The Night Pirates

We read a bedtime story almost every night.  My kids have a ton of books because we have some wonderful relatives in our family who keep our library updated and always know what books my kids might like.  I admit, I have some books that I dread reading and that I hope they won't pick.  You can hope they like the same books you do, but you just never know which book you're going to end up reading time and time again.   "The Night Pirates", along with a few others, is one of those.  So I thought I'd share it with you...and also I want to remember why they like it, so I better write it down.  I got this book through one of those school book order things.  I usually will just get whatever is really cheap so that my kids can get a book when they pass them out in class.  This book has become a classic at our house that I never expected.  And here's why.  My son thinks this book is about him.  One night, I can't even remember when or why, I started replacing the name of the boy in the book with my son's name.  And he loved it.  And the boy in the book has reddish hair just like my son, which must've been subliminal because I didn't plan that.  This book has been well loved and slept with many times.  Just the other night the kids emptied our entire bookcase looking for it.  Here are some pictures.

I love the illustrations.  

It's kind of a ridiculous story about little girl pirates who steal the front of the boy's house and put it on the front of their pirate ship to disguise it.  And then they steal treasure from some mean, grown up pirates.  So, maybe the message is a little strange, but it's just one of those adventure before bedtime type of things.

Yep, every time we get to this page my son says, "That's me!".  I'm wondering when he's going to realize that it doesn't really say his name in the book.  He can read and write his name, so I'm kinda surprised he hasn't yet.  

My kids think this is hilarious.  

My son loves this ending.  He always points out the train set in the floor.  "That's me and that's my train" is what he says.  It's so cute.

If you haven't ever done it, definitely find a book (that you won't mind reading over and over) with a kid that resembles yours and start reading it with their name.  They'll love it!  I'm wishing I'd done it with my daughter, but now she can read...maybe I'll find one that really does have her name since she does have a common name.  Happy reading!