Review by Booklist Review
The team behind Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies (2005) tells another uproarious story in which a wimpy, bespectacled young reader saves the day. Some of the bright, mixed-media pictures feel busy, but the scenarios are just right for kids' imaginative play as crazed chicken-pirates arrive in a hot-air balloon, and Henry draws on his reading to trap the enemy. His worries are hilarious: What if a parrot poops in his eye and he can't see the pirates coming? Best of all is the pirates' ransom note. A fun read-aloud.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-The Buccaneer Bunnies are a happy lot as they loll and cavort around their island, except young Henry. He discovers a threatening note warning of an impending invasion from some foul fowl and spends all his time preparing for and writing a book on what to do if an attack comes. The rest of the crew barely tolerates the behavior of the distinctively nervous milquetoast. But when Henry wakes up to find his fellow buccaneers captured by crazed chicken pirates, he swings into action by following his book's instructions and saves them. With the defeated fowl put to sea, Henry settles down to write his next book-which turns out to be the one that readers have in hand. The watercolor, gouache, and pencil illustrations give a goofy cartoon elasticity to the characters that perfectly matches the lighthearted plot. Youngsters will cheer for humble Henry, who becomes a hero because he is so carefully prepared. With kids riding high on pirate books, this follow-up to Henry & the Buccaneer Bunnies (Candlewick, 2005) will find a place in most collections.-Marge Loch-Wouters, La Crosse Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The bookish young hero of Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies (2005) again saves the flop-eared, fun-loving crew of the pirate ship Salty Carrot. This time, when a threatening note floats up in a bottle, Henry braves the derision of his shipmates to compose a thick volume of emergency plansall of which come in handy when a flock of pirate chickens intent on plunder descends beneath a hot-air balloon for a surprise attack. Manders has so much fun depicting scowling, beaky or hugely bucktoothed figures swaggering about in full traditional pirate garb (eyepatches galore) that the sketchy plot and routine prose will barely register with young audiences, who will no doubt convulse with each mention of Henry's "Parrot-Poop Helmet." Fans of Giles Andreae's Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs, illustrated by Russell Ayto (2005), and its piratical ilk will yo-ho-ho. (Picture book. 6-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
