Ho Ho Ho! A Pirate’s Christmas for Me

PreS-Gr 1–When Nic Beard steals his pirate brother Kris’s necklace, Kris falls overboard and lands on happy Elf Island, while Nic leads a life of mischief and misery. One day, the necklace leads Nic to Elf Island and Kris, where the brothers Beard reunite and make up. Forever after, they spend their days making toys for children and delivering them by Christmas pirate ship. The catalyst for change in mischievous Nic seems to be the passage of time, as noted by his white beard and hair, which may be a bit subtle for the picture book audience. Some of the rhyming text detracts from rather than adds to the story, such as inverted phrases like, “How he got there, he did not know.” There are a number of clever Christmas-pirate phrases, such as “They were off with a ‘Yo Ho Ho!’” Button’s illustrations are jolly and lively, stylized without being overly cartoonish. The palette of deep blues with small pops of bright red will be a welcome change from the many green and red books on shelves. Textures, light, and shadows with an acrylic painted look make this world three-dimensional and magical.