🌟REVIEW: "The Pirate's Next Door" by Jonny Duddle (Childrens Fiction, Picture Book)

Afternoon, Mateys! I just so happened to discover Jonny Duddle's books and plan to feature them on my blog this week! Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!!
The Pirate's Next Door by Jonny Duddle
	Publisher: Templar Genre: Childrens Fiction, Picture Book Publication Date: February 28th 2012 Series: Pirates Standalone: Yes Other Books In Series: #1 The Pirate Cruncher Also check out the chapter books about the Jolley-Rogers! (Affiliate links)
Description from Publisher:
The Jolley-Rogers have traded in the high seas for suburban life. Meet the Jolley-Rogers - a pirate family who is moving to Dull-on-Sea, a quiet seaside town, while they fix up their ship. This unusual family soon has the whole neighborhood gossiping. Defying the grown-ups, Matilda becomes friends with young pirate Jim Lad. When the JolleyRogers return to sea, the town realizes that they were wrong to assume the worst when it is discovered that the pirates have buried treasure in everyone's yard. The neighbors are thrilled, but Matilda is sad to have lost her new friend, until she discovers her own treasure - a pen pal!
My Rating:
My Musings:
This was the first of Jonny Duddle's pirate books that I read and is now one of my favorite pirate books to read my son. A family of Pirates, including a young boy, move into a small town temporarily and the boy befriends the little girl next door. She has no bias towards him and is excited about learning all of the unique and exotic things about him and his family. The rest of the neighbors are pretty awful and judgmental, all because the Jolley-Rogers are different. The Pirates leave behind gifts for everyone, in hopes that they will think more highly of their kind the next time they encounter them. I am someone who very thoroughly believes in the importance of being oneself and celebrating the things that make you who you are, especially if you are different or weird. So this book struck a chord with me. I really enjoyed how it portrayed the characters, making it clear that Tilda, the girl, was the one with an appropriate attitude and that the other neighbors were shallow and jumping to poor conclusions, but in a way that is still enjoyable to read. I think it's a great "teaching" book. The art is just fantastic and springs from the page. The colors and details are wonderful. There is also a foldout section towards the end that adds a nice touch to the enjoyment of the story. This is written in rhyme and the flow and rhythm is so much fun to read aloud. There is a lot of great "pirate speak" and the voices of all of the characters are a joy to ham up to kids. This and The Pirate Cruncher are new favorites that I know will be getting a lot of attention at bedtime.
My Source: I found this gem at my local library and consequently purchased it. My opinion is my 100% own.

About Jonny Duddle
Jonny Duddle has been a concept artist for Aardman Animations and created fantastic illustrations for fiction and novelty books, including ALIENOLOGY. He wrote and illustrated THE PIRATE CRUNCHER. Jonny Duddle lives in Buxton, England.