Horrible Histories Handbooks: Pirates
Terry Deary
illustrated by Martin Brown
My Rating: 5 out of 5
Genre: Non-fiction/informational
Just one in Deary's Horrible Histories series, Pirates offers a wealth factual information on pirates and the lives they led. Written in a quirky and humorous manner, Deary dispels myths and legends, ranks the "top ten putrid pirates" of all time and gives a short biography of each one, describes weapons, tactics, punishments, ships, flags, language, rules, and even gives the biographies of wicked women pirates. The illustrations are cartoon-style, with clever dialogue bubbles that will leave the reader laughing and wanting more.
In an age where the popularity of pirates has soared thanks to Johnny Depp and Pirates of the Caribbean, many students are interested in pirates, and dare I say, want to be pirates. Deary does a great job of packing a large amount of information into a small, nonthreatening, handbook-style, book. I would recommend this book, along with the rest of the Horrible Handbook series, for 5th through 8th grade classrooms. It is a non-fiction text that students will become engrossed in thanks to Deary's witty writing style and the comic book-like illustrations. While students may be disappointed to find most pirates never made their enemies walk the plank, or that they never made treasure maps, they will find out more than what is offered in movies and cartoons. It is a great source of reference for students that will provide factual information without being the ever-feared, "boring reference book".
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