Hi there! Welcome to Booktomato! Today we are talking about a brand new book that is quickly becoming one of our faves. It combines two things that I would never have thought to put together - pirates and knitting - but it works!
The story begins with a rolling and rambling ship full of pirates doing typical piratey things - swabbing things, looking through telescopes, saying aargh. However, not all of the pirates are into norm-core pirate conforming. Ned the pirate loves to knit, and he sports an adorable hand-knitted tri-corn hat and fuzzy socks.
The captain of the ship along with the crew are not happy with Ned. Pirates are supposed to be rough and tough with swords and cannons not doing arts and crafts! But Ned stays true to himself and what he loves, and in the end, doing so saves the whole ship from a sea monster.
I love this for lots of reasons - I love to knit even though I'm not that great at it. I love the illustrations and the funny rhymes throughout the story. Most of all, I love that this story could be an excellent jumping off point for a conversation about why the other pirates thought that knitting wasn't a pirate activity. What are "girl things" and "boy things"? Can boys do "girl things" and can girls do "boy things"? I think the answer is absolutely!
What do you think? Have you read Ned the Knitting Pirate?
