KAYE TROUT'S BOOK REVIEWS 1

I specialize in reviewing Print-On-Demand (POD) published books for my website and Midwest Book Review. Please query for a review by email to hgunther234@hotmail.com.

Thursday, May 31, 2007

CAP'N BILLY "THE BUTCHER' MACDOUGALL'S GUIDE TO PIRATE PARENTING: by Tim Bete

Why you should raise your kids as pirates and 101 tips on how to do it
Cold Tree Press
Nashville, Tennessee
www.coldtreepress.com
Genre: Parenting/Humor
Rating: Good
ISBN: 9781583851272, $10.95, 123 pp.


From the back cover:

"Never before has raising a pirate been so easy! If you’re like most parents, you long to raise your children as pirates but just don’t know how. In Guide to Pirate Parenting, Cap’n Billy ‘The Butcher’ MacDougall provides everything you need to know to turn your little powder monkeys into happy, healthy buccaneers."

I’m not quite sure who this little book might appeal to . . . exasperated, frustrated parents looking for a good laugh or . . . young boys and girls looking for adventure and a way to channel aggressive, destructive, pirate-like behavior.

Part 1 is the Introduction, and Part 2 includes the following chapters: Baby Pirates–Mapping Out Your Child’s Future; Belly Timber–Feeding Your Pirate; Sleeping Like a Seadog and Other Nocturnal Issues; Quelling Mutinies–Disciplining Your Pirate; Scurvy and Hook Injuries–Pirate Health and Safety; Your Pirate’s First Ship–How to Convert Your Minivan into a Pirate Schooner and, lastly, As Your Pirate Gets Older (The Teen Years and Beyond).

My favorite creative suggestion was in answer to the question: "What’s the best way to potty-train my pirate?"

"Fill your toilet with small toy ships and let your pirate fire away. Reward your child with chocolate doubloon gold coins for direct hits. Remind your child to activate ‘the giant whirlpool that brings all vessels to Davy Jones’ Locker’ when he’s finished."

Clever, if the 'small toy ships' are flushable, and many of the suggestions in this little book are just that, plus you can’t help but laugh now and then and who doesn't need a good laugh.

Reviewed by Kaye Trout - May 31, 2007