Pirates Don't Drive Diggers by Alex English and Duncan Beedle (Maverick Publishing)

We have seen just about every twist on pirate stories, but we've definitely never seen a nautical tale where the main hero would rather operate heavy plant machinery. A young pirate's dream is not of booty or sailing the seven seas in "Pirates Don't Drive Diggers" by Alex English and Duncan Beedle. Our boy hero would much rather be behind the controls of a big yellow JCB or perhaps smashing down buildings with a ball and chain.

But a pirate's lot is not always a happy one, and the boy is sent to sea by his dad, determined to shake the poor lad of his obsession with diggers.

However, the lazy crew of the ship he's assigned to are utterly pants at finding treasure, so the poor lad is dispatched with a weather-worn map, to search an island for gold and jewels. Perhaps the boy's previous skills can come in handy after all?

This story bowls along at a cracking pace, and we rather like the mashup of story ideas here.

Charlotte's best bit: The little boy gets his wish, and finds out just how useful diggers really CAN be to pirates

Daddy's Favourite bit: A neat and novel twist on a piratical tale.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Maverick Publishing)