Review of ‘Atticus Van Tasticus: Book 2’

Toby (9 years old) is a keen reader and budding young reviewer and I love feeding him books. I made ChickPea race through this second book in the Atticus Van Tasticus series so I could send it Tobys way and in return he whipped me up a review!

Chickpea is pictured below at the launch of the first Atticus book where she pulled out her prepared list of questions for Andrew Daddo and Stephen Michael King in front of the entire audience and proceeded to make her way through her list, ensuring they answered all her questions. Dear glory, pick the teacher librarian’s daughter in the crowd at a book launch!

Thank you Toby for this great review!

Title: ‘Atticus Van Tasticus 2: The Map of Half Maps‘
Reviewer: Toby (9 years old)
Author: Andrew Daddo
Illustrator:  Stephen Michael King
Publisher:  Penguin Books Australia
Age Range: lower primary, middle primary.
Themes: pirates, adventure, humour, visual literacy.

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This story is about a pirate called Atticus, who is ten years old and his adventures on board his ship called the Grandnan.  His crew include his First Mate (called First Mate) and they are funny and crazy, but they can be good at fighting enemies.

In the first book they find half of a map that could lead them to treasure. In this book they are in search of the other half of the map. The story starts at sea, with Atticus’ ship spying another ship on the horizon, they think they’re about to be attacked by Vikings, but they manage to escape.  

Atticus’ first mate’s has a twin sister called Peg and her ship (Pegasus) is not so lucky.  In their escape from the Vikings, Atticus and his crew come across a really old pirate who might be able help them find some more of the map, but they still don’t have the whole map.  Meanwhile, Peg and her crew are in trouble and need help.

Will Atticus and his crew be able to help Peg? Will anyone be able to stop the Vikings? Will Atticus be able to find the last part of the map? Will Hogbreath ever stop having stinky breath? You’ll have to read the book to find out…but be prepared to laugh out loud.

I liked this book because the pictures are funny and they help tell the story.  For example, they show you what stuff is lurking around in Hogbreath’s breath (revolting!).

You don’t need to have read the first book to read this one, because at the start they give you a picture map of what happened in the first book.  I think this book is good for kids who like pirates, adventure stories and funny pictures.

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