Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs (review)
2005; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 59; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.2005.0358
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Lexicography and Language Studies
ResumoReviewed by: Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs Deborah Stevenson Andreae, Gilles Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs; illus. by Russell Ayto. McElderry, 200532p ISBN 1-4169-0713-0$15.95 R 4-7 yrs Looking for markers in the school supply closet, Flinn is surprised to find instead a blubbering pirate captain, whose ship has been stolen. Flinn and his friends elect to [End Page 169] help the wronged Captain Stubble, but they're unprepared for what they find when they meet up with his commandeered Acorn: not just pirates, but pirate dinosaurs (who "sang out in their terrible voices: 'Yo ho ho! Yo ho ho! Pirate dinosaurs Go! Go! Go!'"). Captain Flinn (who took over the helm when Stubble claimed the cook position instead) and his merry band are more than the equal of even the bloodthirsty Tyrannosaurus rex, though, so soon Stubble is restored to his ship and the schoolkids creep back into class through the secret supply-closet doorway. While the ending pretty much leaves the kids where they were at the start, this is a book about concept, rather than growth, and the concept of pirates combined with dinosaurs is an enticing one indeed. The high-spirited text emphasizes sound effects and exclamations, stirring things up for a buccaneering readaloud, while the hand-to-hand combat between Captain Flinn and the piratical Tyrannosaurus is the stuff of youthful dreams. Ayto's line-and-watercolor illustrations ferociously revel in sharp angles and spiky details, weighted with strong black lines, making Flinn's battle-readiness clear from the get-go and amping up the toothy menace of the dinosaurs; comic exaggeration, punches of color, and the beaming faces of the piratical schoolkids balance out the fierceness. Adults may note the echoes of Where the Wild Things Are in the phrasing and Flinn's dominance of huge fearsome creatures, while youngsters will simply rejoice in prehistoric adventure on the high seas. Copyright © 2005 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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