Click Here To Purchase The Sneakiest Pirates 

Author: Dalton James

Publisher: Outskirts Press

ISBN: 978-1-4327-2477-1

How do you begin to review a book that was authored and illustrated by a seven-year old? This was the dilemma I was faced with when I picked up a copy of Dalton James’s first book, The Sneakiest Pirates.  

Dalton, as mentioned in the book’s press release, is a first grader who has achieved a major milestone that most people could only dream of accomplishing during a lifetime.

Inspired by his grade one teacher, Dalton has written and illustrated a book with a great deal of imagination, ingenuity and wit as he recounts the story of a young lad, Pirate Pete, his dad, Scurvy James and Pirate Peg Leg Chuck. Incidentally, Peg Leg Chuck didn’t have a peg leg but he did have a hook for a hand.

The Sneakiest Pirates begins when after stealing the king’s gold, Peg Leg Chuck squirrels the treasure away on a beach without noticing, however, that Pirate Pete and Scurvy James are scrutinizing his actions.  This gives the latter two the opportunity to row to Peg Leg Chuck’s ship and steal all of his possessions. And while Peg Leg Chuck rows back to his ship, Pirate Pete and Scurvy James proceed to the beach, where they find the treasure and abscond with it. However, greed sets in and the two begin to fight over the spoils. Realizing that nothing good will come of their dispute, Pirate Pete and Scurvy James decide to share the gold for as they believe they will become wealthy and famous taking on new personalities, Rock Star Pete and Rock Star James.

This is one book that begs to be read aloud and will certainly prove to be a little treasure and popular with 5-7 year olds, particularly if they are into reading stories about pirates, as is the case with Dalton. It is amazing how he has created very expressive characters coupled with a story that understandably may be described as slight, due to the author’s tender age. Nonetheless, the story is still natural and swift moving that will prove to be a delight to young readers who will easily be able to appreciate Dalton’s vivid imagination and his creative illustrating talents.

This is also a wonderful project on the part of Dalton’s parents who encouraged their son to publish his book when you consider that one in twenty adults in the USA is illiterate and furthermore one child in four grows up not knowing how to read. I don’t have to draw a picture as to the ramifications of illiteracy. In fact, the James Family has a larger objective in mind for Dalton’s book. I have been informed that letters will be sent to every elementary school in the USA and for every book that is sold, the school will receive one dollar for their library fund. Moreover, the Daltons will donate fifty cents for every book sold across the country to Dalton’s school to honor his teachers.

To read Norm's Interview With Dalton Click Here

Click Here To Purchase The Sneakiest Pirates

The above review was contributed by: The Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com, Norm Goldman, B.A. LL.L, Retired Title Attorney: Norm is also a travel writer and together with his artist wife, Lily, the couple meld Norm's words with Lily's art. To check out their travel site click on Sketchandtravel.com   Click here to view Norm’s Reviews & Interviews.