Olive's Pirate Party

Baker, Roberta. 2005. OLIVE’S PIRATE PARTY. Ill. By Debbie Tilley. New York: Little, Brown. ISBN 0316167924 [Suggested Grade Levels K-5]

REVIEW
Olive Elizabeth Julia Jerome’s Aunt Tiffany has volunteered to host Olive’s seven-year-old birthday party. Aunt Tiffany is Olive’s elderly aunt who takes her to the opera and has a house like a museum. Olive wants a pirate birthday party with cannons on her Spanish galleon-shaped birthday cake. Oh, dear! “Olive slumped. ‘Sounds like my plans have walked the plank.’” (Baker 2005, 5) Olive is afraid Aunt Tiffany will offer her friends chopped chicken livers and cheesy spinach puff appetizers at the party. In the end, Olive discovers that Aunt Tiffany is no ordinary aunt.

Readers will immerse themselves in the delightful illustrations of this story with the unpredictable outcome. The subtle humor in the finer details of the illustrations will amuse older readers. Wonderful role modeling occurs between generations that will have readers clamoring for their own pirate birthday party. There is even a treasure hunt for two characters, Lizard and Spider. OLIVE’S PIRATE PARTY allows their imaginations to soar with possibility.

CONNECTIONS
Readers can make a list of pirate paraphernalia, then create their own treasure hunt to see how many of the items appear in this story.

Readers can plan their own pirate party by deciding where they would hold it, what props they would have, how they would make them, and which adults would help them.

Older elementary-aged readers can research pirates and then make a life-sized pirate out of butcher paper; decorating it and writing pirate facts on their creation.

RELATED BOOKS
Other books and stories about pirates:
Funke, Cornelia. PIRATE GIRL. ISBN 0439716721
Helquist, Brett. ROGER, THE JOLLY PIRATE. ISBN 0066238056
Malam, John. HOW TO BE A PIRATE. ISBN 0792274482

Other books about Olive and her friends by Roberta Baker:
NO ORDINARY OLIVE. ISBN 0316073369
LIZARD WALINSKY. ISBN 0316073318

By Judy Brown McKenna