Customer Reviews

Tough Boris

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book assures children that pets are important family members, and that it is okay to cry when a pet dies. Even tough people cry!

Mem Fox's _Tough Boris_ is a picture book about Boris Von Der Borch and his gang of pirates. The text is very simple. Basically, it simply states "Boris was greedy." for one pair of pages, and then "All pirates are greedy." on the next pair, and then substitutes other words for greedy, like "massive," and "scruffy," etc.

The pictures tell the story, though. Boris and his group find a treasure chest, filled with treasure and a violin. The crew drags the treasure chest aboard the ship, and divvies up the loot. A boy steals the violin from Boris's room, and Boris seeks the boy out for punishment. The boy plays the violin so well, however, that Boris has him spared. Next, Boris' pet parrot dies, and gets a solemn and appropriate burial at sea, in the violin case. Boris and all the pirates are very sad, and, as the text states, "all pirates cry."

This book required repeated readings with my 3-year old to get the whole story. The simple text says so little, but in the end the text complements the illustrations well.

Kathryn Brown's illustrations are wonderful. The colors are bright, and the renderings of the pirates are fantastic. They are the best pirates I've seen in over a dozen pirate picture books. While I'm at it, I'll salute the author and illustrator together for creating a pirate picture book which doesn't include any battles, swordplay, cannons, or gunplay.

I give _Tough Boris_ 5 stars.

ken32

All of the other reviews focus on this book describing a pirate who has feelings besides just being tough. But this book is MUCH more! It lets children know that death/saddness happens to everyone and it is ok to be sad and cry about it, that crying is a good way to express yourself. It is a good book to prep children for the inevitable things that happen in life...it should be read often...before something inevitable happens. I read this book often in my preschool class and found that the girls enjoyed the story just as much as the boys.

This is a simple but sweet story about a pirate who is many things in addition to being tough. My three year old loves this book.

We found this book just when my 3-year old was going through his "tough pirate" phase, so the timing was perfect. It showed him that pirates are rough and tough, but they cry, too (like all of us). The illustrations tell a story not told in words that's very touching.

Tough Boris is a book I would recommend reading to children. The writer and illustrator do a good job working together and portraying how Tough Boris is tough but not heartless. This book would also teaches a good lesson to the readers, that is not all people that look tough, fearless, scary, and greedy are heartless.

Tough Boris is a wonderful story which students love to read along with. The words such as scary, tough, and massive are rich with expression and children enjoy speaking those words. There is also a wonderful subplot which complements the main plot very well.