Scan barcode
libraryjewels's review
4.0
Cute story. My 4th grade daughter liked it well enough. My third grade boy enjoyed it more.
racheljoy7's review
4.0
Babbitt never lets you down as a storyteller!
This is a fun little book with tall tales of the sea and pirates.
This is a fun little book with tall tales of the sea and pirates.
trixie_reads's review
5.0
My 10-year-old and I both thoroughly enjoyed this entertaining read. Jack Plank, a "retired" pirate, tries to find a new career, but tells his fellow boarding house renters tales about why no career is a good fit for him.
jessalynn_librarian's review
3.0
"So you think there's a troll under our bridge," said old Miss Withers. "Will wonders never cease." "I hope they never cease, said her uncle. "I like a good wonder now and then."
Basically a linked series of stories, some funny, some mysterious, some adventuresome, told by a pirate who’s been kicked off the ship because he didn’t care for plundering. ("Just say no to pillaging," anyone?) Seems like it would make a good read-aloud, and each story is enjoyable, but as always I crave more plot. I know where it’s going - in each chapter, someone suggests a different profession for Jack, and he tells a story about why he wouldn’t be suited for that job. So obviously he’s going to end up being the town storyteller. Which doesn’t take away from the charm of the book, but gave me less impetus to keep picking it up.
Basically a linked series of stories, some funny, some mysterious, some adventuresome, told by a pirate who’s been kicked off the ship because he didn’t care for plundering. ("Just say no to pillaging," anyone?) Seems like it would make a good read-aloud, and each story is enjoyable, but as always I crave more plot. I know where it’s going - in each chapter, someone suggests a different profession for Jack, and he tells a story about why he wouldn’t be suited for that job. So obviously he’s going to end up being the town storyteller. Which doesn’t take away from the charm of the book, but gave me less impetus to keep picking it up.
williamsdebbied's review
4.0
Jack Plank is not a very good pirate. Even though the other pirates like him, they can't afford to feed him when he doesn't do his share of plundering. They take him ashore to a small town where he takes a room in a boarding house and searches for a job.
Each evening he returns to the boarding house, discouraged, because there is a reason why each job he considers is not the job for him.
Jack finally does find his calling in a sweet and funny ending that will not surprise readers who have been paying attention.
Each evening he returns to the boarding house, discouraged, because there is a reason why each job he considers is not the job for him.
Jack finally does find his calling in a sweet and funny ending that will not surprise readers who have been paying attention.
auntiel's review
4.0
Great book for boy reluctant readers. Each chapter is a short story so it is easy to pick up and put down.
kesterbird's review
4.0
This is a sweet book, easy to divide up into sections for quick bedtime tales
ally_camel's review
5.0
I`ve read this one 2 or 3 times! By myself, to my students, to my then-boyfriend, possibly my roomate had to put up with some of the stories too. It`s delightful, like everything Natalie Babbitt writes! Gentle imaginative stories that are perfect to read with young children or older friends who like that sort of thing.