Pirate Diary: The Journal of Jake Carpenter (Historical Diaries)

My students enjoyed listening to this book to learn more about pirates. It provided information in an enjoyable fictional story.

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I purchased this book for my eight year old little girl and I highly recommend this product. The book is very well done with lively illustrations and a good story line which will captivate children's attention and provide a quick overview of the historical period.

A great book for children to learn about what life was like in the past for kids. Brilliant artwork, too. A series not to be missed.

Wowzers, I was not expecting the gore! Reading this book to myself before reading it aloud to my three kids (ages 6-11)... It is fascinating, well written, and full of new details to learn about seafaring in the 18th century. I am not yet halfway through the book and have already marked three pages that I cannot see myself reading without heavily editing.First, the young boy watches a crewman on board his ship flogged. “... the poor seaman was forced to whip until his friend’s blood sprayed upon the deck.” A few pages later, the boy himself was ordered flogged by the ill-tempered captain, but Uncle Will stepped in to take the punishment for him. He listened to his uncle “groan as the rope skinned his back. After I counted nineteen lashes, he fell senseless”, and then watched his uncle float away to his death after he is exiled overboard. Third instance, still only a few pages later, a man suffers an infection in his leg and the carpenter (and boy, as his assistant) is summoned to cut it off with a saw. The diary recounts the man’s “howling” in pain, dripping blood being collected in a pail, and finally the stump being dipped in tar. “However, Adam [the carpenter] now complains that his saw was made to cut wood, and that cutting bone has dulled his blade.”If your kids are anything like mine and have not yet been exposed to (this level of) detailed renderings of human torture and death, consider yourself warned!

I don't think this book is bad really, it is a decent story and the illustrations are very interesting. I just highly question the age recommendation of 9 and up. I'm really surprised no one has mentioned that there are a couple very violent illustrations in this book. I checked this book out from the library and it didn't cross my mind to review it prior to sitting down with my kids to read it. There is an illustration of a man being flogged and blood spattering everywhere (the man then gets tossed into a boat and left to drift and die in the sea). There is also an illustration of a man having his leg amputated (again, with the blood splattering). Overall, the images are also very angry, and the misery on the faces of some of the men (such as the man getting flogged) can be kind of disturbing. Obviously, things like this have happened over time so it is not that it may be historically inaccurate. But, I do want to give fair warning to parents that if you have young children or sensitive children, that they may not be quite ready for images like this.

We loved this diary of the fictitious Jake Carpenter. There is plenty to learn that is presented in a manner appropriate for older elementary-aged students. The illustrations are a wonderful blend of graphic and humorous which seemed perfect for my sons. Each two-page spread is presented like a chapter so it is easy to find stopping points along the way to the end. After the story there are interesting 'Notes for the Reader' which include "Jake's World' about the colonies at the time and a map of Jake's journey. There is also a section called 'A History of Piracy and the Lives of the Most Famous Rogues' which concludes with 'Piracy Today' (as of publishing in 2001) which my sons were very curious about. This book is entertaining, informative and my children were always eager to get back to it. I look forward to reading the other books in this series: Castle Diary, Roman Diary and Egyptian Diary.

Historical fiction is a great way for young children to learn history. "Pirate Diary" follows young Jake Carpenter as his ship is captured and he is forced to join a pirate crew. Through journal entries, all of the touchstones of pirate life are examined. By the end of the book, a young child will have historically grounded understanding of the era.There is something about pirate life that both appeals to and repulses young children. They like the "glamour" of pirate life but are also repelled by the violence inherent in piracy. "Pirate Diary" works because there is very little violence. I am waiting a few more years before I can turn my nine year old son on to the more nuanced and much better "Treasure Island".

We already have Richard Platt's other diary books so when we were starting a project on pirates, I thought this would be a good read - and it certainly was. I really wanted my children to learn about what piracy was really about, rather than the cuddly, fun version on most kids' products. This book gives a fairly realistic view of life on the high seas in the 18th century without being overly gory (ie there are descriptions and pictures of flogging, marooning and amputations but nothing too graphic). Reading it to my children, I learned a lot about life on board a ship and about how and why pirates did what they did. Highly highly recommended (as are the other diaries in the same series)

I found this book years ago in a library. Ever since I have been meaning to buy it. I have used it with different ages of children and all have enjoyed it. It is informative without being grisly or frightening when looking at the lifestyles of pirates. The illustrations are lovely. I would recommend this book.

A fun book.

Children loved looking at this book and reading about a pirates life at sea.

Fab service and quality book