Molly the pirate by Lorraine Teece

Ill. by Paul Sedden. Magabala Books, 2017. ISBN 9781925360660
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Themes: Pirates, Central Australia, Aboriginal themes. The wonderfully spontaneous Molly lives a long way from the sea, and yet dreams of being a pirate. With mum in the background trying to hang out the washing on a very blustery day, Molly dons her eye patch, pirate hat and sword. She rows out to the pirate ship and there challenges Captain Chicken, but is made to walk the plank.
She somersaults across the deck, outsmarting the crew made up of other chickens and the cat, until the crew is so dizzy they feel the need to lie down for a while. She climbs the rigging and comes back to the deck to eat with the crew members. They then turn the ship for shore and Molly returns home, certain that there will be more adventures. A delightful story of the risk taking Molly and her pirate crew, readers will love to see how she reacts once on board the pirate ship, and love reading of her interaction with the crew.
And the illustrations are just magical, with Seden using common kitchen items on each splendidly vibrant page. Young readers will love searching them out and laughing at the way the illustrator has used each in his drawings, while the background of inland Australia underscores its distance from the sea. Each page is a delight and I loved the way Sedden has used differing perspectives, challenging the reader to work out where they are.
Fran Knight