Pirate Stew

Reviewed By  Janet Mawdesley       December 15, 2020

 

Author  Neil Gaiman. Illustrations Chris Riddell.

Distributor:      Bloomsbury Children's Books
ISBN:                 9781526614728
Publisher:         Bloomsbury Children's Books
Release Date:   October 2020  

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Pirate Stew, like all good stews has been a long time in the making, allowed to sit and gather flavour since its inception in 2009, when Neil Gaiman scribbled a few line of poetry, or perhaps mental musings, down on a scrap of paper, placing the scrap in his wallet where it remained for many years, with bits and piece being added to the ‘stew’ over time.

When his son turned two, the scrap of paper containing the ingredients for the stew was finally, with the help of kitchen assistant Chris Riddell, turned into the rollicking, zany, seriously funny, posturing bedlam Pirate Stew, perfect for every would be pirate, or serious pirate, ever to sail the seas, or maybe the kitchen, which in this case is most important.

Rhyming text courtesy of Long John McRon, Ships cook and his pirate mates who turn up to babysit one little boy and his sister when their parents go out for the night, but they are not just any babysitters, as they are a little wild and weird, and really have no idea what to feed the children for dinner.

They offered such treats as beans on toast, but there was no bread, spaghetti was off as it looked like  worms and seemed to be too complicated, and so the list went on until one of the Pirates decides the thing to do is make Pirate Stew, but the stew turned out to be like no other, because………..

From this point on the wonderful world of Pirates, madcap mayhem and fun takes over with an amazing adventure to be had by all, as somehow, actually pirate magic is involved here, the house turns into a flying pirate ship, with rum, and treasure and so much fun.

Designed to engage the imagination and encourage word play, as well as tell a very engaging story about favourites in the book world of imagination, Pirates, Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell have delivered a spectacular story, beautifully presented as a hard cover with dust jacket, any Pirate, budding or otherwise would love to read and own, as let’s face it Pirate stories never ever lose their charm, and can be read, and read and read, over and over again.