The REAL Story of Pirates: Fun Facts, Tall Tales, and Awesome Activities! by Gregory B. Edmonds can be used as a stand-alone study on pirates or an excellent addition to your homeschool unit study.

This softcover book is 67 pages long and filled with plenty of information about pirates. The text is written so children can read through it themselves.  For children who are not yet proficient at reading, the text can be read-aloud. The reading passages have clear sections so it can be broken up into shorter or longer reading topics.  There are twelve coloring pages scattered throughout that may be copied once for personal use. The coloring pages serve as the book’s illustrations as well.

Also, there are a few mazes and word searches.  However, the significant bonus activity is the “Host Your Own Pirate Party” section at the end of the book. It includes everything one would need to plan a successful pirate-themed party, including invitations, treats, and games.

Topics covered include a brief history, pirate flags, short profiles of nine famous pirates, equipment used by pirates, vocabulary, and some fun Fact or Tall Tale sections that address lore or exciting tidbits of information.

This book will appeal to ages 6-11 the best. The activities are designed for children ages 6-11. Older students could read the book as an introduction to a pirate study or a brief overview but would most likely want to dig deeper into the topic.

Because parts of this book are consumable, you would either need additional copies if more than one child wanted to do them or have one child use the book’s pages and the other use the one-time copy permission. This would only apply to the coloring pages and mazes, etc. The information contained is meant to be shared. The party is geared toward activities for multiple children.

I learned some new and interesting pirate facts while going through this book with my elementary-aged child. It worked well with our unit study on pirates.  My daughter enjoyed learning about pirates and doing the activities. She especially enjoyed learning to talk like a pirate. She is looking forward to hosting her own pirate party when allowed.

I would recommend this book to any child who is interested in pirates and adventure.

~Product review by Destiny Mawson, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, December 2020