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Captain Abdul's Little Treasure
The incorrigible Colin McNaughton sneaks a baby aboard a pirate ship with hilarious results in this kid-pleasing saga of pseudo-sword-fighting, smelly diapers, and hide-and-seek on the high seas. Oooh-argh, ha-har!
KABOOM! Who could be a-disturbin' Captain Abdul's beauty sleep firin' cannons? No, it's not an attack on his raucous pirate ship, The Golden Behind. It's a special delivery - a Little Treasure, to be exact, sent courtesy of Mrs. Abdul, who's off on a pirating jaunt of her own. Now Captain Abdul and his hairy, scary mates are expected to babysit! Will this be the ruin of their "repootashun" and make them the laughingstock of the pirate world?
KABOOM! Who could be a-disturbin' Captain Abdul's beauty sleep firin' cannons? No, it's not an attack on his raucous pirate ship, The Golden Behind. It's a special delivery - a Little Treasure, to be exact, sent courtesy of Mrs. Abdul, who's off on a pirating jaunt of her own. Now Captain Abdul and his hairy, scary mates are expected to babysit! Will this be the ruin of their "repootashun" and make them the laughingstock of the pirate world?
48 pages, Hardcover
First published April 11, 2006
About the author
Colin McNaughton
165 books26 followersGrowing up in his native England, the young Colin McNaughton had little indication that he would one day become an author-illustrator. There were no books at all in his parents' home, he recalls, but there were always comics. These were his formative literature, and their slapstick humor has been a lasting influence. "I've been talking about the comic format for years," he says. "It's the modern way of telling stories for today's children; it's about movement, the step between film and the book."
Colin McNaughton says he "hated school. The word 'school' still gives me nightmares." Opting for technical college, he admits he even "made a mess of getting in there -- I'd filled out the application wrong, and when I turned up for registration they'd never heard of me!" So he worked at odd jobs for the next year before entering art school. Although his first book was published while he was still in school, Colin McNaughton did not immediately become a full-time artist. He first tried editorial and advertising work, but did not find the satisfaction that he got out of creating children's books. "At the end of it, there it is, a book on the shelf, not like a newspaper in the gutter. In fact, once you start thinking about it, it's a smashing job!" If the response to his books is any indication, children and adults seem to agree that Colin McNaughton is doing a "smashing job."
Colin McNaughton lives in London with his wife.
Colin McNaughton says he "hated school. The word 'school' still gives me nightmares." Opting for technical college, he admits he even "made a mess of getting in there -- I'd filled out the application wrong, and when I turned up for registration they'd never heard of me!" So he worked at odd jobs for the next year before entering art school. Although his first book was published while he was still in school, Colin McNaughton did not immediately become a full-time artist. He first tried editorial and advertising work, but did not find the satisfaction that he got out of creating children's books. "At the end of it, there it is, a book on the shelf, not like a newspaper in the gutter. In fact, once you start thinking about it, it's a smashing job!" If the response to his books is any indication, children and adults seem to agree that Colin McNaughton is doing a "smashing job."
Colin McNaughton lives in London with his wife.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 8, 2011
1. This book would fall under the category of a picture book, other.
2. Captain Abdul has a new mission for his pirate crew. The roustabouts are now in charge of his most valuable treasure – his son! His mom drops him off for a week so that she can go with her pirate crew to do their own pirate stuff! What will a bunch of pirates do with a toddler? He might be the one running things!
3. critique
a. The strongest part of this book is its consistency in writing throughout.
b. Each page begins with a series of large words that are either repeated or easy to read. The huge words create reader interest and encourage them to try to read the words (they are usually associated with the pictures.) The story is told with a repeated question posed from the middle of the story throughout and each page ends with a poem that is either known or parodied.
c. The story begins with a pirate falling off of the crow’s nest with the huge word “kaboom!” at the top of the page. The first poem appears after the Captain asks the child what he wants for dinner. The answer? “Swossages!” Each pages asks the child the same question and has the same answer. My favorite poem was the parody for “This little Piggy” which was “This Little Pirate.” What a great story!
4. a curriculum connection
The predictable pattern coupled with the lively pictures make this book a lively read. It would be a great addition to a classroom library to use for quiet read or buddy reading time. The parodies to different poetry would be ideal to teach students about poem pattern and the rhythm of poetry.
2. Captain Abdul has a new mission for his pirate crew. The roustabouts are now in charge of his most valuable treasure – his son! His mom drops him off for a week so that she can go with her pirate crew to do their own pirate stuff! What will a bunch of pirates do with a toddler? He might be the one running things!
3. critique
a. The strongest part of this book is its consistency in writing throughout.
b. Each page begins with a series of large words that are either repeated or easy to read. The huge words create reader interest and encourage them to try to read the words (they are usually associated with the pictures.) The story is told with a repeated question posed from the middle of the story throughout and each page ends with a poem that is either known or parodied.
c. The story begins with a pirate falling off of the crow’s nest with the huge word “kaboom!” at the top of the page. The first poem appears after the Captain asks the child what he wants for dinner. The answer? “Swossages!” Each pages asks the child the same question and has the same answer. My favorite poem was the parody for “This little Piggy” which was “This Little Pirate.” What a great story!
4. a curriculum connection
The predictable pattern coupled with the lively pictures make this book a lively read. It would be a great addition to a classroom library to use for quiet read or buddy reading time. The parodies to different poetry would be ideal to teach students about poem pattern and the rhythm of poetry.
September 25, 2011
‘Captain Abdul’s Little Treasure’ by Colin Mcnaughton is a delightful book about a bunch of pirates being lumbered with their Captains baby while his wife goes off with her friends pirating for the week. It’s a humorous and well illustrated book with excellent potential for literacy, music, drama, history and project work.
The book will work great in Key stage 1 however it does contain a lot of pirate slang and misspellings; therefore it may be something that is best read to the class with discussions on when it’s appropriate to use these styles. It also contains examples of traditional songs which have been given a pirate twist. Work based around these can easily be brought into literacy, drama and music lessons, while their content including references to certain bodily functions are sure to delight young children.
The story comes with an accompanying CD which is wonderfully read by Andrew Sachs. While this can be used as an excellent device for children to follow along to it is perhaps even better used as a training tool in how to tell a story in a thoroughly engaging way. I look forward to putting my pirate accents to the test should I get to tell read this book in class and I’m sure succeed or fail the children will have a whale of a time watching their teacher being silly.
The book will work great in Key stage 1 however it does contain a lot of pirate slang and misspellings; therefore it may be something that is best read to the class with discussions on when it’s appropriate to use these styles. It also contains examples of traditional songs which have been given a pirate twist. Work based around these can easily be brought into literacy, drama and music lessons, while their content including references to certain bodily functions are sure to delight young children.
The story comes with an accompanying CD which is wonderfully read by Andrew Sachs. While this can be used as an excellent device for children to follow along to it is perhaps even better used as a training tool in how to tell a story in a thoroughly engaging way. I look forward to putting my pirate accents to the test should I get to tell read this book in class and I’m sure succeed or fail the children will have a whale of a time watching their teacher being silly.
July 26, 2008
We got this book about a group of pirates in charge of a baby, from the library and it came with a wonderful audio CD. The kids have had me read it aloud to them myself several times as well. The type in the book is also set up in different fonts so that it is easy to do "the voices" of the different cahracters, which I really found helpful. My kids love that Little Treasure loves "Swossages!" Definately a keeper.
July 18, 2008
This is a book I think every child should have on the shelf. Literarily, it's not stellar, I'll admit. But it's awfully fun. What really makes it special is the CD included with the book, which features the incredible talents of Andrew Sachs (remember Manuel from Fawlty Towers?). My children, ages 2 to 13, beg to listen on a regular basis.
January 21, 2016
A cute story about a menacing pirate who is tasked with taking care of his baby while his wife goes off piratin' for a bit. Captain Abdul and his crew learn to care for the little boy and sing stories to him every night.
Very good with the pirate-y dialog, but a bit long of a story to keep it up for as long as it takes to read it.
Nice illustrations - aaarrrgggg!
Very good with the pirate-y dialog, but a bit long of a story to keep it up for as long as it takes to read it.
Nice illustrations - aaarrrgggg!
December 4, 2008
My kids love this book and have listened to the CD over and over. Thank heavens it comes with the CD because my pirate-talk isn't so good (I read it the first time). The guy who narrated it did a great job with all the voices, and it was fun to listen to and funny.
December 2, 2015
What a great treasure of a book this is. The audio CD is a MUST for this story. The person doing the reading for this book is so talented to do so many voices. My kids love listening to this during car rides.
September 30, 2008
Great book! Especially when Jim reads it with his pirate voice!
August 5, 2010
Probably good as a one-on-one book, but far too long and too wordy for a storytime group.
September 5, 2014
Fun to read, cute story.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews