This was a fun holiday book to read with my son. He loved the pirates and thought the one brother walking the plank was funny. He’s obviously too young to understand what that means. So funny it was. This was a cute story with beautiful illustrations. I really enjoyed the ending.

Very well-rhymed, this story of doing the right thing is actually quite a fine narrative verse for youngsters. The baddie pirate (boo!) steals a gem from his goodie pirate brother, and makes him walk the plank – double boo! But the goodie pirate (yay!) washes up at the North Pole, has cocoa from a passing elf with no thought of stranger danger, and sets to having as good a time of it as he can, helping his new friends and so on. But things would be a lot more Christmassy – for all of us – if the baddie (boo!) can be persuaded to turn good – could that possibly happen?

Yes, a pirate-themed Christmas book doesn’t seem naturally fitting, but let’s face it, we get enough pirates around panto time, that two more won’t make much difference. And this isn’t really as broad as that reference or this review will have you think – it’s not able to pause in its brisk telling to thump any message home, or be cloyingly Christmassy. I think it’s quite classy as a result – a good four stars.

This clever story takes the legends of Kris Kringle and Saint Nicholas and mixes them into a Fractured Folktale Retelling. The two brothers Beard are pirates, and they are very different from each other. Kris is gentle and kind and his brother Nic is mean and jealous. The catchy rhymes and bright pictures will entertain youngsters and have you rethinking the stories of Santa. I received this book from Sweet Cherry Publishing through NetGalley and I am pleased to recommend it to families with young children.