[OFFICIAL] "How to Be a Pirate" LEGO Little Golden Book

[jodawill]

3 minutes ago, TalonCard said:

Sounds like fun! Let me know what is required. 

I'd say they are worth buying if you're a fan of LEGO media tie-ins. The artwork is really charming and well done, a much better choice than most of the other non-licensed LEGO books out there now. They're not really comparable to the Ladybird books as these seem to be for much younger children, and lean heavily into the LEGO side of things, where the Pirate ship can be rebuilt with bricks and what have you, while the Ladybird books treated the world as a brick-free pseudo historical fantasy. But I do love the teamwork message and the humor of How to Be a Pirate, and in terms of story and LEGO-based art it's more timeless. The Ladybird books are collectables that help build out the Pirate world, but this is much more on brand and better suited for reading with kids. The Knight book is also good, but the story isn't as well thought out as the Pirate one is, IMO.

I've been keeping an eye out for these books in stores so I can see for myself whether they're worth buying. Maybe I'll buy the pirate one first since you say the story is better. From what I've seen in the previews, the artwork for that knight book is brilliant. I love the fact they used the new Black Falcon minifigures. I'm curious about the story in that one. Just looking at the cover, it seems like it might have a message of, "You can do anything, despite your disability." I'd like to see how they handle it. Maybe the idea of being a "knight" isn't serious enough in this book to even make his wheelchair come into play. In real life, someone in a wheelchair wouldn't last a day in medieval combat. I think a more helpful message would be to accept your limitations, then focus on the things you can control. If I'm bound to a wheelchair, I'm not going to be able to be a navy seal. But there are more things I could do than I can't, so I would want to focus on things I actually could do. (Granted, I've never had a physical disability, and I haven't read the book - these are just the things that have been going through my mind as I've thought about this book.)

[TalonCard]

It's nice to see the Black Falcons featured without presenting them as the villains of the story. (That being said, the faction isn't named in the story.) The artwork is quite good, and more expansive in scope than the Pirate book. I don't think that the story is quite what you think it might be. This is the kind of book where retrieving an ingredient to make soup for a sick dragon requires a hot air balloon, so it's not in any way a look at real life medieval situations. The fact that Milo is in a wheelchair isn't really touched upon, besides the fact that he happens to need one. His brother and sister are both knights, and he wants to be too, but doesn't think he's as brave as they are. As it turns out, they've exaggerated their exploits, and Milo is braver than he thinks he is. It's Milo's own perception of himself that is the limitation rather than his physical abilities, and he overcomes it by the end of the story. It's a great message; it's just that the story itself is a little meandering and unfocused compared to the Pirate book.

Edited July 25, 2022 by TalonCard

[jodawill]

1 minute ago, TalonCard said:

It's nice to see the Black Falcons featured without presenting them as the villains of the story. (That being said, the faction isn't named in the story.) The artwork is quite good, and more expansive in scope than the Pirate book. I don't think that the story is quite what you think it might be. This is the kind of book where retrieving an ingredient to make soup for a sick dragon requires a hot hair balloon, so it's not in any way a look at real life medieval situations. The fact that Milo is in a wheelchair isn't really touched upon, besides the fact that he happens to need one. His brother and sister are both knights, and he wants to be too, but doesn't think he's as brave as they are. As it turns out, they've exaggerated their exploits, and Milo is braver than he thinks he is. It's Milo's own perception of himself that is the limitation rather than his physical abilities, and he overcomes it by the end of the story. It's a great message; it's just that the story itself is a little meandering and unfocused compared to the Pirate book.

Huh. I guess when you're talking about delivering soup to a sick dragon in a hot air balloon, having a knight in a wheelchair doesn't really seem out of the ordinary. I really wish they'd release some more serious stories like The Golden Medallion. I think it would really work well in the style of artwork they have in this book. The art does look very well done.

[PxChris]

I got the book in the mail a couple weekends ago while I was out of town, but finally took the chance to read through it yesterday. It really was a quite charming little book. I would say it's not quite on par with the Ladybird books, but they're also targeted differently. This one is definitely pointed towards an early reader, or even pre-reader as a read-aloud story time book. The Ladybird books were aimed more towards a 3-4th grade reading level I'd say. They were longer, much wordier, and with more involved plot points. But, for what it is, it's a very cute book. I did enjoy the easter egg for the Renegade Runner. Very interesting that they decided to not include Captain Red Beard in the story at all too.I got the book in the mail a couple weekends ago while I was out of town, but finally took the chance to read through it yesterday. It really was a quite charming little book. I would say it's not quite on par with the Ladybird books, but they're also targeted differently. This one is definitely pointed towards an early reader, or even pre-reader as a read-aloud story time book. The Ladybird books were aimed more towards a 3-4th grade reading level I'd say. They were longer, much wordier, and with more involved plot points. But, for what it is, it's a very cute book. I did enjoy the easter egg for the Renegade Runner. Very interesting that they decided to not include Captain Red Beard in the story at all too.

[Mister Phes]

20 hours ago, TalonCard said:

Sounds like fun! Let me know what is required. 

I guess there be two options:

1. You can create a review as a forum topic and a blogger (probably me) will adapt it into blog post format
2. Since you've already got a Classic-Pirates.com account you can create the blog post yourself... but we have an all new blogging system you won't be familiar with! Some pick it up in no time, others find it challenging.

[jodawill]

I found the knight book at Barnes & Noble yesterday. The artwork is very well done. I appreciated the amount of detail that went into the buildings. I wonder if they actually built them on the computer, then rendered them with a cartoon filter. If they actually drew each image, that's quite a bit of work.

The story seemed like something I would have written when I was seven years old. It's a bunch of random, weird things one after another. My kids enjoyed it. It did remind me a bit of the cartoons in the old Mania magazines. I like how the main character had to build something to solve a problem, just like the Maniac used to do. It was kind of weird though that the balloon pieces just came out of nowhere after they explicitly said he was using pieces from the castle.

I had mentioned before I thought it's very strange to have a story about someone in a wheelchair becoming a knight. Well, they're using the concept of a "knight" very loosely here. Apparently in their world, being a knight just means you wear armor and you're recognized for being a good person. In this respect, it kind of reminds me of Fraggle Rock, with the gorg being "king of the universe," which means absolutely nothing. I would definitely prefer a more realistic storyline. But the whole book is sort of a make believe kind of thing, like we're viewing the world from a child's imagination. So in that sense, it works.

All in all, I'd say it was just "ok." I'm curious to see how often my kids want to read it. It's not a book I would have picked out if it didn't have Lego artwork. I suppose I'll order the pirate book from Amazon.

On a related note, I'm a bit shocked by how much Little Golden Books cost now. My copy of Black Hole from 1979 says 69¢. That would be $2.82 in today's dollars. But they're $6 now. I wonder they cost so much. Interestingly, if you look up Little Golden Book on Amazon, most of the titles are discounted to either $3 or $4, which I think is a much more appropriate price adjusted for inflation.

Edit: It's also interesting that they have another book with the exact same name.

Edited July 27, 2022 by jodawill

[Mister Phes]

1 hour ago, jodawill said:

I would definitely prefer a more realistic storyline.

Given that we're talking about a book based on LEGO here... LEGO being a stylistic medium which is quite far removed from reality.

So how would you make the storyline more realistic?

[jodawill]

1 minute ago, Mister Phes said:

Given that we're talking about a book based on LEGO here... LEGO being a stylistic medium which is quite far removed from reality.

So how would you make the storyline more realistic?

Something more along the lines of The Golden Medallion. It's still a story for kids, and it's in a fictional world, but it has more of a basis in reality. This new book is ok, but it feels a lot more childish. The Golden Medallion and the Ladybird books are even appealing to me as an adult, but this one is really just for kids. That's fine - it's just different.

[Mister Phes]

Just now, jodawill said:

The Golden Medallion and the Ladybird books are even appealing to me as an adult, but this one is really just for kids.

Have you read "How to Be a Pirate" yet?

[jodawill]

Just now, Mister Phes said:

Have you read "How to Be a Pirate" yet?

No, I haven't found it in the store yet. I was hoping to see it in person before I buy it. Did you think that one was a lot better?

[Mister Phes]

5 minutes ago, jodawill said:

No, I haven't found it in the store yet. I was hoping to see it in person before I buy it. Did you think that one was a lot better?

As I haven't read How to Be a Knight I cannot make a fair comparison.

But as the story was targeted towards younger children so I was expecting it to be simple.

Without giving too much a way...

The book attempts to communicate teamwork is important by having the protagonist not being able to achieve a certain objective without the support of the crew, simply because she lacks the necessary skill... but then all of a sudden she's able to save day by conveniently having the skill for an even more complicated task which she's able to complete all by herself.

That plot contradiction seemed to negate the lesson the book was trying to teach.

[Professor Thaum]

I saw this book " how to be a pirate" in french version in the Bordeaux Lego store today. I had a look (for curiosity sake). This the story of a young girl called Cecillia and the adventure is described with pictures out of offical lego sets (for example the squid of set 3 in 1 - 31088 shark, fish or squid)
 

1 hour ago, jodawill said:

No, I haven't found it in the store yet. I was hoping to see it in person before I buy it. Did you think that one was a lot better?

The story is very very childish as far as I can remember.

That's all I can say as I was not really interested in (my 13 years old son wasn't too). I was rather looking at a book like "awesome ideas" but pirate attuned.

 

51 minutes ago, Mister Phes said:

the story was targeted towards younger children

Right for this one too.

My 2 cents.

[jodawill]

How do you guys think these stories compare to the old Mania Magazine comics? Those weren't super sophisticated either, and they amounted mainly to an advertisement. But I enjoyed them when I was a kid.

[Mister Phes]

1 hour ago, Professor Thaum said:

That's all I can say as I was not really interested in (my 13 years old son wasn't too).

I assumed the story was aimed at children under 5.

[Professor Thaum]

it is

[Mister Phes]

17 hours ago, jodawill said:

How do you guys think these stories compare to the old Mania Magazine comics? Those weren't super sophisticated either, and they amounted mainly to an advertisement. But I enjoyed them when I was a kid.

Which story did you have in mind?

I've been reading scans of these magazine for the Armada Port blog post and the pages I read (at least) seemed to be more biographical than story driven.

 

Bricks and Pieces Magazine however...  there is a narrative there:

 

[jodawill]

42 minutes ago, Mister Phes said:

Which story did you have in mind?

I've been reading scans of these magazine for the Armada Port blog post and the pages I read (at least) seemed to be more biographical than story driven.

I'm talking about these comics:

[Mister Phes]

7 minutes ago, jodawill said:

I'm talking about these comics:

I'm not familiar with these comics... so I'm a bit confused by what's happening.

It appears the LEGO Maniac is playing with the LEGO sets (or at least the Armada Flagship) but also part of the action?

Are we to assume when he's among the sets and minfigs, that's what he imagines while playing with the sets?

[jodawill]

1 minute ago, Mister Phes said:

I'm not familiar with these comics... so I'm a bit confused by what's happening.

It appears the LEGO Maniac is playing with the LEGO sets (or at least the Armada Flagship) but also part of the action?

Are we to assume when he's among the sets and minfigs, that's what he imagines while playing with the sets?

I think the idea is that the Maniac is playing with his toys, and he's imagining that he's part of the action. They're not high quality reading material. It sort of reminds me of this new book. He often builds something new to rescue people.

[TalonCard]

That's generally it. There are a few exceptions that blur the lines, as when Majisto sent the Maniac back into the "real world" against his will, when Redbeard visited the Maniac's home to demand that he assist him in the LEGO world, and when Insectoids tried to invade the Maniac's Earth through interdimensional portals.
As a kid I did tend to prefer the longer form stories that took place entirely within the theme's world, with the Golden Medallion being the gold standard (pun intended!) in my mind. But I was so hungry for LEGO content of any kind that I basically lived for each new comic anyway.  I've since grown more fond of the comics as a bit of retro fun, and it's interesting to see how the character evolved over the years. I've also gained more of an appreciation for storytelling that incorporates the LEGO bricks and minifigures, which the Golden Medallion era material doesn't have.

Edited July 30, 2022 by TalonCard