Swashbuckle Lil: The Secret Pirate is an awesome little rhyming chapter book from Elli Woollard & Laura Ellen Anderson. Fabulous engaging rhyme & rhythm, captivating illustrations and short chapters make this one perfect for those ready for more detailed stories at bedtime. Plus. There are 2 great adventures tucked into this one book.
Lil is a pirate. Oh yes. Many people may not know that. But. The clues are there. Being a ‘swashbuckling pirate’ is Lil’s secret. Miss Lumber thinks Lil is just telling fanciful stories. What does she know?
The first of 2 stories, The Secret Pirate, tells the tale of how Lil saved her teacher from that dastardly villain, the ‘terrible Stinkbeard.’
‘On his beard grew mould, some thirty years old,
Encrusted with seaweedy slime.
He plundered and grabbed, and he raided and nabbed,
And all of his wealth came from crime.’
Lil is stuck in detention, she knows Stinkbeard is planning to kidnap Miss Lumber – but what can she do? It’s a good thing she’s a secret pirate and has her trusty side kick, Carrot the Parrot, to help her.
Story 2, Croc Ahoy!, is set during sports day. This one is plenty of fun as Lil tries to stop Stinkbeard’s croc from eating all the children in a bid to grab the gold trophies. Poor Miss Lumber is not convinced when she sees the mess that’s left behind. Ooops!
Woollard pens a lovely fast paced narrative with faultless rhyme and rhythm that’s a joy to read out loud. The twists and turns in the plot are brilliantly portrayed by Laura Ellen Anderson’s pencil illustrations – perfectly capturing the cheeky Lil and that crafty Stinkbeard. Swashbuckle Lil: The Secret Pirate the first book in the series, is great for emerging readers.
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