Tales of Pirates: Adventures on the Seven Seas

Gr 3-5–Adventure awaits those who want to discover the stories of real-life pirates like Blackbeard, Grace O’Malley, and Ching Shih in this nonfiction book about seafaring rogues. Nelson and Meikle take readers on a journey to explore the lives of famous and infamous pirates throughout human history. Illustrator Ermos provides colorful pictures for each pirate biography and an illustrated timeline of piracy, a map of rooms inside a ship, and spot art of key objects and treasures detailed in the text. The biographies go in chronological order: ancient pirates, middle ages, early modern, and modern piracy, ending with a short account about Captain Phillips, the only non-pirate featured. The final chapter gives information about how some of the pirates’ stories end, whether they chose an easy retirement or a life at sea, and if people today have found artifacts from their lives. While this text would’ve benefitted from a bibliography or list of cited sources and further reading, a glossary and index are included. Overall, the nonfiction title is fast-paced and easy to read one section at a time. Similar titles include those from the “Tales Of” series: Tales of Ancient Worlds by Stefan Milosavljevich and Tales of World War II by Hattie Hearn.