The Pirates of Scurvy Sands by Jonny Duddle

Matilda and The Jolley-Rogers are back in The Pirates of Scurvy Sands, a holiday adventure which is published today. We first met Jim Lad and his family in The Pirates Next Door which was one of the very first picture books that I bought for my daughter and we love absolutely love this new story.

The Story: Matilda joins The Jolley Rogers on their holiday in Scurvy Sands but rumours start to spread that Matilda is a landlubber. To ease suspicions Matilda must start behaving more like a pirate so she and Jim start to look for Jack McMuddle’s long lost treasure…

In Scurvy Sands the chalets are made from broken ships and The Cruncher Club offers activities for Matilda, Jim Lad and little sister Nugget. Pirate delicacies such as seagull soup and sharks brains are on the menu at the local pub and a colourful cast of pirate characters, including a pirate monkey, have strong opinions about a landlubber being on the island.

Several of the pages in The Pirates of Scurvy Sands are laid out in the style of a comic book and a mix of rhyming text and speech bubbles move the story along. There is so much wonderful pirate themed detail in the illustrations, skulls adorn everything and we particularly love the skull shaped teapot and the skull shaped ice creams. There’s a fabulous fold out map of Scurvy Sands on the underside of the book’s jacket and one of the double spreads folds out to show Matilda and Jim Lad digging for Jack McMuddle’s treasure.

Both the text and the illustrations are full of humour, we particularly love the dentist, Philippa McCavity, who is horrified by Matilda’s sparkly teeth. The pirate parents who are worried about their children learning table manners from Matilda make us laugh and we’re definitely not tempted to try the pub food! Jonny Duddle’s illustrations are so full of wonderful details that my daughter spends a long time looking at each page, there are still surprises after multiple readings!

This is a story that also celebrates friendship, despite their different backgrounds Matilda and Jim Lad share a strong bond. Matilda is an independent, determined character who is undeterred by the prejudices of those around her. She’s also clever and, despite not passing the pirate test, she ultimately earns everybody’s respect by proving that she’s got what it takes to be a pirate.

Happy book birthday Jonny Duddle!

Age Range: 4+

Author / Illustrator: Jonny Duddle

Thank you to Templar Publishing for sending us a copy of The Pirates of Scurvy Sands, we hope that Matilda and Jim Lad will be back again in another adventure.

You can meet Jonny Duddle and hear more about his pirates as they travel around the UK during February. We had a fantastic time when we went to Jonny’s event at The Edinburgh Book Fest 🙂