Find your treasure in Book Week

Every year the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) brings children and books together to celebrate CBCA Book Week. During this time early childhood centres, schools, libraries, booksellers, authors, illustrators and children celebrate Australian children's literature in a variety of ways.

The week kicks off on 18 August following announcement of the CBCA Book of the Year and runs through until Friday 24 August. The theme for this year's book week is Find Your Treasure, which opens a world of possibilities, themes, costume ideas and books to discover. The first, which immediately comes to mind, being pirates and the perennial search for sunken gold and treasure!

Here are seven pirate themed books to share with the children in your service and help them find their treasure.

How I became a pirate

by Melinda Long and David Shannon

The ultimate adventure when a small boy called Jeremy joins Captain Braid Beard and his crazy crew of green-teethed misfits as they sail the seven seas in search of a suitable location to bury their treasure.

Tough Boris

by Mem Fox

Tough Boris and his crew of evil henchmen have a reputation for being mean, ruthless, selfish and down right bad. However, is all, as it seems? When a small boy stows away on Boris’s boat he realises that reputation may not be entirely true!

The Troll

by Julia Donaldson

The story of a troll who unwittingly becomes the cook on a pirate ship after discovering a chest of gold that doesn't belong to him. After spotting goat tracks near a treasure chest the troll throws away all the gold and sets up camp in the empty chest to await the arrival of the goat. Unfortunately, when the chest is collected by Captain Peg and her crew the troll ends up as their prisoner!

The Pirates Next Door

by Jonny Duddle

When a family of wayward pirates going by the name of the Jolley-Rogers blow into the small coastal village of Dull-on-Sea to repair their ship all hell breaks loose and the neighbours starts gossiping. When Matilda befriends the youngest pirate son she discovers you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, especially after treasure is discovered.

Pirate Princess

by Sudipta Bardham-Quallen and Jill McElmurry

When Princess Bea gives up her life as a princess to join Captain Jack she's very excited until she finds out she has to cook dinner for the crew and swab the decks. Bea uses girl power to prove she is seaworthy and to avoid walking the plank.

Captain Jack and the Pirates

by Peter Bentley and Helen Oxenbury

Jack and his friends set sail on an adventure after building a boat out of sand. After spotting pirates, being shipwrecked in a storm and washing up on a desert island the kids discover the pirates are there too, but they are friendly pirates and come bearing ice creams!

Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs

by Giles Andreae and Russell Ayto

Flinn discovers a pirate hiding in the art supply cupboard at his school and offers to help him find his stolen ship. Little does he know a band of pirate dinosaurs are on the lose and he'll need all his piratical skills to help Captain Stubble reclaim his ship.

Be sure to visit the CBCA for more information on Book Week, how to be involved and how to share your events on the CBCA's social media feeds.