A Pirate's Night Before Christmas

by Philip Yates, Sebastiá Serra (Illustrator)

Overview

Philip Yates’ rollicking rhymes and Sebastià Serra’s sprightly, fun-filled pictures turn this Christmas perennial into a jubilant celebration. Now in board!

The stockin’s were stuck to the bowsprit with tar,
In hopes that Sir Peggedy soon would be thar."
 
With impeccable rhythm and a great sense of fun, Philip Yates skillfully adds pirate adventure to Clement C. Moore's beloved Christmas story. Written from the point of view of a young boy on a pirate ship, the book details his discovery of Sir Peggedy’s arrival aboard the ship and all of the excitement that follows. Yates’s energetic use of pirate language and Sebastià Serra’s vibrant illustrations, full of clever details, combine to create a world all their own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781454942641
Publisher:	Union Square Kids
Publication date:	10/06/2020
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 7.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

Philip Yates lives in Austin, TX, and works in the Austin Public Library system. He has written for Disney Adventures Magazine and his first picture book was the highly acclaimed Ten Little Mummies. Philip has also written several other books for Sterling, including A Pirate’s Twelve Days of Christmas, and the humor books, The Biggest Joke Book in the World and World’s Silliest Jokes, which he coauthored with Matt Rissinger. 
 
Sebastià Serra hails from Barcelona, Spain, where he studied Fine Arts at the Universitat de Barcelona. He is an award-winning illustrator whose work has appeared in magazines and on television. Sebastià has illustrated a number of picture books in Spain and in the US, including A Pirate’s Twelve Days of Christmas by Philip Yates and Inky's Great Escape by Casey Lyall. His work has also been displayed in exhibitions all over the world, including the US, Italy, Japan, China, and Korea. You can find him online at sebastiaserra.com.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for A Pirate's Night Before Christmas
 
“The robust verse sails along with gusto . . . ” —The Horn Book Magazine

“[A] pitch‑perfect parody . . . the expertly rhymed text is packed full of pirate jargon . . . that beg[s] to be read aloud in rousing fashion.” —Kirkus Reviews
 

From the Publisher

PreS-Gr 3

This rollicking, seafaring version of Moore's poem will give pirate fans a chuckle while not exactly establishing itself as a Christmas classic. The adapted rhymes scan fairly well: "'Twas the night before Christmas aboard the Black Sark ./Not a creature was stirrin', not even a shark!/The stockin's were stuck to the bowsprit with tar,/In hopes that Sir Peggedy soon would be thar." The pencil and ink illustrations have a vibrant, cluttered humor that is reminiscent of, though not as well executed as, those of Lane Smith. Sir Peg himself is a little hard to make out as a person, but this is a fun addition to the subgenre of wacky adaptations of the classic.-Anne Connor, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

Yo-ho, ho, ho, ye landlubbers! Can that be Santa Claus with a black suit, skull-shaped earring and one shiny, gold tooth? And are those seahorses pulling a shell-shaped sleigh instead of reindeer? Aargh! Sir Peggedy's the name, pirating's the game, and a pitch-perfect parody is the definition of this witty take on the classic Christmas poem that will have pirate fans rolling on the poop deck with laughter. As narrated by a little redheaded pirate boy watching from aboard the Black Sark, the expertly rhymed text is packed full of pirate jargon and symbols, cleverly interwoven into the familiar lines that beg to be read aloud in rousing fashion. Serra's busy illustrations capture the pirate antics with a modern, moody edge, and a glossary defines all the pirate terms for little pirate wannabes. In the manner of many a pirate character, however, Sir Peggedy has a peg leg, an eye patch and a hook replacing one hand like Captain Hook, piratical literary conventions that may be seen as making light of legitimate disabilities. (Picture book. 4-9)

Kirkus Reviews