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The Jolley-Rogers #Ch1
Веселі Роджерси та Примарний галеон
Кожної повні неподалік Нудноморська з'являється таємничий корабель, а вранці...мешканці міста підраховують збитки. Дивним чином у них зникають золото та всілякі цінні речі. І ніхто не може зупинити злодія... Матільда кличе на допомогу свого найкращого друга Джима Молодця, і невдовзі до берега причалює "Чорна Діра", на палубі якої перебуває вся родина Веселих Роджерсів з дідусем на чолі. Оце так! Саме час розпочати пошуки крадіїв, але немає жодної зачіпки. Зрозуміло одне: до пограбувань напевно причетний старий пірат, якого давно вважають за мерця... А де пірати - там ризик, незліченні скарби та неймовірні пригоди!
160 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2015
7 people are currently reading
432 people want to read
About the author
Jonny Duddle
120 books61 followersJonny Duddle has been a concept artist for Aardman Animations and created fantastic illustrations for fiction and novelty books, including ALIENOLOGY. He wrote and illustrated THE PIRATE CRUNCHER. Jonny Duddle lives in Buxton, England.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
July 22, 2016
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A delightful and entertaining story with wily pirates and comic adventure! Smart dialogue and charming illustrations make this a definite page turner. Highly recommended.
A delightful and entertaining story with wily pirates and comic adventure! Smart dialogue and charming illustrations make this a definite page turner. Highly recommended.
February 11, 2017
When I was a librarian I discovered the amazing talent of Jonny Duddle on the picture book shelves. It's great to have his illustrations in books for older children too!
The museum in the small town of Dull-on-Sea has been burgled and all its treasures are gone! An eye witness swears he saw pirates, but that can't be right - can it?
Tilly loves pirates and her best friend Jim Lad just happens to be one. She writes him a letter and he replies quickly by parrot. While the townsfolk of Dull-on-Sea are in a complete panic, Jim and his family are on their way in their pirate ship, The Blackhole.
Tilly explains the problem to Jim and his Grandpa when they arrive, and they soon have a Piratey Plan to outwit the treasure thieves, but they aren't your normal run of the mill pirates! With their very lives at stake, Tilly, Jim and Grandpa need to get the town treasures back and fix these problem pirates once and for all.
Full of fantastic black and white illustrations by this talented author/illustrator, this is a tale full of blistering barnacles, sword fights, a full moon, a strange key and the evil Captain Twirlybeard! Great story. Would make a fun read aloud.
The museum in the small town of Dull-on-Sea has been burgled and all its treasures are gone! An eye witness swears he saw pirates, but that can't be right - can it?
Tilly loves pirates and her best friend Jim Lad just happens to be one. She writes him a letter and he replies quickly by parrot. While the townsfolk of Dull-on-Sea are in a complete panic, Jim and his family are on their way in their pirate ship, The Blackhole.
Tilly explains the problem to Jim and his Grandpa when they arrive, and they soon have a Piratey Plan to outwit the treasure thieves, but they aren't your normal run of the mill pirates! With their very lives at stake, Tilly, Jim and Grandpa need to get the town treasures back and fix these problem pirates once and for all.
Full of fantastic black and white illustrations by this talented author/illustrator, this is a tale full of blistering barnacles, sword fights, a full moon, a strange key and the evil Captain Twirlybeard! Great story. Would make a fun read aloud.
May 9, 2015
Brilliant Chapter Book Follow-up
Johnny Duddle started the Jim and Matilda series with the very successful picture books "The Pirate Cruncher" and "The Pirates Next Door". These funny, brightly colored, amusingly illustrated and ripping books introduced Jim the pirate lad and his friend Matilda, as well as Jim's entire pirate family.
In a great creative stroke, Duddle has moved on to write and illustrate a series of graphic chapter books that follow upon the picture books and feature the same characters and settings. As a consequence a kid can start with the picture books. If he or she likes them then this chapter book and its sequels just naturally draw them along to the next reading level. So, this ends up as a series a little reader can grow with. What a nice plan.
And these are worth getting into. The story here is that ghost pirates are raiding pirate museums, gathering pirate treasure. They land at Dull-on-Sea and clean out the local Museum. Matilda sends a message in a bottle to Jim and his family, and they arrive to help stop the ghost pirates. SPOILER. It turns out that there is something important in Dull-on-Sea that could send the ghost pirates away for good and so the race is on between the ghosts and Matilda/Jim to see who can get the whatchamacallit first.
This book has great appeal. There are lots of funny bits, frantic action, clever wordplay, deadpan humor, and some sly bits for adults. Matilda and Jim are cheerful and resourceful can-do heroes. Added appeal arises from the nice match between the graphic aspect and the printed words. This is not a "comic" or a pure graphic novel, but more along the lines of a very heavily illustrated book. The drawings are black and white, but heavily detailed and exaggerated in an amusing fashion. They also clarify what's been written and so help a younger reader avoid confusion and follow the story, which can be a bit antic and breathless.
The upshot is that this book is entertaining, good-natured, funny and pretty exciting. While it stands alone just fine it's also a great extension of Duddle's pirate series for the picture book crowd, which just strikes me as a swell idea. A very nice and satisfying find.
Johnny Duddle started the Jim and Matilda series with the very successful picture books "The Pirate Cruncher" and "The Pirates Next Door". These funny, brightly colored, amusingly illustrated and ripping books introduced Jim the pirate lad and his friend Matilda, as well as Jim's entire pirate family.
In a great creative stroke, Duddle has moved on to write and illustrate a series of graphic chapter books that follow upon the picture books and feature the same characters and settings. As a consequence a kid can start with the picture books. If he or she likes them then this chapter book and its sequels just naturally draw them along to the next reading level. So, this ends up as a series a little reader can grow with. What a nice plan.
And these are worth getting into. The story here is that ghost pirates are raiding pirate museums, gathering pirate treasure. They land at Dull-on-Sea and clean out the local Museum. Matilda sends a message in a bottle to Jim and his family, and they arrive to help stop the ghost pirates. SPOILER. It turns out that there is something important in Dull-on-Sea that could send the ghost pirates away for good and so the race is on between the ghosts and Matilda/Jim to see who can get the whatchamacallit first.
This book has great appeal. There are lots of funny bits, frantic action, clever wordplay, deadpan humor, and some sly bits for adults. Matilda and Jim are cheerful and resourceful can-do heroes. Added appeal arises from the nice match between the graphic aspect and the printed words. This is not a "comic" or a pure graphic novel, but more along the lines of a very heavily illustrated book. The drawings are black and white, but heavily detailed and exaggerated in an amusing fashion. They also clarify what's been written and so help a younger reader avoid confusion and follow the story, which can be a bit antic and breathless.
The upshot is that this book is entertaining, good-natured, funny and pretty exciting. While it stands alone just fine it's also a great extension of Duddle's pirate series for the picture book crowd, which just strikes me as a swell idea. A very nice and satisfying find.
February 13, 2016
I read the picture book: The Pirates Next Door, 8 days ago, and I wrote in my review that I would like to have more books or story about our pirate family. The publisher posted a comment and told me about these books. Of course, I immediately had to get them, since I really liked the picture book.
The Jolley-Rogers are back in this new book, still with a bunch of illustrations but now with a whole lot more text and story. And it was a great story. There is trouble afoot in Dull-on-Sea, this time the pirates are ghosts! They cause a lot of (hilarious) trouble. People are so paranoid, it is just so funny to see them go to the bank, or try to bury their stuff, just so it might be safe. They do tend to forget that ghosts can just go through stuff like walls and floors.
Mathilda calls the help of the Jolley-Roger family and they are more than willing to help out with the problem. I really enjoyed seeing Mathilda and Jim meet up again, they really are great friends even with the huge distance that is often between them.
And it was delightful to see the whole family again. From the picture book, I thought that the grandpa couldn't walk any more, but he seems to be walking perfectly fine in this one, just seems mostly lazy.
It was really funny that the key they needed was in such a place. It is a wonder that no one ever found it. Though... then again, it is mostly the best hiding spot when it is so ordinary.
The ghost pirates were pretty creepy and also very mean. Just like pirates are supposed to be. The Jolley-Rogers are also pirates, but I feel like they are more of the kind sort of pirates.
The story was fun, and it has a great ending.
The illustrations were great, I really enjoyed looking at them, they made the book even more awesome and more fun.
Sadly, the books are a quick read, before you know it the book is over! The book is that addicting, I just couldn't stop reading it.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
The Jolley-Rogers are back in this new book, still with a bunch of illustrations but now with a whole lot more text and story. And it was a great story. There is trouble afoot in Dull-on-Sea, this time the pirates are ghosts! They cause a lot of (hilarious) trouble. People are so paranoid, it is just so funny to see them go to the bank, or try to bury their stuff, just so it might be safe. They do tend to forget that ghosts can just go through stuff like walls and floors.
Mathilda calls the help of the Jolley-Roger family and they are more than willing to help out with the problem. I really enjoyed seeing Mathilda and Jim meet up again, they really are great friends even with the huge distance that is often between them.
And it was delightful to see the whole family again. From the picture book, I thought that the grandpa couldn't walk any more, but he seems to be walking perfectly fine in this one, just seems mostly lazy.
It was really funny that the key they needed was in such a place. It is a wonder that no one ever found it. Though... then again, it is mostly the best hiding spot when it is so ordinary.
The ghost pirates were pretty creepy and also very mean. Just like pirates are supposed to be. The Jolley-Rogers are also pirates, but I feel like they are more of the kind sort of pirates.
The story was fun, and it has a great ending.
The illustrations were great, I really enjoyed looking at them, they made the book even more awesome and more fun.
Sadly, the books are a quick read, before you know it the book is over! The book is that addicting, I just couldn't stop reading it.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
October 21, 2017
Lots of fun and adventure, great illustrations.
March 12, 2018
Our first foray into proper books without pictures for my 6 year old son. There's a whole new section of the bookshop suddenly openning up to us....bring on the bed-time story future!
May 22, 2023
5 stars from an almost 5 year old 😅
August 9, 2019
My son's newest favorite series.
October 13, 2019
Really funny read.
November 27, 2016
Diddle, Jonny The Jolley-Rogers and the Ghostly Galleon (Book #1), 137 pgs Templar (Candlewick), 2015. $6.99. Content: Language: PG (3 swears, 0 'f' ); Mature Content: G Violence: PG
Matilda hometown, Dull-on-Sea is raided by ghostly pirates! When her friend, Jim Lad, a real pirate boy, comes to town on his families ship the Blackhole, they hatch a plan to help. First Matilda will have to get a big key from her elderly friend, then they will use it bribe the ghost pirates to give back what they stole and go away. When that doesn't work, with a helpful dog and parrot, will Matilda and Jim be able to send those ghosts back to Davey Jones Locker room?
The story is fantastic and the illustrations are SO incredible, its like watching a movie! Alas, a few easily fixable issues bring the rating from Essential to NO. Its labelled as first in a series, but it turns out that a book called The Pirates Next Door is where the characters first met, and the reader can tell something is off. There is also a drastic format/reading level mismatch. It is 100% formatted as an early chapter book, like for 1st-2nd graders with lots of illustrations and a large font size, but it’s a way higher reading level than that, with a complex plot, tricky vocabulary, authentic pirate terminology, and British slang. But the killer for me, is the following: The references to drinking and the multiple use of the word Hell, which at least here in Utah, can be a problem with the many conservative upper grade readers, but especially younger grade readers and their parents. I am just plain grumpy about not being able to add this to my library.
EL (K-3) – NO Reviewer: Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author.
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2016/...
Matilda hometown, Dull-on-Sea is raided by ghostly pirates! When her friend, Jim Lad, a real pirate boy, comes to town on his families ship the Blackhole, they hatch a plan to help. First Matilda will have to get a big key from her elderly friend, then they will use it bribe the ghost pirates to give back what they stole and go away. When that doesn't work, with a helpful dog and parrot, will Matilda and Jim be able to send those ghosts back to Davey Jones Locker room?
The story is fantastic and the illustrations are SO incredible, its like watching a movie! Alas, a few easily fixable issues bring the rating from Essential to NO. Its labelled as first in a series, but it turns out that a book called The Pirates Next Door is where the characters first met, and the reader can tell something is off. There is also a drastic format/reading level mismatch. It is 100% formatted as an early chapter book, like for 1st-2nd graders with lots of illustrations and a large font size, but it’s a way higher reading level than that, with a complex plot, tricky vocabulary, authentic pirate terminology, and British slang. But the killer for me, is the following: The references to drinking and the multiple use of the word Hell, which at least here in Utah, can be a problem with the many conservative upper grade readers, but especially younger grade readers and their parents. I am just plain grumpy about not being able to add this to my library.
EL (K-3) – NO Reviewer: Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author.
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2016/...
August 18, 2016
THE JOLLEY-ROGERS AND THE GHOSTLY GALLEON
(The Jolley-Rogers: #1)
Written by Jonny Duddle
2014 (Reissued August 2, 2016); 160 Pages
Candlewick
Genre: children's, pirates, easy readers
(I received an ARC from the NETGALLEY in exchange for an honest review.)
4 Stars
"Ahoy, me hearties! Matilda and the Pirates Next Door return in a series of illustrated stories for young readers.
Every full moon, a mysterious ship is seen off the coast of Dull-on-Sea. Then, the next day, gold and jewelry are missing from homes, shops, and museums all over town. Matilda needs the Jolley-Rogers' help to investigate. Can Matilda and Jim Lad retrieve the stolen booty from the mysterious ship before the moon fades? Or will they end up stuck on board with a crew of ghostly pirates forever?" (From Publisher)
I enjoyed this cute chapter book. I loved the illustrations - which there are many of and gives you a feeling of a long picture book. This is a perfect book for little readers graduating from picture books to easy readers to easy chapter books. With quirky lovable characters, pirates and mysteries this will be a hit for the whole family.
k (My Novelesque Life)
(The Jolley-Rogers: #1)
Written by Jonny Duddle
2014 (Reissued August 2, 2016); 160 Pages
Candlewick
Genre: children's, pirates, easy readers
(I received an ARC from the NETGALLEY in exchange for an honest review.)
4 Stars
"Ahoy, me hearties! Matilda and the Pirates Next Door return in a series of illustrated stories for young readers.
Every full moon, a mysterious ship is seen off the coast of Dull-on-Sea. Then, the next day, gold and jewelry are missing from homes, shops, and museums all over town. Matilda needs the Jolley-Rogers' help to investigate. Can Matilda and Jim Lad retrieve the stolen booty from the mysterious ship before the moon fades? Or will they end up stuck on board with a crew of ghostly pirates forever?" (From Publisher)
I enjoyed this cute chapter book. I loved the illustrations - which there are many of and gives you a feeling of a long picture book. This is a perfect book for little readers graduating from picture books to easy readers to easy chapter books. With quirky lovable characters, pirates and mysteries this will be a hit for the whole family.
k (My Novelesque Life)
January 12, 2016
I'm a big fan of Jonny Duddle's picture books, my favourite being 'The Pirate Cruncher'. His artwork is absolutely stunning and his writing is fun and exciting. I really like in 'The Pirate Cruncher' how it reads like a proper sea shanty, you can't help but want to put on a pirate-y voice!
So when I heard he was expanding one of his picture books, 'The Pirates Next Door', into a series for 5-8 year old's I knew I had to give it a go.
This fun simple story was fantastic, the characters are brilliant and full of life and the story doesn't feel overly simple or too predictable which I feel can be hard for younger kids books. What really added to the story was all the illustrations that went along with it, not merely because I love Duddle's art style, but also in the way they were very much a part of the story telling itself.
I will certainly be checking out the rest in the series, and would highly recommend them to anyone looking to read to younger children some fun little pirate-y adventures! YAR!
So when I heard he was expanding one of his picture books, 'The Pirates Next Door', into a series for 5-8 year old's I knew I had to give it a go.
This fun simple story was fantastic, the characters are brilliant and full of life and the story doesn't feel overly simple or too predictable which I feel can be hard for younger kids books. What really added to the story was all the illustrations that went along with it, not merely because I love Duddle's art style, but also in the way they were very much a part of the story telling itself.
I will certainly be checking out the rest in the series, and would highly recommend them to anyone looking to read to younger children some fun little pirate-y adventures! YAR!
July 31, 2014
A treasure trove of hearty adventures! Jonny Duddle extends his oeuvre to a new age-group and gives them even more fun of the high seas. It's Pirates of the Carribean for children and we loved it.
October 6, 2024
2.5*
Duddle is an incredible illustrator. I love his artwork. I wish he illustrated more kids' books.
However, I struggled with this one, just because the book seems to be aimed at young readers transitioning from picture books to books with more writing (it seems to be advertised for 5-7 year-olds), but some of the content seemed older, particularly the cursed ghost pirates with severed limbs and the bit about their souls being sucked down to the ocean depths/hell. And one of them pictured was headless.
It might depend on your child, but I think the content was a bit too eerie and creepy/scary for this age group, definitely the young end at least. As well as this, there were multiple references to drinking and being drunk and I'm really not sure why Matilda's dad was pictured wearing an apron that had a woman's body in a bikini on it.
I was also hoping that there might be a bit where we see the townsfolk overcoming their prejudice, and thank the pirate family for what they did to return the treasure.
But again the illustrations are awesome and I do love the themes of family and friendship. But I just couldn't recommend this to parents for its intended age-group.
Duddle is an incredible illustrator. I love his artwork. I wish he illustrated more kids' books.
However, I struggled with this one, just because the book seems to be aimed at young readers transitioning from picture books to books with more writing (it seems to be advertised for 5-7 year-olds), but some of the content seemed older, particularly the cursed ghost pirates with severed limbs and the bit about their souls being sucked down to the ocean depths/hell. And one of them pictured was headless.
It might depend on your child, but I think the content was a bit too eerie and creepy/scary for this age group, definitely the young end at least. As well as this, there were multiple references to drinking and being drunk and I'm really not sure why Matilda's dad was pictured wearing an apron that had a woman's body in a bikini on it.
I was also hoping that there might be a bit where we see the townsfolk overcoming their prejudice, and thank the pirate family for what they did to return the treasure.
But again the illustrations are awesome and I do love the themes of family and friendship. But I just couldn't recommend this to parents for its intended age-group.
November 16, 2025
I’ve read this book 6 years ago and I can still remember it.
One day bad pirates raided the town’s museum and they stealed many of the valuable pieces. Later this robbery shocked the town. After good pirates came to the town and the Cops came to ask some questions about where they were 2 days ago at nighttime. After that one of them found a weird key with his friend from that town. Later they learned that this key is the key of a mysterious chest. And this case was located at a ship which is collapsing. After the pirate family began to search the ship for the chest. When they found it the ship was full of bad and dangerous pirates. After some fight the boy’s friend opened the chest and sank the ship itself with its crew.
One day bad pirates raided the town’s museum and they stealed many of the valuable pieces. Later this robbery shocked the town. After good pirates came to the town and the Cops came to ask some questions about where they were 2 days ago at nighttime. After that one of them found a weird key with his friend from that town. Later they learned that this key is the key of a mysterious chest. And this case was located at a ship which is collapsing. After the pirate family began to search the ship for the chest. When they found it the ship was full of bad and dangerous pirates. After some fight the boy’s friend opened the chest and sank the ship itself with its crew.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 18, 2017
The Jolly-Rogers and the Ghostly Galleons is the first in a series of early chapter books that brings pirates into the modern world. In pursuit of the magical Key of Souls, Twirlybeard and his crew of ghouls will stop at nothing to obtain the artifact - possessing it will keep them immortal. The Jolly-Rogers, Matilda, Jim Lad and their families, are tasked with recovering the treasure the pirates stole from the town. This is an engaging yarn, full of fun illustrations and a plot that keeps things moving. This is a recommended title for library’s looking to expand their early chapter book collection.
May 9, 2023
Our third book having taken it in turns, we have collectively come together and awarded it three stars. My little man told me he found that he couldn't put the other one down (The Wishkeepers Apprentice - review to follow, after he decides what he would like to write). Enjoyable and worth a read, but didn't grip our whole attention at times, what made it interesting was putting on our best pirate accents.
June 16, 2024
This was a very adventurous book after you get past the first few chapters.
I liked Matilda because she tricked the ghost pirates and trapped them in someone's locker.
My favourite part of the book was when they found the key to the chest of souls in a cupboard owned by a woman from 100 years ago.
You will like this book if you like ghosts and pirates. Be careful in case they become real and jump out of the book!
I liked Matilda because she tricked the ghost pirates and trapped them in someone's locker.
My favourite part of the book was when they found the key to the chest of souls in a cupboard owned by a woman from 100 years ago.
You will like this book if you like ghosts and pirates. Be careful in case they become real and jump out of the book!
August 4, 2025
Just finished reading this book to my adventurous 5 year old daughter who's begged for "just one more chapter" every night, and happily gone to bed early so we can read more of the book. Tonight when we were flying through the final few chapters she said "I just love it so much". Definitely starting the next one tomorrow night. Love that there's the two picture books first that initially got her interested in the characters.
July 12, 2020
The plot was definitely reminiscent of Pirates of the Caribbean - Curse of the Black Pearl (with an English flavour), but it was engaging and funny, with great illustrations. My daughter is 6 and she loved it as a bedtime story split over the week. Some of the pirate words were beyond her reading capabilities - ie curmudgeon - but she was able to follow along quite happily.
March 28, 2024
What a fun story this was.
My son has had the Yoto story of this for a while, and we read this as a family of four. It was fun, actually kind of scary, and a great story. The art and page design was really good.
A fun adventure story for the family, though we didn't know there were picture books first explaining who the pirates are.
My son has had the Yoto story of this for a while, and we read this as a family of four. It was fun, actually kind of scary, and a great story. The art and page design was really good.
A fun adventure story for the family, though we didn't know there were picture books first explaining who the pirates are.
April 3, 2018
Enjoyed more that the other Jolly-Rogers book I read but is a little scary in places for the younger reader. It’s a bit like the first Pirates of the Caribbean with tongue-in-cheek humour. Definitely worth a read.
October 21, 2021
This is a short but good book I finished it in about an hour but I really love the art style used in the book and I think it’s a great book to get younger people into reading especially if they like pirates
January 24, 2019
Ben really enjoyed this one - pirate adventure with a touch of spookiness. It’s short but has a challenging vocabulary, so probably best as a read-aloud.
January 25, 2019
A fun read for children and adults alike and just like me, this book has a bit of corny humour!
April 2, 2019
I liked it a lot, and it was funny. Also, the policeman said not to panic, and everyone did.
Want to read
April 18, 2021Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
May 29, 2021
Our introduction to the Jolley-Rogers chapter books-- a cute follow-up to The Pirate Next Door. We read it a few times but I think the plot is still a little bit hard to follow for a 5-year-old.
June 24, 2021
I really liked it, but surprisingly my daughter wasn't so keen...
November 15, 2021
Read this to my Year 2 class and they loved it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews