The Gingerbread Pirates

What if a brave Captain Cookie stood up to Santa? A fresh, funny story that sparkles with all the excitement of a pirate adventure — and all the magic of Christmas morning.

A funny and magical Christmas story about a gingerbread pirate, Captain Cookie, and his daring adventure on Christmas eve to rescue his crew from a mysterious cannibal named Santa Claus…Swashbuckling gusto and a poignant finish should make this a new favorite.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Large in scale and dramatic in effect, watercolor-and-gouache paintings create believable settings, sometimes seen from unusual perspectives, and sympathetically portray the characters, especially the pirates, whose icing-sugar mouths and eyes are surprisingly expressive.
—Booklist

An exciting story and full-page, dramatically composed paintings depicting harrowing adventures with a mouse, a cat, and the crew imprisoned in a cookie jar make this a good holiday read-aloud.
—School Library Journal

Captain Cookie’s quest to rescue his crew from their cookie-jar imprisonment is not without peril, and humorous obstacles abound…Tavares’s vivid watercolor and gouache paintings dramatize Kladstrup’s lively text with vigor in this imaginative adventure story.
—The Horn Book

Cookie’s-eye-view illustrations and a story enlivened with dialogue make this boy’s version of the nutcracker sparkle.
—Foreword

Kladstrup makes the most of the adventurous possibilities, while Tavares's sumptuous full-bleed spreads and spot illustrations play with a cookie's-eye perspective.
—Shelf Awareness

An adventurous, hilarious story that brims with the magic of Christmas…pure delight.
—Kendal Rautzhan’s Books to Borrow, Books to Buy

An imaginative kid-pleaser.
—News Tribune

Red and green dominate Tavares’ bold illustrations, making this one of the most festive Christmas books.
—St. Paul Pioneer PressKristin Kladstrup is the author of the middle-grade novel The Book of Story Beginnings. She lives near Boston, Massachusetts.

Matt Tavares is the illustrator of Lady Liberty, by Doreen Rappaport; Iron Hans: A Grimms’ Fairy Tale, retold by Stephen Mitchell; Jack and the Beanstalk, retold by E. Nesbit; and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. He has also written and illustrated three books inspired by baseball: Mudball, Oliver’s Game, and Zachary’s Ball. He lives in Ogunquit, Maine.