This is a truly international book—a story loved for decades by New Zealand children given a new life by one of Japan’s leading young illustrators.
The Fierce Little Woman and the Wicked Pirate
The fierce little woman lived in a house at the end of a jetty.
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Description
She knitted socks in blue and green wool, to sell to sailors who had got their feet wet. But when there were no ships at her jetty, she was quite alone. One stormy day, a pirate came to the house on the jetty. He stood on his toes, and starting tap-tap-tapping on the window…
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Book Details
Country of Origin New Zealand Reader Age 0-2 year, 2-5 year, 5-7 year Book Size 10 × 8 cm
(hardback)10 × 8 cm
(paperback)ISBN 9798765671689
(hardback)798765671696
(paperback)
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Reviews
Available worldwide from your local bookstore or online.
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Red Reading Hub –
In days of yore there lived a fierce little woman in a house at the end of a jetty. She spent her days knitting woolly socks to sell to sailors, or walking along the jetty playing her bagpipes or swimming beneath the jetty. Winters were more restful and she’d sometimes sit by the fire fishing through the trapdoor in her floor.
One day a storm blows in and with it comes a pirate who taps at the window of the woman’s house as she sits knitting. She spurns his persistent demands to be allowed to enter and he retaliates with threats several times over.
Eventually as darkness falls he tries a different approach and admits that’s he’s very frightened of the dark. Seemingly this pirate is more scared than scary; the woman relents, lifting her trapdoor and allowing him to come through into her cosy abode. As they talk, it becomes clear that each in their own way is vulnerable and they have things to offer one another.
After an initial refusal of his hand in marriage, the woman agrees, they get wed and raise a family together.
With her scenes from various perspectives Miho Satake skilfully brings out the quirkiness of Joy Cowley’s text and the battle of words that takes place between the two protagonists.