View source for Small Knight and George and the Pirates by Ronda Armitage and Arthur Robins

{{infobox2
|title=Small Knight and George and the Pirates
|author=Ronda Armitage and Arthur Robins
|reviewer=Ruth Ng
|genre=For Sharing
|rating=3
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Maybe
|isbn=978-1408312735
|pages=32
|publisher=Orchard
|date=April 2012
|aznuk=1408312743
|aznus=1408312735
|cover=1408312743
|website=http://www.rondaarmitage.co.uk/
|summary=The slightly cumbersome title put me off, to begin with, but then even the story feels rather like it lumbers along.  Fun, cartoon illustrations and pirate geeks will enjoy the action, but I have to say it wasn't much fun for me!
}}
Small Knight and George (a little red dragon) live together in an old castle, a rather crumbling old castle that's in desperate need of repair.  There's no money to fix things up, however, so Mum and Dad Knight decide to send Small Knight off with a treasure map to be a pirate, to get them some treasure so they can fix up the castle!

This beginning is, really, my first quibble with this story.  Mum and Dad Knight give Small Knight a pirate crew and a pirate ship along with this treasure map.  Why don't they just sell the ship, and stop paying the crew, so they can afford the repairs?  I know, I know, it's just a story, but it struck me as a little odd.  Anyway, off he goes to find the treasure.

Along the way, he meets some another pirate who suggests that Small Knight needs to find Captain Swashmebuckle, the biggest, meanest pirate to sail the seven seas, for wherever he is then that's where the treasure will be.  The next pirate they meet, however, is worried about looking for Captain Swashmebuckle since he's so nasty.  Still, on they go and lo and behold they find Captain Swashmebuckle and it turns out he is a she!  This was my second issue with the story since both the pirates have already said 'he' which is a little strange since they must have known Captain Swashmebuckle was a girl.  I have no problem with girl pirates (after all my five-year-old daughter is one, apparently) but this confusion over the Captain's gender felt a little strange and didn't sit well as I read it aloud.

Still, after some confusion over what and where the treasure is Small Knight is successful in finding some to take home, along with all his new-found friends.  Mum and Dad Knight are worried about these new pirates at first, but soon Captain Swashmebuckle is helping to fix the walls for them and is welcomed into the fold.  The final page questions whether Captain Swashmebuckle always continued to be such a good pirate.  What do you think?  Of course not!  We see her at the end pointing her sword at Dad Knight in an attempt to keep him away from a large chocolate cake!

I'm afraid I really struggled with this story.  I didn't enjoy reading it aloud to my daughter since I had issues with the plot, and it felt like a rather stilted read.  She listened happily and didn't seem perturbed by any of it, but surprisingly for a pirate story, she hasn't requested it again since.

The illustrations do make up somewhat for what's lacking in story.  They're fun and colourful, with characters who remind me a little of those in Tony Ross' Princess stories.  I personally would've liked to see more from the dragon as he looked like he'd be amusing though sadly he played little part in this story!  The variety of illustrations, from full-page pictures to smaller panel pictures works well and they're very vibrant and engaging.

Overall I'd recommend you take a look at this in the library first.  Die-hard pirate fans may want to have their own copy, but I feel it would be one that's better borrowed than bought.

You may find Small Knight's previous outing to be a much more fun read - [[Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake by Ronda Armitage and Arthur Robins|Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake]].  You might also enjoy [[Wave the Flag and Blow the Whistle by Ronda Armitage and Andrew Gordon]].

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[[Category:Ronda Armitage]]
[[Category:Arthur Robins]]