OOOH ARRR! The Hoys is the perfect picture book for pirate fans who, like main character, Pirate Jake, may also have wondered what exactly ‘Ahoy’ is!
The Story: When his friends shout ‘Ahoy There’ Pirate Jake is confused – what and where can he find hoys? After an unsuccessful search for hoys around the harbour Pirate Jake goes on a long walk along the beach. But after arguing with his parrot, he ends up at the bottom of a cliff where he discovers a set of strange shaped footprints…
We love the mix of male and female pirates who live in the pirate village but Pirate Jake doesn’t feel that he fits in, he thinks that he can’t be a real pirate if he can’t see a hoy. He doesn’t even have a parrot who repeats what he says. But things change when Pirate Jake follows the footprints and discovers a secret cave in the cliffs. We won’t tell you what he finds – suffice it to say that this confused pirate finally finds the answers to his questions.
The easy to read text is incorporated into Mark Chambers’ wonderfully bold and colourful illustrations which are full of pirate details like the ‘ARR Inn’, shipwrecks and treasure! Our favourite illustration is the opening spread – we love the house on the jetty with its wonky roofs and the pirate teddy bear on the washing line 🙂
This fun adventure for pirate fans could stimulate a fun classroom writing activity. Before reading to the end of the story you could ask children to draw or write about what they think is in the cave. It would be interesting to hear what they think Pirate Jake finds before they listen to the rest of the story 🙂
Age Range: 3 +
Author: Kes Gray / Illustrator: Mark Chambers
Thank you Quarto and Netgalley for the review copy of this piratey adventure.
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