Another thoroughly lovely person we sometimes get to chat to on Twitter, and someone who is undoubtedly a massive part of what drew C into a love of books. Jonny Duddle's books hark back to when we first started out on the blog, and "The Pirate Cruncher" should probably be blamed for the gigantic upsurge in 'pirate' books that seemed to dominate kidlit for so many years (in fact even now you'll still see pirate-themed books cropping up quite regularly in publishers' release schedules, such is the lure of those scurvy coves).

No one does it better than Jonny though in our opinion and even in his first book you'll find all the trademarks of what make his stories utterly mesmerisingly brilliant, and a huge draw for kids who love glorious vibrant and colourful visuals alongside their bouncy rhyming tales.

This one is the story of a nefarious creature that lures a hapless pirate crew to their doom with the aid of a sneakily manipulated puppet. The puppet tells of a great fortune in booty, hidden on an island across the seas and Captain Purplebeard can't wait to get his hands on all that lovely gold.

But it's a one way trip as the crew are picked off one by one...as they get closer and closer to their destination. I remember the first time we read through this and C eagerly noting all the bits where you see the pirate cruncher itself, subtly hidden just out of frame but always with a menacing tentacle directing the action 'off screen'.

Jonny's concept art and storyboarding props made this book stand out in a picture book market largely dominated by some fairly bland 'house' art styles. I would spend hours, independently of reading these books with C, just gazing at his digital art (sometimes with the aid of a magnifying glass) trying to work out just how he could produce such fantastic painterly strokes using Photoshop. The simple answer is raw talent and he has it in spades.

"The Pirates Next Door" followed, this time introducing us to Matilda - and a pirate family who have since gone on to another picture book adventure ("The Pirates of Scurvy Sands") and a successful series of middle grade books all written and illustrated by Jonny.

This one has a brilliant moral in it, a subtle and quite sobering message about tolerance as a new family move into the sleepy seaside town of Dull-on-Sea (we always giggle at the fact that the town is 'twinned' with "Ennui Sur Mer"). The pirate family aren't prim, aren't proper, and don't fit in with the neighbourhood at all - making them - and their son Jim Lad - all the more amazing to Matilda, who has waited for something cool to happen in her town for ages.

Sadly their visit is fleeting, and soon they are on their way again as a pirate life isn't a static one, and they must sail the seven seas rather than settle down in a two up / two down in a seaside suburban setting. Again as with all Jonny's books it's just gorgeous to look at but this one really does hit home with its core message with far more impact than any of his other books.

But ah, this next one...this one's our real favourite (and yet Jonny would probably be the first to admit that it was the book that probably didn't do as well as the others, we still think it's the best though!)

"The King of Space" is Jonny's visually glorious love letter to all things sci-fi as young Rex decides that life as a Moog farmer isn't for him.

He has loftier goals, in fact with a sharp inventive mind and a ton of ambition, he will become the King of Space, the leader of the known universe - and never have to do any rotten homework or go to bed before 9pm ever again!

Rex's plans don't quite pan out as he expected as he soon realises that the most powerful being in the universe really isn't one to be trifled with. What mum says goes!

We always secretly wished that Jonny would go back to this science fiction universe he invented and spin out a couple of new adventures for Rex, but it was not to be.

As well as achieving fame for illustrating (in our opinion) the BEST covers for J.K Rowling's Harry Potter books, Jonny also stepped way, way back in time with "Gigantosaurus"...

A prehistoric take on "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" and now a successful TV series, this one once again shows Jonny's pure skill in designing and illustrating brilliantly realised characters and sumptuous bookworlds for them to live in. The simple tale of a dinosaur named Spike who constantly plays tricks on his pals, threatening them with the terrifying Gigantosaurus, reaches a satisfying climax as Spike almost (but not quite) gets his comeuppance in a delicious pay-off moment that is a bit of a rare thing in picture books - a moment where the reader isn't quite sure whether the main character just came to an abrupt and sticky end.

Perfect for dino-obsessed kids, Jonny works in a colossal fold-out dinosaur chart and some facts about the dinosaur that the Gigantosaurus was based on (Actually the Gignatosaurus).

We're waiting to see how Jonny's latest book plans pan out. We know he's cooking up something to do with Vikings but no more than that, suffice to say we'll be first in the queue for a copy when it does finally arrive. We were very fortunate to meet Jonny in real life at the Oxford Literary Festival (see the article below) and he's an entertaining and brilliant ambassador for children's literature, with an enviable talent for producing truly stunning books and art.

Original Articles and Review Links

The Pirate Cruncher

Our second book of the week - "The Pirates Next Door" by Jonny Duddle (Templar Publishing)

Jonny Duddle brings awesome tales of pirates and dinosaurs to the Oxford Literary Festival

The Jolley-Rogers and the Monster's Gold by Jonny Duddle (Templar Publishing)

Gigantosaurus by Jonny Duddle (Templar Publishing)

A fabulous "This or That" question and answer session with the pirate meister himself, Jonny Duddle, Author and illustrator of "The Pirates of Scurvy Sands"

ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week, Week Ending 22nd February 2013 - "The King of Space" by Jonny Duddle (Templar Publishing)

ReadItDaddy's Chapter Book of the Week - Week Ending 28th June 2019: "The Jolley-Rogers and the Pirate Piper" by Jonny Duddle (Templar Publishing)

ReadItDaddy's First Book of the Week - Week ending 9th February 2018 - "The Pirates of Scurvy Sands" by Jonny Duddle (Templar Publishing)

ReadItDaddy's Chapter Book and Early Readers Roundup - May 2015 - "Pirates, Detectives, Squirrels and Snozzcumbers!"

Our Chapter Book of the Week heralds the triumphant return of our all-time favourite pirate family and their best friend Matilda, this time for a tuneful but ratty tale!

"The Jolley-Rogers and the Pirate Piper" by Jonny Duddle might seem a little familiar at first...riffing on the well-loved children's tale of "The Pied Piper" but made all the more awesome by a righteous injection of yo ho hos and oo-ars!

Matilda and the Jolley-Rogers find the sleepy town of Dull-on-Sea plagued with a rather horrible bunch of unwelcome visitors. This time they're not pirates, but pie-RATS! Ready to scoff, guzzle and chomp their way through the town's comestibles.

There's only one thing for it, the mayor seeks a solution post haste, and soon the Pirate Piper arrives to play a dainty little hornpipe ditty to lure away those scabrous beasties.

But as you've probably guessed, there's a twist in the tale when the mayor refuses to pay up and the Pirate Piper turns the tables on the mean old skinflint, and unfortunately the town too!

Can Matilda and the Jolley-Rogers sort out the ratty mess?

Tons of new illustrations from one of our fave author-illustrators. It's a right good read this!

Jonny's early chapter / middle grade books are every bit as good as his picture books, perfect for kids making the jump between pic books and chapter books. There are tons of new stylish illustrations, and of course another cracking cover, making the Jolley-Rogers series hugely collectible.

Love all the little details in Jonny's illustrations, even his black-and-white ones!

Sum this book up in a sentence: A squeaky squirmy ratty tale filled with giggles and delight, perfect for pirate fans of any age.

"The Jolley-Rogers and the Pirate Piper" by Jonny Duddle is out now, published by Templar (kindly supplied for review)

Jonny Duddle, he may be a landlubber but he's also a canny pirate cove too!

We're delighted to host a fantastic "This or That" session with Mr Jonny Duddle, the author / illustrator of our Picture Book of the Week this week, "The Pirates of Scurvy Sands". We cooked up a set of awesome questions to put to the man himself, so take it away Jonny...!





1) Chocolate or Cheese? 

Our first Book of the Week this week is a rollicking uproariously brilliant follow-up to a book that pretty much set the highest possible standard for pirate-based picture books...

A-HARR! OHO! It's time for a book we've been waiting for since...oooh since AGES! The welcome return of a most heinous beastie in the latest book from Jonny Duddle, "The Jolley-Rogers and the Monster's Gold"

Wow, the end of the month really comes around quickly doesn't it - so celebrate payday with another monthly roundup of chapter book and early readers for children.

There's a real treat this month as we catch up with friends old and new, starting off by setting sail on the seven seas with our favourite pirate crew!


"The Jolley Rogers and the Cave of Doom" is the latest book from Jonny Duddle, featuring the awesome pirate family from "The Pirates Next Door" who may soon be coming to a small screen near you!

Here in chapter book form, The Jolley Rogers are taking a well earned holiday and a rest on a lovely sandy beach. When troublesome Nugget wanders off on her own into a deep dark cave but doesn't come back, Mum dashes to the rescue.

Mum disappears too, swiftly followed by Dad, and before long it's up to Jim-lad, Bones the Dog and Matilda to investigate the family's disappearance. A haunted booty bounty, a nefarious sea hag and mysterious magic mean Matilda may face her toughest challenge yet!

Jonny's pirate stories are huge favourites of ours, and it's great to catch up with his chapter book range now that Charlotte is old enough to appreciate stories with more words than pictures (that's not to say that Jonny doesn't work his magic with the illustrations throughout this superb book, his black and white Duddle-doodles are every bit as brill as his colour ones!) Following on nicely from "The Jolley-Rogers and the Ghostly Galleon", "The Cave of Doom" will keep you on the edge of your seat right till the last page. Yar harrrr!

"The Jolley-Rogers and the Cave of Doom" is out now from Templar Publishing.

Squirrel! Point your nose in this direction and meet...


Squirrel Boy! Dave Lowe's twitchy-nosed bushy-tailed superhero is back with a new foe to fight, and new battles to win in "Squirrel boy and the Squirrel Hunter". Enter the evil Squirrel Hunter who HATES everything about squirrels, and really doesn't like boys with squirrel-like powers either. Armed with a catapult, stinky breath and atrocious manners, the Squirrel Hunter rather fancies a new trophy to pin up on his wall at home - Squirrel Boy's tail! ARRGH!

Can Walter, AKA Squirrel Boy, firmly keep his wits about him and win the day?

With brilliant illustrations from Cate James, Dave Lowe's sequel to "Squirrel Boy vs the Bogeyman" is full of hilarity and humour for fans of David Walliams and Jeff Kinney. If Charlotte's cackles of delight while she reads this are anything to go by, your funnybones are about to get squirreled!

"Squirrel Boy and the Squirrel Hunter" is available now from Phoenix Yard Books.

Sticking with the animal kingdom for a moment, another brilliant detective tale for kids...



Lastly, a whizzbanger of a tale from a true master of children's stories...


Roald Dahl's "The BFG" (with fabulous illustrations by Quentin Blake) was added to Charlotte's reading pile as she avidly consumes the back catalogue of the world's most endearing and magical children's author. The Big Friendly Giant - along with his best friend Sophie, is a timeless classic tale of good vs evil, absolutely chock full of Dahl's trademark language-twisting, dark comedy and hugely uplifting characters. Charlotte has utterly devoured this book along with Mummy for alternate bedtime reading sessions. Always the mark of a huge booky success that she also nabs it for sneaky reading sessions in between. Love him or loathe him (surely no one truly could dislike Roald Dahl) his stories really are as good as their press. "The BFG" is published by Puffin Books.

And that's it for May. We'll bring you even more wonderful early readers and chapter books as the summer sunshine (hah) appears in the sky and encourages us to disappear outside for our reading in the fresh summer air.

Pirate Grrrrl ready for duty!

A little Duddle-bug gets in some research before the event

Can I get an Oo-Arr?

Swordplay (no children or book-bloggers were harmed during this event, we'd like to point out!)

Charlotte and the other children all sat at the front of the theatre on cushions, enthralled at JD's tales - before he read from his first pirate book, the awesome Pirate Cruncher!

Hats are not too hard to draw, but parrots eating carrots? Ooch!

Fiddle dee dee! A pirate par excellence from Mr Duddle!

Pirate transforms into explorer for "Gigantosaurus" duties!

Jonny Duddle is a piratical master of mischief, he's also a space-faring superstar but what happens when Mr Duddle turns his attention to prehistoric times, and all things dino-shaped?

The answer is "Gigantosaurus" - a new book from this immensely talented writer/illustrator. We meet four little dino-kids called Bonehead, Fin, Tiny and Bill who wander the prehistoric plains in search of fun. Their parents warn them about a fearsome beast, the Gigantosaurus - the largest dinosaur of all, who will eat practically anything, particularly little dinos.

Bonehead offers to act as a lookout to keep the others safe - But Bonehead turns out to be "The Dinosaur That Cried Wolf" as he keeps playing tricks on his friends, making them scurry for cover for a bit of a giggle.

But what is that menacing shadow in the distance? Who does that spiny tail belong to? Bonehead might not be the brilliant look out he's cracked up to be!

Jonny Duddle has once again come up trumps with a brilliant story, artwork to die for and a whole parcel of fascinating Dino-facts crammed into this gorgeous hardback book. One (dino) bone of contention though is the amazing fold-out cover. We're so fussy about our books that we couldn't possibly bear to take the cover off, unfold it, and display the absolutely fantastic Gigantosaurus poster on the wall - as brilliant as it is! Cool idea though (and we did enjoy the surprise fold-out later on in the actual book itself, so that sort of compensates a bit!)

I think the only bit we were a tiny microscopic bit disappointed about was the lack of cameos of other characters from Jonny's books. We've come to expect characters creeping into each others stories, but none here - unless we completely missed them (which we obviously did, thanks anonymous commenter! We need to pick up our visual scanning!)

Pretty much everything JD turns his hand to is brilliant, we really cannot wait to see what he comes up with next.

Charlotte's best bit: Arguing with Daddy over which dinosaur was hiding in a hollowed-out log (Charlotte won!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: Sumptuous artwork that had me cracking out a magnifying glass to figure out JUST HOW HE DOES IT! (failed miserably, he's just too durned good is Mr D!)

(Kindly sent to us for review by Templar Publishing)

It was almost inevitable that this would end up as our book of the week this week. We've been waiting for "The King of Space" to arrive ever since I spotted Jonny Duddle's brilliant tutorial on character consistency in FX Magazine's digital art round up. Back the, The King of Space was a slightly bubble headed and stropping looking little guy - not at all the "Rex" we now know and love.

So how successful is Jonny's transition from sailing the seven seas with a bunch of salty old pirates to roaming the stratosphere, armed with gigantic warbots, striving for complete galactic domination?

We join the story as Rex, a genius schoolboy with lofty ambitions, plans a classroom robotics project to eclipse everyone else's. Rex's plan for a weaponized moog-poo robot bears fruit (rather too successfully as the robot trashes his classmates' puny little robot specimens underfoot) and soon he enlists the help of a classmate to work in secret on a whole fleet of war droids with one aim and one aim only. To ensure Rex's place as...The King Of Space.

As his parents, living on a Moog farm, are oblivious to their little darling's plans for galactic domination, Rex kidnaps the emperor's daughter Kooki (who bears a striking resemblance to a certain little girl very dear to Mr Duddle's heart) and tries to win her over.

Soon though, Rex's plans take a turn for the worse but an unexpected ally proves to be more of a force to be reckoned with than an entire space armada!

There are so many moments in this book where you can literally bathe in the glow of a guy who clearly loves his work to bits. Duddle's characters are brilliant, his digital art knocks my socks off and his knack for weaving a grand tale with kid and adult appeal is unparalleled. We absolutely loved the detail in each page, the action packed story full of excitement and adventure (though really you're never really sure whether Rex is actually a goodie or a baddie, after all he does try to enslave the entire universe AND kidnaps the emperor's daughter into the bargain!)

Most of all though we had a heck of a lot of fun spotting all the cameos from Jonny's previous two books. We won't spoil them for you, but there's a certain little character that lives on Rex's bed you might recognise.

"The King of Space" is every bit as good as we dreamed it would be. It seems a little remiss to be talking about a potential children's picture book of the year but if this isn't in the running we'll be sending Rex and his warbots along to find out why not!

Charlotte's best bit: Rex's followup to the warbot. More terrifying than you could possibly imagine!

Daddy's favourite bit: So much detail, an art style to die for, and a brilliant sweeping space opera of a story that makes you practically want to hug the book with glee. Oh and yes the calculator bits made me grin from ear to ear Mr Duddle, thank you for those :)

(Kindly sent to us for review by Templar Publishing)

It is a bit cheeky having two "Book of the Week" nominations, but we're like that here at ReadItDaddy. So cheeky you could tweak our cheeks for a week!

Stopping by Mostly Books last week we picked up a brace of scintillating titles and it was too tough a call to decide between Levi Pinfold's sublime "Black Dog"  and this superb book.

Jonny Duddle has quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with in children's books, and he weaves a pirate tale with style and expertise. We've already reviewed his superb book "The Pirate Cruncher"  and we've been after "The Pirates Next Door" for quite some time. Available previously in hardback, it has now been released as a superb paperback edition with an audio CD - a reading of the story by the great man himself.

With Mr Duddle's career riding the crest of a wave (a film based on his piratical characters, produced in conjunction with Aardman Animation, has received critical acclaim and is now available on Blu Ray and DVD), it's a timely re-release of (arguably) his best book.

"The Pirates Next Door" weaves a moral tale of twitchy curtains and neighbourhood unrest spliced by the mainbrace with a piratical tale of a young girl called Matilda, who longs for a playmate to move in to the empty house next door. She gets better than she bargained for when a whole family of seafaring pirates move in, and change her life forever. She instantly becomes firm friends with Jim Lad, the pirate boy and becomes enthralled by his piratical ways.

Others in her neighbourhood (including her sniffy middle class parents) don't quite take to the newcomers as readily. Some say they smell, some say they dig up roundabouts in the dead of night, and some campaign at the council offices to get rid of the Jolley Rogers (as the family are called). But Matilda stands firm in her friendship of Jim Lad and defends them to the hilt.

The rest of the tale I'll leave you to discover yourself. The Audio CD version of the book is ridiculously reasonably priced for such a plush and beautifully presented story. Duddle's artwork and illustrative style is something I truly envy. Dabbling in digital art (his preferred medium) myself, I know how tough it is to get rich vibrant colours and engaging character work to look as beautifully made and as perfect as Duddle seems to manage with ease.

We can't get enough of this story and we can't get enough of Duddle's other artwork, so it's a fitting book of the week and as we've said many times before, Templar Publishing really know how to pick the cream of the crop when it comes to authors and artists.

Charlotte's best bit: Too many to mention, she really loved the fact that Matilda is holding a placard with a 'tick' on it and not a cross at the 'anti pirate' lobby (I didn't notice this, she did, clever girl!). She also loves the way Grandpa Pirate hides in the ship most of the time.

Daddy's favourite bit: Dullsville twinned with Ennui Sur Mer gave me a giggle. Most of all though I just love Duddle's art and really wish I could somehow emulate his style (impossible with my pathetic skills but I'll keep trying!)

A ReadItDaddy Book of the Week

Ahoy Jim Lad! What on earth could ye do on 'Talk Like a Pirate' Day if ye be a keen book swabbing blogger who sails the seven seas of children's books in search of booty?

Well you could stop talking silly and publish a lovely list of essential piratical books to tickle the fancies of any scurvy coves who pass by your blog. So that's exactly what we're going to do!

1) Pirate Girl by Cornelia Funke and Kerstin Meyer (Chicken House Books)


A young girl sets sail to visit her grandmother, and falls foul of the stinkiest, nastiest pirates ever seen. They soon put her to work swabbing the decks, darning their stinky socks and cooking for them in the galley. But the girl is smart, and has a secret plan to escape. For she is no ordinary girl, she is Pirate Girl.

An absolutely lovely little tale showing pirates as the rather daft, rather stinky and rather inept coves they really are.

ReadItDaddy Review Link to Pirate Girl



2) The Pirate Cruncher by Jonny Duddle (Templar Books)


Jonny Duddle is a past master at drawing pirates and now there's even a movie based on Pirates vs Scientists. We love The Pirate Cruncher though, mostly due to Jonny's fantastical pirates and creatures beautifully and deliciously painted in this book.

The Pirates band together to search out lost treasure (this tends to happen a lot in pirate books, unsurprisingly). But there's a sting in the tail of this tale, as the treasure is not what it seems, and the hapless pirates soon meet up with....(Dramatic drum roll) The Pirate Cruncher! ARGHH! Such a superb book!