By Jenny Pearson (author) , Paula Bowles (illustrator) Part of the How Not to Be a Pirate series
"A character driven comic adventure with heart."
Paperback Temporarily Out Of Stock £8.99 £8.09
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September 2026 Book of the Month
Jenny Pearson has built up a reputation and loyal fanbase as writer par excellence of character-driven, comic adventures with heart, and How Not to Be a Pirate stands and delivers with the best of them.
Slightly shorter perhaps than her stand-alone novels and with lively two-colour illustrations on every page, it is the story of three trainee pirates who find themselves shipmates in a race to find hidden treasure as part of their Level One Pirate Grading.
Achieving Level One is a must for all young would-be pirates, but Wilbur is desperate to get the grades. He doesn’t want to let his pirate dad down, though he doesn’t seem to be natural pirate material: he suffers horribly from seasickness and his ‘Arrrghing’ is judged ‘softer than a jellyfish in slippers.’ Ellie on the other hand, who is keeping her heritage a secret, seems born to it, even if she’s a bit too quick to flourish her cutlass (it has to be confiscated and replaced with a candlestick). Ellie it is who assumes command of the Salty Sparrow and decides that Wilbur and fellow crewmate Gilbert will follow her tracking down the legendary and powerful Hag Stone, despite the enormous dangers involved.
The story is every bit as exciting and as funny as we’ve come to expect from Jenny Pearson, with lovely emotional undercurrents and subtle clues as to how the story will develop in future adventures. The high seas have never been so much fun and this absorbing adventure epitomises reading for pleasure, in the same way that Cressida Cowell’s Wizards of Once series does.
Get ready to set sail on a hilarious new swashbuckling adventure series from bestselling and award-winning author, Jenny Pearson.
Read the full description
Wilbur doesn't believe he's destined to be a great pirate. He hates heights, gets seasick and is too scared to fire a cannon. But Wilbur, together with shipmates Ellie and Gilbert, is taking his Level One Pirate Grading. They're in a race to find the greatest treasure of all: one of the legendary Jewels of the Sea. How's he ever going to win?
With cursed treasure, rival crews, cannon-blasting battles and booby-trapped islands, danger is never far away. Can Wilbur survive the storm and become the pirate he's meant to be?
Get ready to set sail on a hilarious new swashbuckling adventure series from bestseling and award winning author, Jenny Pearson, stunningly i lustrated in two-colour by Paula Bowles. Perfect for fans of How to Train Your Dragon.
"This book is seriously funny!!!" Phil Earle, author of Finn's Epic Fails
Jenny Pearson 's debut children’s novel, The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates , won the Lollies 2022 and was shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book of the Year 2020, Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the Bradford Boase and the UKLA Book awards.
When she’s not writing, Jenny enjoys inspiring young writers in her classroom and looking after her family and their many animals.
Jenny loves her job and is inspired by the children she has taught. She says, "If you're writing for children, it helps to know what they like but also what they're like. The characters I write are based on many children I have taught over the years and the friendships I have witnessed."
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Get ready to set sail on a hilarious new swashbuckling adventure series from bestselling and award-winning author, Jenny Pearson.Wilbur doesn't believe he's destined to be a great pirate. He hates heights, gets seasick and is too scared to fire a cannon.But Wilbur, together with shipmates Ellie and Gilbert, is taking his Level One Pirate Grading.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed How Not to Be a Pirate: The Trouble With Curses and determined it is suitable for children aged 9-12 years old
How Not to Be a Pirate: The Trouble With Curses features in the following genres: Featured Books for 9+ readers, Featured Books for 11+ readers, Books of the Month, Recommendations, Star Books, Adventure Stories, Funny, History, PSHE: Self-Awareness, Self-Esteem and Wellbeing, Personal Social Health Economic (PSHE), Books to Motivate Reluctant Readers age 9+, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Pirates, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Friends and friendships, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Adventurers and outlaws, Children’s / Teenage: General interest, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Relationships (non-family / groups)
Paperback. £8.09, down from the £8.99 cover price. Temporarily Out Of Stock.
How Not to Be a Pirate: The Trouble With Curses was written by Jenny Pearson and published by Usborne Publishing Ltd. an imprint of Usborne Publishing
How Not to Be a Pirate: The Trouble With Curses has 293 pages
Yes it is part of How Not to Be a Pirate series
£8.09, reduced from £8.99. Temporarily Out Of Stock.
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