the indoor spaces. The decorations are sea-faring and piratical and very cool.  They've done a good job on the place -- and are continuing to work on the outdoor spaces to restore them to their glory.

I love and am fascinated by pirate legends and stories.  We have watched all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies multiple times.  So I was duly impressed to see the LOADED bookshelf full of piratical literature!  It was a very eclectic and well-appointed bookshelf as you can see.  Everything from romance to historical NF to novels to kid lit!  I drug all the picture books off the shelf, stacked them on the coffee table and read until after midnight. (Shane had long since crashed and was happily snoozing.) When I could hardly hold my eyes open, I gave in and went to bed, only halfway through the stack.  I finished them the next morning on the back deck. . . .

Shane went to a little diner in town while I was still sleeping and brought back bacon, eggs, and grits with a biscuit. We ate right here and then I brought the stack of picture books here and read the ones I didn't get to the night before. (This is my handsome hubby in the photo) :-)

We had to check out by 11:00, and I needed to write a draft (for First Draft Friday, hosted by Hollie Wolverton on Twitter and via her website.). It was a glorious morning back here -- so beautiful!  The ducks were hanging out and the water was gorgeous! What a beautiful space! So Shane read for a while, then went in to shower and load up all of our "stuff". I finished all the picture books, and took them back in.  Then I brought my laptop down and began writing my first draft, inspired by this piratical place :-)

 I was working on my own piratical story when a storm started moving toward Bath Creek. This was impressive in its own right and I watched in fascination as the water began getting choppier and choppier, soon turning to white froth as the wind picked up, holding the flags taut, then whipping them.  You could hear the flags snap in the stormy winds.  The breeze cooled and the rain started falling -- sparsely at first.  It was a slow warning.  I closed up my laptop and took refuge on the wide porch.  Derrick had come out to secure things for the summer storm.  I watched it from the porch until Shane alerted me that we needed to go.  I was loathe to leave and wish we could have stayed longer.  

The weather was misty, moist and stormy off and on, so we drove on without exploring more of the history of the town, which was our plan.  We decided Pirates Wharf is a perfect writing retreat for us, so we will definitely be going back.  Hopefully another visit we can do more exploring. There are so many lovely places to write here.  I'm hoping for a fall visit with nice cool temps and checking out that bed on the porch for an afternoon siesta.  Below, check out the picture books I read at Pirates Wharf and my impressions in the captions. You can also click on the book for the Amazon link.

This is historical narrative alongside poetic retellings of some of Blackbeard's exploits. Beautiful illustrations (well, not all BEAUTIFUL, but all well-done. . .) A very interesting way to share the legends.

This is a straight-up non-fiction book about piracy through the ages and across continents. I will confess I did not read this whole volume, but even skimming and scanning was fascinating and gave wing to some new story ideas to research!

This one I didn't read, as it's a mostly I Spy kind of thing with very detailed illustrations with many pictures for kids to look for. A lot of fun for the little pirates in your life. There is a paperback version with stickers as well here: https://www.amazon.com/1001-Pirate-Things-Sticker-Books/dp/0794528708/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=usborne+1001+pirate+things&qid=1625691803&s=books&sr=1-2

I personally didn't enjoy this one as much, although it definitely has good qualities -- simply didn't appeal to me as much. ..

At 56 pages with lots of text, I didn't have time to read this one either. Definitely more for advanced readers due to its length and subject matter, but tons of fascinating history here!

This is exactly what you'd expect in the vein of all the "Night Before Christmas" stories. A fun re-imagining of Christmas on a pirate ship full of piratical vocabulary and fun wordplay.

This one made me laugh out loud. It's uproarious, unbelievable, and utterly fun. Battles, contest, romance AND a happily ever after in a pirate context. Super silly and fabulously fun!

This was just meh for me (again a totally personal reaction). It was cute, but not overly memorable.

I loved this one! A very unique premise in pirate-dom! Presents a unique problem and a creative solution. Great for diversity and inclusion, focusing on differently-abled people.

"Rrr" is simply not enough! These pirates must find the whole alphabet. This one was cute -- a slightly different take on an alphabet book.

I love Cornelia Funke's middle grade stuff. This PB was cute. Definitely full of girl power. Even so, I didn't LOVE it. It was just OK.

Maybe it's just me, but I loved this one! So funny. Cute twisty ending -- not totally unexpected, but twisty enough to be satisfying. Fabulous book for teaching vocabulary -- and for talking about code-switching -- using the right kind of vocabulary for the setting you find yourself.

Based on legends about a popular female pirate legend and her friendship with Queen Elizabeth and how it benefited her. This one is definitely not at the top of my list. Meh.

Very much what you'd expect, but absolutely fabulous, nonetheless. Tons of great pirate vocabulary and amazing facts about piratical life told in an engaging way!

Kind of like THE RUNAWAY BUNNY -- pirate boy style. This one was sweet enough, but not my fave. . .

I definitely saved one of the best till last. . . I LOVE this book, and I've LOVED it for a long time! To me, this is an absolute classic and no pirate unit, pirate story time, or pirate anything is complete without Jeremy Jacobs' story -- perfection for me -- from beginning to end in both its writing and its illustration! So very good!

I hope you enjoyed either/and/or hearing about my trip, the Pirates' Wharf Air BnB and the review of their amazing pirate kidlit bookshelf. If you have extra pirate stories laying around, I'm sure Deryck and Daniel would love to add them to the shelf.  If you're inspired to visit and write on the deck or the porch, tell them Tonnye sent you. Here's their AirBnB link: www.airbnb.com/rooms/49156638?translate_ugc=false&federated_search_id=841fcf24-06c0-4e5a-957d-eab0ec87a10d&source_impression_id=p3_1625609531_G5mtMLjyAJsnafsq 

And if you, like me, are inspired to write a new pirate story, check out Mindy's critique train challenge here: mindyalyseweiss.com/pbparty-new-draft-challenge-critique-train-faq/  It's open for passengers on July 20!  

​Ahoy, Mateys, It's the end of this pirate tale.  I'll be seein' ye on the 7 seas! Aaarrrgh!