No Bath, No Cake! Polly’s Pirate Party

Captain Brummell may be in command of the good ship Mary Anne, but it’s really Pete, a yellow parrot with a strong sense of decorum, who pulls the pirate’s strings. When Brummell and his crew receive an invitation to a birthday party for a girl named Polly, they’re ready to leave on the spot, but Pete is having none of it. “Is that how you think you can go to a birthday party?” he squawks. “Just look at your feet!” If the pirates want birthday cake, they’ll have to take a bath—and buy new clothes, purchase a present, and wrap said present before Pete will let them attend the party. Weinert’s U.S. debut is an auspicious one; pirates and birthdays are a promising combination to begin with, and when those pirates can be seen frantically running around town in their tighty-whities for several pages, it’s a can’t-lose situation. The artwork evokes classic European comics like Asterix and The Adventures of Tintin, and the rowdy ending will please readers who, like Polly, would rather receive a cannon than a doll for a birthday gift. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)