Review - The Great Piratical Rumbustification by Margaret Mahy

The Great Piratical Rumbustification by Margaret Mahy
Illustrated by Quentin Blake
Publisher: David R. Godine 2001
Paperback 61 pages



"There's nothing like a pistol to bring out despondency and doubt in a parent..."

Never a truer statement has ever been uttered. But don't let these two tales of rapscallions and robbers scare you away from a great read!

I can't help to feel like this has to be two of the most charming children's stories that I have read since Roald Dahl. Indeed, it was the wonderfully familiar illustrations that first drew me to the book. And they should be familiar to millions as Quentin Blake has illustrated over 50 childrens books and has won oodles of awards, though he is probably best known for the illustrations in Roald Dahl's classic children's novels like Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the BFG.

The author, Margaret Mahy, is herself an accomplished children's author and former librarian. Her story, "The Librarian and the Robbers" is so unbelievably sweet and funny that I had to read it multiple times. And I've decided that a librarian could ask for no better proposal than this:

"You need someone to lift the books off you, and generally rescue you from time to time. It would make things so much simpler if you would marry me."

Ahh... I would marry that robber any time!