Plucky young Jeremy Jacob is reunited with Captain Braid Beard and his crew of daft, dentally challenged buccaneers in a follow-up to the bestselling How I Became a Pirate. This time, Jeremy clearly has the upper hand: he won't let the pirates dig up the treasure they buried in his backyard at the end of the previous book until they help him placate his cranky baby sister, Bonney Anne (pirate aficionados will note that her name is a nod to real-life female pirate Anne Bonny). The story unfolds rather predictably—but just as entertainingly as the original: the pirates turn out to be washouts as nannies, jokes fly about dirty diapers and strained spinach, and, of course, "the wee lass" Bonney Anne ends up being the key to recovering the treasure. But Long's piratical dialogue still delivers a juicy read-aloud: what reader of any age won't relish the opportunity to say "Aargh!" or declare "Rock on!" as the crew does in unison when Braid Beard orders them to rock Bonney Anne to sleep? And Shannon's voluptuously colorful and comic paintings runneth over with comic mayhem, sly details (somehow, the pirates manage to find a pirate show on Jeremy's TV) and no end of goofy expressions. Ages 3-7. (Mar.)

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Though "pirates don't change diapers. They don't even change socks!" a crew of eye-patched, hook-handed knaves faces the challenge of diverting an unhappy toddler in this hilariously helter-skelter follow-up to How I Became A Pirate (2003). Showing up on the doorstep of young swabbie Jeremy Jacob to reclaim the treasure they had buried in his backyard in the previous episode, Captain Braid Beard and his scurvy tars first have to calm the fussing of little Bonney Anne-though that involves learning how to change a diaper, spooning out strained spinach ("Shiver me timbers! What be this vile-smelling swill?") and rocking the tyke to sleep. Shannon pulls out all the stops, packing each crowded scene with frantic plug-uglies in gloriously detailed pirate garb, surrounding a deceptively cute urchin who's in charge from first moment to last. Like Colin McNaughton's similarly themed Captain Abdul's Little Treasure (2006), this will engender rousing cheers from mateys of every stripe. (Picture book. 6-8)

Long and Shannon pick up Jeremy Jacob's story from How I Became a Pirate as he is left in charge of his baby sister. When his old friend Captain Braid Beard and the pirate crew turn up to dig up the treasure they buried in his yard, they are not pleased to be told that they must help him keep Bonney Anne happy before he can help them. And so the riotous fun begins, as they run out of diapers, try to feed her strained spinach, and otherwise entertain her. Finally amid the chaos they discover that both the treasure map and the baby are missing. Although Bonney Anne has chewed the map when they find her, Jeremy realizes that she has shown them just where to dig. The pirates get their treasure, Jeremy gets his reward, and their mother will get a lovely birthday present. The text includes a lot of fun, with typical pirate exclamations, but it is the grossly comic acrylic paintings that really encourage laughs. Front and back covers under the jacket present close-up portraits of the distressed pirate captain and the wide open mouth of the very unhappy baby. The crew, in a motley parody of classic Wyeth illustrations, appear in deliciously inventive assemblages with their exaggerated actions and reactions to Bonney Anne's demands. Check out the vital map on the endpapers