What? There's already a treasure trove of punning pirate picture books out there? Sure there arrrr. But Mike Allegra (Sleepy Happy Capy Cuddles) and Jenn Harney (Hazy Bloom series) have struck gold doubloons with Pirate & Penguin, a hoot of a howler about a pirate who's desperate for a feathered friend.
A pirate has been "searchin' the Seven Seas for a parrot pal" when a penguin literally falls onto his ship. The pirate isn't great on species identification: "What a perfect pirate parrot ye arrrrr!" True, he has some concern about the penguin's appearance--"The blazin' sun seems ta have faded yer parroty plumage"--but it's nothing that some paint can't fix. Still, the bird's verbal unresponsiveness is a sticking point, as is its ineptness at basic sailor tasks ("Trim sail on the mizzenmast, Parrot, and haul wind!"). The pirate's meltdown ("You be the worst good-fer-nothing parrot I'S EVER SEEN!") moves the penguin to walk the plank, after which the pirate does some (semi)serious soul-searching ("Curse me terrible temper!") and begs for the bird's forgiveness.
Underneath all the exclamation-point-festooned dialogue balloons and slapsticky art, which has a dynamically caricaturish quality, is a cozy message: the pirate decides to take the penguin "just the way ye arrrrrrr!" Pirate & Penguin is both an acceptance tale and a knee-slapper fueled by the holy trinity of funny: tantrums, underpants jokes ("ARRRR! ME UNDERGARRRRMENTS!"), and sight gags (a wordless final spread shows a real parrot literally missing the boat... and perhaps happy to have some downtime?). --Nell Beram, freelance writer and YA author