Building a sand castle at the beach one day, young Jeremy Jacobs encounters Brain Beard and his motley pirate crew. He joins them aboard ship as their official digger and off they sail to find a safe place to bury their treasure chest of gold and jewels. Jeremy learns pirate language ("Aargh!") and pirate manners (they don't have any), and tries to teach the scurvy dogs to play soccer. He doesn't have to brush his teeth. ("Maybe that's why their teeth are green," he observes cogently.) But when he asks them to tuck him in and read him a bedtime story, they howl, "No tucking!" Pirates don't tuck. Or read books. And forget about a good night kiss. When a storm breaks and lightning splits the mast, Jeremy leads the crew back to a perfect digging spot—his own back yard—where they bury the treasure.
Children adore Shannon's expressive acrylic paintings of the gap-toothed pirates in full regalia and will want to shiver their timbers with the sequel, Pirates Don't Change Diapers. Jeremy Jacobs is home with his baby sister, Bonney Anne, when Brain Beard and his hearties come calling. They’ve run into a boatload of trouble and they need that treasure they buried in Jeremy's back yard. With all their yelling, they wake the baby, and have to help Jeremy baby-sit. "Pirates don't sit on babies!" Brain Beard declares, but he and his crew do just fine. helping to feed her ("Aargh! Strained spinach," wail the pirates, protesting that “vile-smellin' swill."), changing her diaper, and rocking her.
Inspired by Jeremy’s adventures, why not bury or hide some treasure around the house or in your child’s room—real or fake coins or gold coin chocolates will do the trick, or even stones you've spray-painted gold (which look mighty like authentic gold nuggets to children, and make inexpensive souvenirs)—and have a scavenger hunt. Together, you can create treasure maps out of old paper bags and make up rhyming or cryptic clues to decipher. Wouldn’t this make for a fun birthday or anytime party, with Island Punch, tropical fruits, and coconut macaroons? Down the hatch!
Themes: ADVENTURE & ADVENTURERS. HUMOR. IMAGINATION. PIRATES.