Florentine and Pig and the lost pirate treasure by Eva Katzler

Ill. by Jess Mikhail. Bloomsbury, 2013. ISBN 9781408824405.
(Age: 5+) Picture book. Pirates. Humour. Things to do. Imagination. Florentine and Pig are back with another adventure to please the hearts of their fans. Stuck in the house on a cold and wet, wintry day, they search around for something to do. Out of the dress-up box comes a range of things to wear, and each is dressed as a pirate. Pig with his pirate hat and telescope looks just the part, and Florentine ambles behind him with her favourite sparkling cardigan which is missing one button. They find a pirate map, and use the furniture in the lounge room to create a ship on which to sail to find the treasure mentioned in the map. Fun abounds as they go on their adventure, and the story includes a list of the things they need to take, as well as the recipes for the food mentioned, the hat Pig wears, and the flag flown on their ship.
An entertaining look at using one's imagination, children will thrill at the mischief the pair gets up to. Readers will love to try things for themselves, and then cook the recipes given at the end of the story. For teachers, this is another book to include in the pirate books already available, and be a neat adjunct to work done in using imagination and play. I can imagine many students in early childhood setting wanting to emulate Florentine and Pig on their big adventure, so have the dress-up box ready, along with the ingredients for making the biscuits, cakes and pasta, as well as a pirate hat and flag.
Fran Knight