Pirates and Princesses - Part 3

Henry and the Bunny Buccaneers by Carolyn Crimi 

and Illustrated by John Manders

Henry is not a typical buccaneer bunny. Instead of performing his proper pirating duties, he would rather read the books that he took from other ships. His father, the captain, is not proud of his son and the rest of the crew makes fun of him. When they are shipwrecked on a deserted island, however, it is Henry and his book smarts that save the day. 

This is a very cute story about a bookish buccaneer named Henry.  Having his nose in a book is the worst possible thing he could do, according to his dad.  But maybe it’ll be what saves the day.  My kids loved this one, especially since you have lots of opportunity to read in a pirate’s voice and a nerdy voice.  That cracked them up.  

Today we went on a treasure hunt.  We had to do it early before we hit triple digits, but had a lot of fun.  

First I printed off a treasure map on a brown paper lunch bag that I cut to size.  I found the template here and made a few of my own adjustments.  Then I burned the edges a bit to give it an aged look (I’ve realized how much I enjoy burning things.  It also reminded me of when Lindsey and I were younger and we’d make fancy letters.  We would burn the edges and seal the letter with wax.  In our bedroom alone.  When we were in the 3rd and 4th grade.  Awesome).  My kids thought that was pretty cool.  

We couldn’t sail the seven seas unarmed, so we made swords from an old cardboard box.  I cut the sword shapes out and then used aluminum foil for the blade.  Off we went...

We fought a giant, invisible serpent in Serpent’s Pass.  This is when my almost 7 year-old said, “I hope nobody sees us.”  I replied, “Well, if they did they’d be envious we’re having so much fun.”  He just laughed at me.  

The rest of our journey brought us through Mermaid Cove (basketball court), Dead Man’s Cave (garage door), Barking Dolphin Way (backyard, we have a dog), and finally to an oasis in the middle of nothing (our overgrown garden).  

We found our booty!   Hahaha.  I’m a mom and that always cracks me up.  I filled a little chest with Rolos, Kisses and Chocolate coins.  Chocolate...  That’s better than real gold, in my opinion.

AAAARG!