Hoist the Jolly Robin! Fly with a swashbuckling crew as they soar through the air — and evade danger on the ground — in search of treasure and lofty adventure.
Captain Blue Jay, notorious and feared pirate of the skies, has a fondness for collecting treasure, especially eggs. Unfortunately, sometimes his treasure hatches, and this time the hatchling is the strangest one the Grosbeak has ever seen. No sailor is certain whether the chick is a young god or just an oversized bird who needs too much food, but one thing is clear: the winds over Thrushland are shifting, and dramatic changes are in store for all. Whether outwitting a gang of thieving crows, outrunning murderous fishers and weasels, or rallying Briarloch’s beleaguered sparrows, this motley crew must do all they can to stay together and stay alive. And that’s just the tip of the bird’s feather! Offering a bounty of illustrations and a host of memorable characters — from an endearing star-nosed mole to an unlikely little warrior with a vendetta — here is a treasure for anyone who has ever wanted to take to the skies and see where fortune blows.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
Great Pirate Adventure
By Terri J. Rice
Birds as pirates? Yep.Blue Jay is the captain of the Grosbeak. He has a penchant for collecting eggs- problem is sometimes they hatch rather off things. Sometimes they hatch future crew members. Blue Jay turns his attention to collecting other things, shiny things.This is a great story for middle elementary age kids. It has adventure and imagination. It has a steady hero in the newly hatched gosling, Gabriel. And it has plenty of villains to hope for their demise.A clever book for children but adults may well find it a bit tedious and meandering. The illustrations are top notch and will delight both children and adults.The high sea is a rough place to be and some of the pirate crew lose their lives defending their ship against the treacherous crows and the conniving weasels. Nash lets these bird pirates remain pirates right down to their language- things like "damn" and "hell" and Lord's name in vain- which reminds me of a book I once read, a second-hand copy of Cheaper by the Dozen. The previous owner had carefully blacked out all the God's and damns in the book which in the end only served to distract and ruing the telling. That said, understand, pirates are a rough and filthy bunch and a pirate saying, "Golly," or "shucks" wouldn't really be a pirate, now would he? All that to say, be forewarned- there's language.On the up side of the language bit, Scott Nash weaves into the story words like "kedge"- a great way for a young reader to gain new vocabulary.Overall, this is a great story for young readers.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
Storytelling not as compelling as the concept suggests; maybe further books in the series will be improved
By Jill Florio
I really wanted to love this book. I love a good children's novel - they can be completely captivating, comforting, enchanting places to return to in a dark and uncertain world. Scott Nash's book has potential, but unfortunately falls a bit flat.While the illustrations are stellar, thoughtful and show a lot of attention to story detail, the writing is disjointed. The characters are not fleshed out properly, and the pacing is off. You never really get into the head of Jay, the ostensibly eponymous main character, who I can't determine is a smart Captain or not. We are barely in anyone's head for more than a moment, in any case.I see glimmers of goodness in the Blue Jay the Pirate concept as a series. In this story, the goose, the mole, and a few of the other birds stand out in a good way. There is an effort at world building here and a really original theme.I just wish the writing had been more seamless, so I could have dove into the story. I kept getting jerked out of the tale by the uneven storytelling. Since the book given to me for review is an Advance Reading Copy, it's possible the writing will be polished up for the final version.At this stage in the game, I think it needs a lot more than editing, however, to make a more cohesive and compelling narrative. I note that the author is an established illustrator and this is his debut novel - so there is a lot of room to grow.Overall, the glimpsed backstory of the colonies, the bird political climate, and unique settings have a lot of potential for an interesting series, so this novel does rate a solid three stars.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.A charming adventure tale of Blue Jay and his not-so-ruthless crew of sky pirates!
By Didaskalex
*****"A charming adventure tale of Blue Jay and his not-so-ruthless crew of sky pirates aboard ship Grosbeak - ... I can't wait to see the finished book with the promised full-color illustrations!"-- Reviewer*"If flying ships to bird-sung tunes: Avian pirates, sparrows bold.If weasels, fishers, and maroons: And wicked crows their weapons sold,And all the adventures, retold: Exactly in the ancient way,Can please you, as they pleased me in days of old: You wiser children of today:"--Scott Nash (pseudo-RLS)Even the advance reading copy without color, only black and white, dropped six decades of my presence on mother earth. I enjoyed the virtual company of notorious Captain Blue Jay, without any fear of the skies pirate, even sharing his fondness for collecting treasures! while curious about the rare egg, I examined the treasure map, and met Blue jay at last.I loved the talented illustrators cross section and read the key list at the bottom corner. The drawings made the reading of the novel an adventure, mysterious and magical. Could a grand father be so absorbed in action; "Covey! Cyrus! We know you're down there! Move on out of here, or we'll come flush you out!" ... Much too big to be either of them, Billy shouted, "Show Yerselves, Ye Cowards!"No need to complete the review, because you are leaving to get the enjoyable adventure that charmed me from the first chapter, that I became moon struck by Scott Nash debut novel, "turning the seafaring yarn on its head," evoking a flock of winged sailors high into the skies, on their ingenious ships, whose design defies both aerodynamics and hydrodynamics, I ever encountered!
