I have no idea how to write a review of a book when the number of words required in the review are longer than the number of words in the book itself…
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Emma is a young girl with a vivid imagination who is about to start kindergarten. Except, of course, pirates don’t go to kindergarten, especially when kindergarten is all about spaceships and has the Wrong Captain. And although her new Captain (teacher) does her best to lure Emma back, she’s not having any of it to the point she leads the new preschoolers into a mutiny that lasts until naptime.
But Emma’s not done yet.
Overall, this was a very cute story; Emma is headstrong but not mean, and it’s nice to see a children’s book that shows kids it’s a) okay to get attached to a teacher and b) okay to be reluctant to move on, to grieve leaving even when the other person is still alive. Having such a story in her head would have helped little SisterCoyote a fair bit.
The art style is brightly colored and not very polished, as one might expect from a book about a young pirate not going to kindergarten, but I liked it; it was also very expressive and there were lots of little details lurking that would make this book a good one for a child who might not be interested in the story yet but could be interested in dissecting the pictures while being read to. (Insert commentary here that would only be preaching to the choir about the importance of reading to one’s children.)
I wouldn’t have picked this up if it hadn’t been one of the Amazon First Reads for July (but kids’ books are My Wheelhouse, so I wouldn’t have used this there and anyway I already have a book for that), but I’m kind of glad I did. I’m giving it three stars because I liked it — but I’m also not its intended audience.