Review:

This is an absolutely wonderful little story. I could not put it down. The book begins: "Once there was a little boy named Horrendo who, in all of his eleven years, never said a rude word to anybody". This was because Horrendo had been cursed by "Gretel the Witch" and must always be beautifully mannered. Horrendo is also turning 12 years old and this is when the pirates sail in and take all the 12-year-old boys to crew on their pirate ship. The children seldom return. The parents and the school provide lessons in cursing, bullying and swaggering to prepare the boys to no avail and Horrendo and his friends set off to sea with the pirates for a rollicking adventure. This is a very funny tale and Anna Fienberg manages, with her clever use of language, to make being whipped, losing pinkies, and walking the plank seem everyday occurrences.

Anna Fienberg grew up in a house filled with books. Her mother was a teacher librarian who relished stories as much as chocolates. 'On Sunday mornings we'd all lie in bed with our books, lost in magical wardrobes, witch's spells, genie's magic… What we were going to read next was just as important in our family as what was for lunch!' says Anna.

Anna started writing stories when she was eight, but never imagined being an author. She studied psychology, fascinated by the dark world of dreams. She gave up counselling after an unfortunate incident with an enraged man and a chair (he missed!), began writing and scored the best job in the world.

Anna Fienberg writes stories for a wide range of audiences, from preschoolers to teenagers (and adults!). Many of her picture books and stories for younger readers are illustrated by Kim Gamble.

Allen and Unwin

Kim says, 'I've always loved drawing, both for its own sake and to get things out of my system. As the youngest of four, whenever I was angry because I wasn't getting my own way, I'd go into my room, take a sheet of paper and a pen, fill the sky with jet planes and draw soldiers all over the ground. Then I'd bomb them - zzzooomm BLAT! BOOM! BLAT! - with long fast lines and lots of squiggles. After ten minutes, the ground was a mess of destruction and I'd feel much better. '

He describes himself as fairly relaxed, very loving, curious and grateful, nearly fifty, a bit confused and often happy, especially when the pictures flow, and he thinks Odilon Redon and Marc Chagall are 'great artists'. He barracks for Newcastle Knights.

Allen and Unwin

Pirate Word Search

See printable version for activity

Arrrgh! Ahoy mateys! Why not create your own treasure map?

You will need:

• A piece of white paper (A3 or A4 size)
• Pens and pencils
• 2-3 cold wet tea or coffee bags
• A hairdryer
• Your imagination!

Method

1. Take your piece of white paper and tear around all of the edges. Tear as little or as much as you like!
2. Crumple your paper, or fold it up tightly – this will help make it look well used.
3. Flatten your paper out on a well-protected surface to prevent the tea from staining your table (old place mats are great for this).
4. Wipe the used tea bags all over your paper.
5. Allow about 5 minutes for the paper to soak up the tea. This will give your treasure map a nice brown colour.
6. Use a hairdryer to dry out your damp paper. Make sure you leave the paper lying down so that it doesn’t tear apart.
7. Now that it’s dry…take some pens or pencils and start drawing your map! You could draw…

• A big "X" in the middle to show where the treasure is hidden
• A dotted line to show the trail to follow
• Some main features and places on the island. You could give them "pirate" names like those in Horrendo’s Curse, or you can make up your own. Some ideas might be:

• Shipwreck Isles
• Scorpio Strait
• Blue Devil Beach
• Dogfish Swam
• Rascal Rocks