The Pirates of Scurvy Sands

Reviews / Votes

Shiver me timbers... those crazy pirates are in town and they're playing 'dirty' with a squeaky clean landlubber! Welcome back to another sparkling Jolley-Rogers adventure from Jonny Duddle, one of the most talented authors and illustrators currently working in the wonderful world of children's picture books. The Pirates of Scurvy Sands - a riot of colourful characters, exquisitely detailed illustrations and hilarious seafaring action - is the much-anticipated sequel to the Waterstones Award-winning The Pirates Next Door. And Duddle has certainly pushed the boat out for this fantastic pirate town adventure which brims with wit and wordplay, and will have both children and adults laughing all the way to the end of the plank! Matilda lives in the charming seaside town of Dull-on-Sea but this summer she has persuaded her mum and dad to let her join her pirate penfriend Jim Lad and the Jolley-Rogers for a holiday on the island of Scurvy Sands, a favourite holiday destination for pirates. When Matilda arrives, the swashbuckling residents are not too impressed with her. She has clean teeth, tidy clothes and she doesn't smell like she's been at sea for six months without washing. What's more, she can't read a compass and she doesn't know her East from West. Matilda, they say, is definitely no pirate. But when Matilda discovers the secret of the legendary treasure of Scurvy Sands, the pirates decide that maybe some landlubbers aren't so bad after all! With a fantastic treasure map at the end of the book, a stunning four-page fold-out, potty pirates aplenty, a feisty little heroine and a raucous rhyming story, this is a voyage of fun from sea launch to beach landing. A classic pirate adventure that will have kids scurrying to find their own scurvy sands! -- Pam Norfolk * Lancashire Evening Post * Feisty heroine Matilda is going on holiday with her swashbuckling friends the Jolley-Rogers. At scurvy sands, however, the other warty, ragged pirates dont think landlubber Matilda, with her white teeth and good manner, is a proper buccaneer, and they lis all the things she wont be able to do.But shiver me timbers if Matilda doesnt outwit them by finding hidden treasure. This is another raucous romp from Jonny Duddle, full of positive messages, ridiculous rhymes and glorious artwork that will have you you-ho-ho-ing in you bedtime bunks. * Daily Mail * Our first Book of the Week this week is a rollicking uproariously brilliant follow-up to a book that pretty much set the highest possible standard for pirate-based picture books...
...and thereby lies a bit of a problem. Only a tiny teeny insy-winsy bit of a problem because Jonny's books are so durned good that it makes us raise a quizzical eyebrow every time we see a pirate book by anyone else.

Jonny's "The Pirate Cruncher" was one of the first picture books C pulled out of the stacks when we would dive into the library every couple of weeks, grabbing an armful of books to take home and enjoy.

We followed that up with "The Pirates Next Door" and it's that book that "The Pirates of Scurvy Sands" follows as a sequel of sorts - and though Jonny's other books (The fantastic "Gigantosaurus" and our own uber-favourite JD picture book "The King of Space" as well as his superb early reader / chapter books with the same cast of characters found here) are of the highest quality, you can tell he just loves writing and illustrating these awesome pirate yarns.

Once again the super-cool pirate family and their friend Matilda are off on an adventure. Not much seems to happen around Matilda's home town (Dull on sea, twinned with Ennui Sur Mer - a gag that never gets old) so she leaps at the chance of sailing off on holiday with The Jolley-Rogers, and her best friend Jim Lad.

They're off to Scurvy Sands, an incredible island-based pirate paradise filled with astonishing attractions - and of course a whole bunch of pirate coves who, for some reason, don't really like landlubbers fetching up at their favourite holiday destination.

Jonny expertly flips the situation in "The Pirates Next Door" on its head. This time Matilda, with her perfect teeth, lice free hair and complete ignorance of how to fire a cannon, is the fish out of water that the locals object to.

Matilda's definitely no dunce though, and she discovers something that might just win over all the pirates on the island - after all, who can resist a huge long lost treasure hoard!

The story jigs along nicely and as usual Jonny's art is really the star with some fantastic characters (eerily echoing the landlubbers who fetched up in the first book) and glorious cameos (watch out for a vending machine and a crackingly brilliant arcade cabinet, we'll say no more, there are so many awesome touches like that to discover).

I think if there's any honest criticism to make, it's that the message and the story are very very close to "The Pirates Next Door" - which isn't a problem in itself, as it still serves as a great message about accepting those we deem different to ourselves and the way we treat 'outsiders' in any walk of life.

I loved all the observational stuff though, with Scurvy Sands looking a lot like a Buccaneer-friendly Center Parcs.

As we said rather meanly on Twitter. This book is terrible. Terrible, because once again - just like with his previous Piratical tomes, Jonny has set a ludicrously high standard for others to follow and if we're really brutally honest, we wouldn't care if everyone did the right thing and just gave up on writing pirate stories, and left Jonny to do 'em all.

C's best bit: She loved going through all the cameos, and is still utterly convinced there are many more to find (and she's probably right at that).

Daddy's favourite bit: I loved the idea of this, flipping a story on its head to let it play out again from a different point of view and from different sides. The perfect sequel, the art just gets better and better and we're now agonising over how long we'll have to wait till we see more from this supremely talented fellah. * Read it Daddy * Just when you were thinking there couldn't possibly be room on the high seas for another pirate, along comes young Matilda, friend of pirate boy Jim Lad. But can she really cut the mustard as a true pirate or is she the land-lubbing pretender that the other Scurvy Sanders suspect her to be when she goes a holidaying with the Jolley-Rogers?
Excited to be allowed to accompany her pirate pals on a visit to Scurvy Sands, Matilda bids her parents goodbye and three days later, is greeted by Cap'n Ollie Day at the pirate resort who tells them of lost gold buried long long ago by one Mad Jack McMuddle..
The pirate kids are highly doubtful about her pirate credentials, as are the adults,all of whom are just waiting to expose the girl with her neat clothes, clean teeth, perfect table manners and lack of unwashed odours, wherever she goes and whatever she does.
"Take the pirate test" is the command.
What can she do to prove herself?
Suddenly, inspired by a portrait of Mad Jack, Matilda has an idea. All she needs is Jack's map, a compass and her own excellent sense of direction; oh and a spade carried by her pal Jim Lad.
You'll certainly need your best array of pirate voices when you share this rollicking sequel to The Pirates Next Door, but don't worry. I suspect your audience will be focussed on the filmic illustrations, which are absolutely brimming over with larger than life, roguish-looking characters and piratical paraphernalia. Do take a look at the superbly detailed end-papers too.
Whether or not children will on first hearing, notice the underlying theme concerning those who appear different having to prove themselves worthy to gain acceptance, I doubt, they'll most likely just be carried along by the action. * Red Reading Hub * It's good to see the characters from The Pirates Next Door make another appearance and this time, Matilda gets to experience some pirate life - and we discover that pirates have just as many reservations about 'lubbers' as land lubbers have about pirates! So the story is a perfect companion to The Pirates Next Door - and has all the accomplishment of the original picture book.

It's summer in Dull-on-Sea when Matilda gets a message in a bottle from her pirate friend, Jim Lad, telling her to prepare for a 'special pirate trip'! They sail for three days before arriving at Survy Sands - a holiday centre for pirates, headed up by 'Cap'n Ollie Day'. They can do all sorts of pirate activities, there's an adventure playground or they can search for the late Mad Jack's missing gold, which is buried somewhere on the island.

But Matilda is soon the object of consternation from the pirate holidaymakers. She has table manners, her teeth are shiny and her hair is clean! 'I ain't seen nothin' like it. That little girl is WEIRD', declares Old Man Grumps. But while they all focus on what why Matilda wouldn't 'pass the pirate test', Matilda gets on with quietly attempting to solve the mystery of the missing gold. Her pirate talents turn out to be better than all of them!

As well as its inclusive message, there is plenty to enjoy in the detail of this lovely picture book, from the humour in the names to the gorgeous scene-setting and brilliant characterisation. It is a must if you're doing topics around pirates, can be used to support map reading and work around mirror writing (I don't want to give too much away from the story!). Jonny Duddle is also a master at using images to tell the story and, given how packed the pages are with detail, there are lots of opportunities for developing visual literacy. * Reading Zone * The Pirates Next Door is an immensely popular read, and this sequel keeps equal pace and humour with the original. In fact, just one reading of it inspired my little tester to find and read ALL of Duddle's back catalogue. This time round, Matilda is going on holiday with her pirate friends, the Jolly-Rogers. Their destination - Scurvy Sands - like a sort of Butlins for pirates. The only trouble is that Matilda, with her squeaky clean demeanour, doesn't quite fit in.
This is a totally luscious affair for pirate fans. Also told in rhyme, it's simply packed with swashbuckling vocabulary and pirate allusions, with a busy backdrop on every page - telescopes, pirate paraphernalia, characters and more. Duddle has gone to town (or sea) and had lots of fun in the process. There's even a treasure map on the reverse of the book jacket. Gold coins all round. * Minerva Reads * A swashbuckling sequel adventure with great rhyming lines and amazing illustrations. * Creative Steps * Matilda and The Jolley-Rogers are back in The Pirates of Scurvy Sands, a holiday adventure which is published today. We first met Jim Lad and his family in The Pirates Next Door which was one of the very first picture books that I bought for my daughter and we love absolutely love this new story.The Story: Matilda joins The Jolley Rogers on their holiday in Scurvy Sands but rumours start to spread that Matilda is a landlubber. To ease suspicions Matilda must start behaving more like a pirate so she and Jim start to look for Jack McMuddle's long lost treasure...In Scurvy Sands the chalets are made from broken ships and The Cruncher Club offers activities for Matilda, Jim Lad and little sister Nugget. Pirate delicacies such as seagull soup and sharks brains are on the menu at the local pub and a colourful cast of pirate characters, including a pirate monkey, have strong opinions about a landlubber being on the island.
Several of the pages in The Pirates of Scurvy Sands are laid out in the style of a comic book and a mix of rhyming text and speech bubbles move the story along. There is so much wonderful pirate themed detail in the illustrations, skulls adorn everything and we particularly love the skull shaped teapot and the skull shaped ice creams. There's a fabulous fold out map of Scurvy Sands on the underside of the book's jacket and one of the double spreads folds out to show Matilda and Jim Lad digging for Jack McMuddle's treasure.
Both the text and the illustrations are full of humour, we particularly love the dentist, Philippa McCavity, who is horrified by Matilda's sparkly teeth. The pirate parents who are worried about their children learning table manners from Matilda make us laugh and we're definitely not tempted to try the pub food! Jonny Duddle's illustrations are so full of wonderful details that my daughter spends a long time looking at each page, there are still surprises after multiple readings!
This is a story that also celebrates friendship, despite their different backgrounds Matilda and Jim Lad share a strong bond. Matilda is an independent, determined character who is undeterred by the prejudices of those around her. She's also clever and, despite not passing the pirate test, she ultimately earns everybody's respect by proving that she's got what it takes to be a pirate. * Story Snug * The Jolley-Rogers are back in a picture-book adventure, and this time Matilda causes suspicion when she gos on holiday with the Jolley-Rogers family. The pirates of Scurvy Sands can't quite believe that she is one of them - her teeth are too shiny, she's too clean and she dresses too neatly. What can she do to convince them that she belongs there? Dig for treasure of course and fire a cannon. And perhaps she can help them work out what exactly is going on with Mad Jack's gold.
The children in the library loved the book - especially those who were aware of the longer books about these hilarious characters. I attempted to read the story wearing the eye patch that the publishers kindly sent me, but being shortsighted meant I couldn't see the words. Instead, I wore the patch UNDER my glasses, which kind of spoiled the pirate image, but never mind. I did, however, put on my best pirate accent and got the children involved too, with lots of 'Arrrrs!'
This is a fun book that will have children poring over the pages for ages: there's so much to look at! The illustrations are colourful and engaging and have just the right balance between the less-than-aesthetically pleasing pirates and the beautiful weather (how I wish I were at Scurvy Sands right now!).
A book that, I am sure, will be heavily borrowed as soon as it hits the shelves! * Childtastic Books *