Synopsis
Backbeard may have a new suit, but he is still one of the orneriest, smelliest, and hairiest pirates ever to sail the high seas. And his crew still likes to smash and steal things—they just prefer to do it in style. Unfortunately, certain members of the Pirate Council don't think he looks piratey enough in his new garb, and since they are just as stubborn as Backbeard, it's their way or the waterway.
Unwilling to give up his birthday suit, Backbeard sets out in search of new employment. He can pillage and plunder with the best of them, but who'll dare to hire a dirty, smelly ex-pirate?
Children's Literature
Blackbeard, the hairiest, smelliest, dirtiest pirate ever is called to the Pirate Council. He is told to change his fancy clothes to pirate attire, including a parrot, or he is out. So he leaves his crew and goes ashore with his pet pig to find a job. Turned down everywhere else, he is hired by a little old lady to help in her tea room. Left in charge when her children come to visit, Blackbeard is pleasantly surprised when his old shipmates turn up. With their help, however, the tea shop is soon a mess. Going to apologize to the little old lady, Blackbeard discovers that her children are the Pirate Council. To keep their secret, they agree to let Blackbeard be his own kind of pirate. The spoof of pirate lore starts on the cover with a full frontal portrait of our hero in a sandwich board that reads Pirate for Hire set against a background of Help Wanted ads. Across the front endpapers are eleven illustrated Pirate Rules, and across the back papers, the rules are amended for Blackbeard. The full-page framed and double-page illustrations done with pencil, fabric, photography, and digital techniques present the comic characters and their adventures dramatically, with occasional vignettes sketched on the text pages. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz