View source for Winnie's Pirate Adventure by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul

{{infobox2
|title=Winnie's Pirate Adventure
|author=Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul
|reviewer=Ruth Ng
|genre=For Sharing
|rating=3.5
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-0192736017
|pages=32
|publisher=OUP Oxford
|date=September 2013
|aznuk=0192736019
|aznus=0192736019
|cover=0192736019
|website=http://www.winnie-the-witch.com/flash.php
|video=
|summary=Slightly disappointing as Winnie stories go, but still plenty of madcap mayhem for Winnie and Wilbur fans!
}}
We like Winnie the Witch stories in our house.  We have a whole bag full of them, and have read them many times over, so when my daughter saw this new one she was very excited.  Sadly, it didn't quite live up to our (admittedly high) expectations.  This new story sees Winnie head off on a pirate adventure which should, you would think, have the makings of an excellent story.

The trouble is, the thing I really like about Winnie, and that my daughter likes too, is that often her spells go a bit awry, or she manages to get herself into a mess and a muddle.  I had high hopes for a pirate catastrophe, but actually, all the way through, Winnie does remarkably well and doesn't get anything particularly badly wrong.  She magics up their pirate costumes.  Wilbur is embarrassed, but then he's always embarrassed!  She magics up a pirate ship - with no leaks or anything!  She does end up in the water, but only because they play at walking the plank!

They find a treasure island, and then they find the treasure chest.  And even when they discover there's nothing inside Winnie performs her magic and fills it full of shiny treasure!  Yes, all in all, Winnie has a very satisfactory day without any dire mishaps, and so because of that we felt we had a slightly less enjoyable read.  Of course, Winnie fans will still enjoy all the wonderful pictures.  Poor old Wilbur is wandering around dressed as a parrot, and there are lots of pirates to look at and see what they're all doing on each page.  The pirate ship is very well drawn and, as always, it's a vibrant, colourful book.

I like that Winnie is great for reading with girls and boys.  It's also good across the age ranges, so older toddlers will enjoy it as well as bigger boys and girls who might normally protest about being far too grown up for a picture book, but perhaps they'll make an exception for a magically Winnie story!  I personally look forward to the Abracadabra moments and we enjoy shouting them loudly in our house, or putting on a funny high-pitched Winnie voice to say them!

There are still funny moments - Wilbur is the only one who comes away with some genuine treasure from the day, and he has a run in with the inhabitant of the ship's crow's nest!  But I just felt it fell a little flat in comparison to some of the other stories.  Get it from the library and see what you think.  Maybe if you're really into pirates you'll love it and need a copy of your very own!  I'm hedging that it's perhaps one to borrow rather than to buy, but I'm certainly hoping that Winnie is back into mischief in her next adventure!

Try one of our other favourite Winnie stories: [[Winnie's Amazing Pumpkin by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul|Winnie's Amazing Pumpkin]] or [[Winnie Under the Sea by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul|Winnie Under the Sea]]

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[[Category:Valerie Thomas]]
[[Category:Korky Paul]]