A Pirate's Night Before Christmas by Philip Yates

 A Pirate's Night Before Christmas by Philip Yates, illustrated by Sebastia Serra

Rating: 4 stars

Second nerdy confession of the day: It amuses me greatly to pick up our "on-hold" books at the library before I get the email notifying me that they are there, ready to be picked up.  But that's what happened yesterday when we went to the library--this book was waiting for us, pre-notification email!  I know, I know...cheap thrills.

If your child is into pirates, this is a great book to buy.  Or, if you just like reading books in a pirate accent ("aaarrgh!"), this is a great book to read.  The words and the illustrations are bright and lively and funny and clever.

But he hopped in his sleigh, to his team gave a roar:
"It's time to return to the briny deep floor!"

Santa is "Sir Peggedy" who lives in the deep water, and comes up from below with the help of eight giant, magic sea horses that pull his sleigh.  He hands out gifts to each buccaneer:

Anchors an' hornpipes an' cackle-fruit eggs,
Pearls an' red sashes for Bonnie an' Meg.
A cauldron for Cook filled with pieces of shank,
And just for the Cap'n a shiny new plank.

We had a lot of fun imagining a plank in our stockings on Christmas morning!  The narrator of the tale gets a special gift: a map to a treasure "where X-mas marks the spot!"

Another great version of the classic tale...  Merry Christmas, me buckos, an' a Happy New Year!