School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6This rousing tale charts the changing fortunes of "Calico Jack" Rackhamm and his crew, particularly of his wife Anne Bonney and sister in crime Mary Reade. Sweeping acrylic paintings set the briny scenes and cinematic action. (June 1995) (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
This rollicking ballad springs from an actual incident: captured in 1720 aboard the sloop Vanity when their dilatory mates "below, did drink and sport," the ``pirate queens'' Anne Bonney and Mary Reade escaped hanging because they were pregnant. Author and artist imagine them later, roughhousing with their grandchildren, while their fellow pirates are fated to sail a ghost ship ("And silver the coins and silver the moon,/ Silver the waves on the top of the sea,/ When the ghostly ship comes sailing in,/ That gallant Vanity"). Yolen and Shannon sail a different course than the one they plotted for the darker and more tragic Encounter (1992). Yolen approaches this almost farcical incident in simple, occasionally rough verse. Ironic in their stateliness, Shannon's paintings-framed, captioned in a scrawled script and otherwise composed to evoke the 18th century-display a sly humor; Mary and Anne in profile "pleading their bellies" before a judge will elicit chuckles. Not for everyone, but offbeat and grimly amusing. Ages 4-12. Children's BOMC featured selection. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Gr. 3-5. Finally, equal time for female ruffians. In this picture book for older readers, Yolen's ballad recounts the last stand of Anne Bonney and Mary Reade, real-life women pirates of the early 1700s. When a government vessel attacked their ship, Anne and Mary fought back fiercely. Although they called to their fellow pirates for help, their male comrades (including the women's "husbands" ) lolled below deck, drinking rum and playing cards. The men were hanged, but the women "pled their bellies," and the judge freed the pregnant pirates. Yolen's jingly rhymes are a little forced in places but lend themselves well to theatrical reading aloud. Shannon's very handsome acrylic paintings convey the tale's excitement with dramatic compositions in bold reds against smoky backgrounds. The eighteenth-century feeling is enhanced by pen-and-ink borders and the use of a parchment-colored background for the text. Pirate fans will enjoy Yolen's informative author's note--and the alluring skull and crossed swords on the back cover. --Leone McDermott
