Review: Captain Vlad and the Mary Rose, by Kate and Sam Cunningham

Description

King Henry VIII’s favourite ship, the Mary Rose, is sailing to Portsmouth to stop a French invasion. This should be the easy part of the journey, but for Captain Vlad flea and his crew of rats, the humans and their pets create dangers on every deck.

Join Vlad and Roxton rat as they work out how to avoid Hatch the dog and the Captain Carew’s hawk.

This book has been written and illustrated using the artefacts, research and knowledge of the experts of the Mary Rose Trust. It is a fun way to find out about Tudor ships and what it was like to live on board one of Henry’s fleet.

My Review

Thanks to Kate and Sam Cunningham for sending me a copy of this book, and to Anne of Random Things Tours for organising this tour.

Vlad the flea and his cohort of rats travel aboard the Mary Rose on her final voyage to Southampton, and expect a quiet journey. Until they realise that there’s a dog and a hawk aboard. The rats explore the ship and come up with a plan to deal with both of them at once.

This is an entertaining story for young children that introduces them to historical events, places and people. The sinking of the Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s first and favourite ship, is a famous event, especially since the raising and preservation of the ship in the 1980s. The story is simple but fun.

I loved the illustrations, they’re colourful and really well done. I like the watercolour effect on some of them and the line work. They’re detailed and appear to be fairly accurate.

I will be recommending this book, and the series to people in my life with young children.

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About the author and illustrator

Kate was a primary school teacher for nine years, before writing and publishing the first Vlad flea book in 2016. Reading Riddle is a grew out of her passion for books, and a belief that children learn best when they are enjoying themselves. She is married to historian, Sean Cunningham, and Sam is the eldest of her three sons.

In between writing books Kate visits schools and libraries (often dressed in a kirtle) to run sessions about history and writing. She is a member of the Society of Authors, the National Association of Writers in Education, the NEU and ALLi.

Sam illustrates the Vlad Flea and Time Tumblers books with his incredibly detailed images. He graduated from Gloucestershire University. He produced the murals for the Family Corner in the Florence Nightingale Museum and images for The Carpenter’s Tale and The Scaffolder’s Tale in the National Archives graphic arts project ebook, Chronicles of the Dissolution – piety, plunder and protest, which is available here. Find more of Sam’s work and how to contact him on his website www.samcunninghamart.com

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