My Review of 4 Books by Carole P. Roman

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

My kids all enjoy a good book. So when we had the chance to review four more books from Carole P. Roman, they were thrilled. They helped me look over the available titles in Carole P. Roman’s assorted series and decide which ones to try.

The titles we selected were:

• One to Ten: Squirrel’s Bad Day
• Captain No Beard: An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate’s Life
• Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis
• The Crew Goes Coconuts!

What Are These Books?

Each of these books are illustrated paperback books. They have engaging pictures, and interesting stories. Here’s a little more about each one.

One to Ten: Squirrel’s Bad Day

I have to admit, I though this was going to be a counting book. I was wrong. Instead, it’s a great book that helps kids learn how to rank the bad things that happen on a scale of 1-10.

This helps them see that not everything is a 10. In other words, not everything is the end of the world.

There are plenty of examples of bad things that happen, from a pet dying to falling while skating. As the animals talk through each, they decide that somethings really are worse than others.

My kids enjoyed this book, especially my six year old. He keeps it in his school drawer now, and we’ve read it several times in the past few weeks. He’s even started to rank things a bit when bad things happen. That’s neat to see!

And since my three year old likes to copy my six year old, here he is holding the book:

Captain No Beard: An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate’s Life

This creative book features a young boy named Alexander and his cousin Hallie. They climb aboard Alexander’s bed, and they all transform into pirates. The bed turns into the pirate ship, The Flying Dragon. Alexander turns into Captain No Beard. Hallie becomes the first mate. They also have three stuffed animals in their crew, Mongo the Monkey, Linus (who is a loud lion), and Fribbit the frog. All of them become alive in the story as well.

The illustrations are cute (see image below) and engaged the kids.

My kids really enjoyed reading about this pretend adventure. It even inspired them to go turn the couch into a pirate ship and play for a while.

The magical adventures of Captain No Beard continue in a series, which the other books I reviewed are a part of. I didn’t select the books in order, but rather based on titles the kids thought sounded fun. A neat part of each of these books is that they incorporate some character training in a fun way.

Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis

This is the 7th book in the series. In it, Captain No Beard takes his ship and his crew and head north in the freezing cold. Wondering what he’s up to, the crew finally learns that he wants to steal the beautiful northern lights (Aurora Borealis).

Even though they don’t want to stand up to the captain, the crew tries to convince him that it’s wrong to steal. As they learn more about navigating by stars (the North star in particular), the captain eventually decides to do what’s right.

The Crew Goes Coconuts

This is the sixth book in the Captain No Beard series, and one of our favorites! We really like that you don’t really need to read these in order. They are all excellent as stand alone books, though they definitely have the same characters and you can read them in order if you’d prefer.

This time, there’s not enough juice for everyone on board, and everyone is thirsty. The lack of something to drink makes everyone mad. And then, the bullying starts, with the crew blaming one of Hallie’s friends, Matie the Goat. Matie happened to drink the last juice box, which is why they pick on her.

Trying to get the others to stop being mean, and recognize that everyone is different, the captain asks everyone to name something good and bad about themselves. As they have this discussion, they can see that each of them is unique, with strengths and weaknesses. Being different is okay, since each of them are different.

How We Used These Books

These books were read aloud by me initially. Then, they were read over and over again. Sometimes by me. Often by one of my readers.

My kids also used these as inspiration for play based games of their own. It was neat to see them bring the books to life in their own way.

What We Thought About These Books

Carole P. Roman’s books are an excellent addition to the library. We’ve enjoyed each of her books that we’ve read. I like that they all incorporate some learning (like information about the north star in the Aurora Borealis book) and some character building. But, there is also a plot which can get kids hooked.

If you’re looking for some new picture books to try, definitely give these a read!

More Books by the Author

Members of the Review Crew have been reviewing all sorts of books by Carole P. Roman. To learn more about the many books she’s written, and read reviews on them, please click the banner below.