Review: Marge and the Pirate Baby by Isla Fisher

Ahoy, Maties! Marge the crazy, elderly babysitter with rainbow hair and a penchant for trouble (sorry, I mean fun,) is back for some more quirky adventures in Marge and the Pirate Baby. This time around Jemima Button and her little brother Jake, have their naughty baby cousin Zara in tow and Marge thinks that Zara might be a pirate. (It figures. Zara seems to like stealing things.) And that's just in their first adventure. (There's also a trip to the local pool, and a great wedding disaster to be had.)

Marge and the Pirate Baby is quirky, laugh out loud funny and each of the stories is just long enough to keep kids entertained. (And adults as well.) In all honesty, I enjoyed this volume a bit more than the first, probably because the characters are a bit more established. It was also fun listening to Jemima mention other adventures that she's had with Marge. While the David Walliams quote on the back cover states the obvious, that Isla Fisher is hilarious (figures, seeing as she's had a very successful career as a comedian,) what makes this book special is the fact that the author truly understand her target audience--kids--and how they think and feel about things. Jemima's (and Jake's) reaction to Zara is spot on--both are annoyed by Zara and some of the things she does, yet both also genuinely want to care for her. It also encourages a sense of imaginative play and adventure.

The stories rely heavily on an element of surprise, and the author never allows things to get too complicated, or bogged down in unnecessary detail. I loved the cute illustrations by Eglantine Ceulemans, and cannot wait to share this one with my nieces. 

Recommended.

This book was read as part of the Aussie Author Challenge 2017


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