Commander Toad and the Space Pirates

Rating:
Summary: Argh, Matey!
Review: Boredom settles over the crew of the space ship STAR WARTS and Commander Toad has to do something quick. Lieutenant Lily, Mr. Hop, Jake Skyjumper and Doc Peepers are all unhappy. They've watched all the ship's movies-SPLASH GORDON, THE TOAD WARRIOR, INDIANA FROG AND THE LILY PAD OF DOOM-and read all the ship's books-ROBIN TOAD, THE LIZARD OF OZ, and SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN WARTS-and played a lot of croak-kay, leapfrog, and hopscotch. There is nothing to do and they're all going a little crazy. That all changes the day Commander Salamander and his pirate crew arrive. Commander Salamander boards STAR WARTS and takes everyone captive except for Doc Peepers. Only a little while after that, Commander Salamander makes Commander Toad Hop the Plank at sword point! Only Doc Peepers can save the day!

Jane Yolen is an award-winning children's book author as well as a writer of adult science fiction and fantasy. She's earned the Caldecott-given for the most distinguished picture book, the Nebula-given to the most distinguished writing in the field of science fiction and fantasy, the Golden Kite-given by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and the World Fantasy Award. She's written seven Commander Toad Adventures, including COMMANDER TOAD AND THE LONG VOYAGE HOME, COMMANDER TOAD AND THE PLANET OF THE GRAPES, COMMANDER TOAD AND THE SPACE PIRATES, and COMMANDER TOAD AND THE BIG BLACK HOLE. With dozens of books written in many genres, Jane Yolen is a great author to introduce to young readers.

Fun to read out loud and filled with puns and sight gags really well drawn by Bruce Degen, COMMANDER TOAD AND THE SPACE PIRATES is a blast to share with young or reluctant readers. The sentences are short and choppy, driving the story on and filling the events with laughs. The pirate talk, "Yo-ho-ho, me slithery-slees!" is top-notch and will inspire young readers to quote the lines long after the book is finished-if an adult is willing to read the passages in a properly piratical dramatization. The solution to the pirates, once revealed, is hilarious and makes perfect sense even to pre-readers who understand story and set-up that comes in narrative repetition.

The Commander Toad series, all seven books, is recommended for imaginative young readers who have already been exposed to STAR WARS, STAR TREK, and various other science fiction based television shows and movies. Jane Yolen is one of the most entertaining authors for young minds out there.

Rating:
Summary: In space, no one can hear you get really, really bored...
Review: Commander Toad and the crew of the good spaceship Star Warts are bored out of their minds. They have played all of their games like leap frog and croak-kay, they have read all of their books like "Robin Toad" and "The Lizard of Oz," and they have watched all of there movies like "Splash Gordon" and "Indiana Frog and the Lilly Pad of Doom" so many times that the crew is desperate for something different. The good news is that the crew of the Star Warts get the diversion they want, but the bad news is that what breaks up the boredom is a gang of space pirates, led by the notorious Commander Salamander, the Scourge of the Skies and Goon of the Galaxie, who has a new game for the hostage crew to play: Hop the Plank.

"Commander Toad and the Space Pirates" is, on a very basic level, quite silly. But young readers are going to be drawn to the relentless puns and Jane Yolen does a good job of setting the reader up for something surprising to happen (probably involving a whole lot of tongue depressers) without really giving away what the big surprise is going to be at the end of the book. The artwork by Bruce Degen is appropriate (you will believe that a frog can fly...a spaceship) and does a nice job of capturing the narrative action. This is one of those books where you trick young kids into learning a life lesson, because while their chances of going off into deep space on a spaceship commanded by a toad are rather remote, kids manage to get bored all the time (or, more to the point, they often complain about being bored, which is not necessarily the same thing). So if any youngster makes the mistake of announcing that they are "bored" within your hearing, then toss this book at them, which should solve both their short-term and long-term problems with regards to the subject of boredom.