Responce to the Pirate Girl

The Pirate Girl
Funk, Cornelia
Meyer, Kristin
fantasy
Scholastic Inc. (2005)
K-5
The Pirate Girl is a humorous book about a feisty girl named Molly who is kidnapped by a gang of pirates on a ship named the Horrible Haddock while she was on her way to see her grandmother. Molly refused to give her captures her parent's names and address so they can collect a ransom. All she will tell them is that her mother's name would scare them. The pirates make her do chore after chore in order to get her to talk. Molly refuses to give in. Instead, she throws bottles in the ocean that have messages inside them. One day the pirates caught her throwing a bottle in the ocean. At the same time, a pirate ship appears full of female pirates. The pirates aboard the Horrible Haddok immediately recognize the leader of the female pirates as Barbarous Bertha. Molly informs the pirates that Bertha is her mother an that they are in big trouble. In the end Molly was able to continue her trip to her grandmother's and Barbarous Bertha forces the crew of the Horrible Haddock to do the same grueling chores Molly had done.

This is really cool book. I like that Cornelia Funk's books show young girls and women as smart and powerful. Molly was not portrayed as the damsel in distress as she waited helplessly for someone to save her. Instead she kept her wit and saved herself by sending her mother messages. Furthermore, Molly did not have to be saved by a man. Instead, she was saved by strong and powerful women. I think this book would be an excellent book to use to teach children about gender roles and to help break down stereotypes about how women act and what they are capable of. I think that children need to be taught early that women can be as strong and capable as men.

This book was a joy to read largely because of the illustrations by Meyer. There is no information about the illustration in the book or on the Chicken House web site but they appear to have been drawn in pen then colored with water color. The double page Illustrations use a mixture of vibrant colors that really capture the reader’s interest and set the humorous mood of the book. I defiantly enjoyed this book and will incorporate it into my classroom.