Friday, September 6, 2013

Bash and the Pirate Pig (Book Review) + Giveaway!

*Disclosure- I received a free copy of the book from the publisher via Flyby Promotions in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own. 
About the Book:
Bash and the Pirate Pig, by Burton Cole, is the story of a cranky city kid named Raymond "Beamer" Boxby who must spend summer vacation at his younger cousin, Bash's, farm. 

Beamer prefers air conditioning and video games. He can't see what good can come of this so-called country fun that includes riding cows, river rafting with a pig, or playing with skunks. 

But hang tight, Beamer, because Bash's zany adventures with his "Fishin' and Farmin' book" (The Bible) just might lead to the coolest discovery of all.


My thoughts:

Raymond is what I would call a typical kid these days. His idea of a good time is being indoors, doing something mindless like playing video games. His parents decide to send him off to his aunt and uncle's house for summer vacation. This means he has to spend his summer with his younger cousin. On a farm. He is less than thrilled, but once he gets there and goes on some adventures with younger cousin Bash, he actually finds that he enjoys himself on the farm and in the presence of his cousin. He also learns some pretty valuable lessons through Bash and even comes to make a really important decision in his life.

Overall, I thought this was a cute book. I like the Biblical lessons presented through adventurous Bash who refers to it as "The Farmin' & Fishin' Book", a cute way for a little guy to think of the Bible. I liked seeing Raymond begin to like where he was and who he was with after being so against it in the beginning. I did cringe almost every time the word "stupid" showed up in the book. I felt like it was overdone, but I do think that it can be a teaching moment for us parents to our kids about having a good attitude and using appropriate language. A really neat feature of this book is the discussion questions in the back of the book called "Parent Connection" meant to get parents and kids talking with one another about the book and about the Bible. This is a good way to open up a discussion with your child and see their thoughts on the book on what they might have learned in the process of reading it. I also really enjoyed the playful and animated illustrations by the very talented Tom Bancroft. I would recommend this book to middle to upper grade elementary age kids, who I think would enjoy it the most.


About the Author:
Burton Cole is a Pulitzer Prize nominated journalist with thirty years of experience and more than fifty humor writing awards to his credit. He grew up on a farm in northeast Ohio and attended a small-town church with a slew of cousins and buddies. That same boyhood inspires his colorful stories today. 

About the Illustrator: 

Tom Bancroft has more than twenty years of experience in the animation and illustration industry and worked with Disney on films including Beauty and the BeastThe Lion King, and Aladdin. Other clients have included DC Comics and Big Idea Productions.

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