Everything I Know About Pirates

by Tom Lichtenheld

Why do pirates always wear eye patches?
What are pirates so grumpy about?
Where do pirates go to get their ears pierced?
How do pirates keep their underwear from getting mixed up when they sail off to pirate summer camp?
You're not the only one who wonders about these things. Author/illustrator Tom Lichtenheld wondered so much, he had to write a book about them. The result is Everything I Know About Pirates, a hilarious encyclopedia of piratedom. Thoroughly researched using educated guesses and made-up facts, the book reveals everything you'd ever want to know about those notorious bad guys of the high seas.
So grab your eye patch, matey, and prepare to learn the truth about the meanest and goofiest characters this side of Treasure Island.

Genres: Picture Books, Pirates, Humor, Childrens, Adventure

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Children's book author/illustrator writes for kids who love to laugh and grown-ups who love to laugh along with them. When not making up stories and drawing silly pictures, he likes to get other people's kids all riled-up then send them home to their parents.

Reviews

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this aloud to my 10yo son. He loved it. Had a great time laughing at the silliness.

[Celeste · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son really enjoys these books. They are quite silly.

[Lola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chocolate coins are more valuable then real gold. This book is full of priceless insight.

[Carrie G · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was hilarious, amazing, and downright PERFECT! Loved all of the word play!!!!

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up because I thought it was actually going to be about pirates but it was even better than I expected. It’s a very entertaining read.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are few children's books I read from the library that I absolutely have to add to my collection. This is definitely one of those books. Lichtenheld is an amazingly creative author. The book is funny and silly throughout.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been trying to figure out where in the hell this came from. Julia likes pirates but surely not enough for anyone to have bought this. I think someone may have bought her some sort of kit and this came with it.
I want to rate this higher because if it's in the hands of a better audience it's surely get five stars. Okay, I had given it a 2 but I'm changing to 3 because it's just not fair.
I'd recommend this to boy (or girls) who are very into pirates and all things pirate-y who are somewhere past the age of, oh, let's say 8.
There's a bit of neat to it so younger kids will get bored (that's not to say the contect is boring - it's not.)
Even adults will chuckle at some points in the book and there are some extra cool points. Three different types of "pirate knots" are shown, again with the pirate hats and flags, and nearing the end there is a three tier name chart where one can come up with their own pirate name. (Julia wasn't too happy because "Julia" and "princess" weren't in there. I told her to contact the author and take it up with him.)
All in all, if you hand this to a pirate crazy kid who can read it themselves it's sure to go over well. A plus would be if they get the humor of course.
The illustrations fit in a wonderful way also. Have to mention that. My favorite part is the explanation as to why pirates pants always have that jagged look to them. I would have liked to see a few girls names in the chart - there were none that I can remember and let's face it, girls do like pirates also.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite of the Everything I Know About... picture book series by this author/illustrator. This title focuses on pirates and includes a smidge more real information than made-up and does a great job of highlighting what makes pirates so interesting.

Illustrations were rendered in ink, colored pencil, gouache, and pastels.

Text is too long for a read aloud, but it's good for independent readers.

[Greta · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Pirates will often carry their knives in their mouths, although the practice is frowned upon by the American Dental Association!"

I laughed out loud through this whole book. Just some very funny, quirky lines. My son is going to be playing Smee from Peter Pan in his school play so we're getting all the pirate lingo down! Fun to laugh together as we read this book!

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Out-and-out silliness. Boys (and some girls, I'm sure) will love this. Not as funny to me as some of his other works, though I did smile and laugh. And my favorite part was the Glossary. Brilliant and hilarious--especially with mention of the Monkees! Ha ha!!

Not a good storytime choice, and probably best for the school-age kids. Read-alones very fun and lap-reads OK.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this a 5/5 because I love Tom Lichtenheld's quirky sense of humor and colorful illustrations, but my four-year-old wasn't keen to read it again. I think the humor was lost on her, but maybe Tom will write Everything I Know About Princesses, and then I think we'll be in business. :)

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything I Know About Pirates is a nonfiction book that would spark the interest of students and especially boys. I liked that this book was humorous and also informational. Students could be encouraged to also create their own book that uses this book as a model.

[Sgivens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kind of a funny book a guy made guessing what pirates were and why they had certain things they did. It had really nice illustrations and even some pirate lingo in the back, you could even find out what your pirate name is!

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tongue-in-cheek look at pirates and all their habits. Silly illustrations make researching pirates fun and amusing.

Used for "Pirates: Arrrggg Mateys" Storytime- June, 2010.

[Eloise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny book.

[Laramort · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best pirate book ever! You can even make your own pirate name with its help.

[Finny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mommy says: Kids would not even let me read this to them past the 1st page.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick overview of pirate life in a humorous, not-completely-true manner. Comes complete with name generator.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like his book Everything I Know about Monsters, this book is lively and full of voice. There is humor and plays on words. Pretty fun and a good model for voice and organization of ideas.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read and funny. Most of the jokes went over my kid's heads but I got a chuckle from them.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quirky, silly "encyclopedia" of all the made up facts this guy knows about pirates. Lots of side notes and diagrams.

Great, funny illustrations.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute book that encourages imagination. The voice is fun and witty in this book (as it is in many of Lichtenheld's books).

[Lorelie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny! My kids will love this one.

[Bernice Seward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky and fun. My tweens enjoyed this even more than I did.