Pirate Characters
Pirates come with their own plot attached, which is why children keep drawing them: there is a map, so there is somewhere to go. The character question is what they are actually looking for, and the answer is usually better if it is not gold.
Making a pirate into a character
Something better than treasure
A missing crew member, a lost recipe, the other half of a map. Gold is the least interesting thing to find.
Name the ship
The ship is a character. Children name it immediately if asked.
A crew of two or three
Enough to argue with, few enough to keep straight.
A rule they will not break
A pirate with one firm principle is more likeable and more useful in a story.
Questions to ask your child about their drawing
- What is your pirate’s ship called?
- What are they looking for?
- Who is on the crew?
- What is the one thing they would never do?
- What does the map show?
Common questions
- Are pirate stories too rough for young children?
- No. They are written as treasure-hunt adventures — maps, islands and puzzles — with the age setting controlling how much peril there is.