Review by Booklist Review
As the moon slips in and bedtime approaches, three pajama-clad youngsters pretend their way to fierce sword battles against enemy pirates as they hunt treasure. They fearlessly hoist their torn sail up a splintered mast to make a ghost, frightening the other pirates into retreating. They are not so successful when they plead with parents for just five more minutes, please? Tucked in bed, they drift off to pirate dreams. Although some verses are rhythmically clunky, debut writer Kramer includes some fun pirate phrases Ye be shark bait, swim or sink! and G-night mateys that will appeal to the toddler set. The illustrations are the real attraction of this title, shifting easily from the real to the imaginary. The children hold toy ships and treasure maps as beds morph to boats and blue bedroom walls and floors become the night sea and sky. An anthropomorphic moon and clouds create a friendly rather than frightening air in this bedtime story.--Austin, Patricia Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Lammle (Once Upon a Saturday) creates a gratifyingly warm world for newcomer Kramer's story of three children's nightly pirate game. The siblings jump on their beds ("Let others sleep;/ their day is done./ The treasure hunt/ has just begun") as they imagine an adventure for themselves. They sport cute, clownlike noses and fuzzy bedwear as they board a rowboat, their bedroom giving way to the scalloped waves of the sea, the horizon curving gently beneath them. Each spread is characterized by lots of movement; strong contrast defines and sculpts the chubby figures, and deftly applied white brushstrokes put sparkle on the waves and shine on somersaulting fish. Menaced by shiploads of non-pajama-wearing pirates, the oldest child, draped in a terrycloth bathrobe, strokes her chin and wonders what to do (" ¿Ye be shark bait, swim or sink!'/ Pajama pirates stop to think"). The three make the sail into a ghostly, flapping apparition, and the terrified pirates flee. But even these pirates have their betters, as Mama Nature, appearing as a cloud, sends them back to bed for further buccaneer dreams. Ages 5-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-Singsong, rhyming text tells of the pre-bedtime adventures of three pink-cheeked children and their dog. Watery illustrations in blues, greens, and oranges create a dreamy mood as the bedroom scene evolves and expands into full-bleed spreads of high-sea adventure. The children in their small bed-turned-boat encounter enemy pirates, and a swordfight ensues. But the outnumbered pajama pirates manage to trick everyone by turning their mast into a pretend ghost. Some of the rhymes feel a bit forced and, as pirate stories go, this one's tone is incongruously sweet and gentle.-Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA (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 Horn Book Review
Just before bedtime, three children and their dog imagine going to sea to find treasure. Accosted by pirates, the kids frighten the men with a fake ghost then sail home to sleep peacefully. The text is told in rhythmic verse that occasionally stumbles. Expansive double-page-spread illustrations dominated by blues show round-cheeked kids on an exciting nighttime adventure. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
(Picture book. 4-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
