The Pirate Cruncher Analysis

A picture book is a narrative art where words and illustrations tell a story. Jonny Duddle’s The Pirate Cruncher shows how illustrations and text can supplement each other. The theme of this story was greed where a pirate crew blinded by greed met their demise.
The story opens with a monstrous tentacle writing a letter. The illustrator makes the readers see from the monster’s point of view. This creates an unsettling atmosphere as this is a view point from an unseen character. The next page reveals the title of the story and large tentacles delivering letters in bottles which slowly drift towards a pirate ship. Colors stir the emotion of readers; the use of deep blue and minimal warm colors sets the mood of the story.

The illustrator uses

Illustrations revealed that the fiddler was actually a puppet used by the monster to lure pirates for a meal. This revelation contributes to the apprehensive eerie feeling that the illustration evokes.

We can see features of a dramatic plot from this story; it begins with introducing the setting, characters and conflict where the plot intensifies before reaching a conclusion. There were three types of characters found in this story. First, functionary characters (crew members) whose role is to perform certain plot functions. Second, the static character (captain) did not change throughout the story, as he insisted on finding the treasure till the very end. Third, dynamic character where it undergoes a change, the fiddler is the dynamic character as he was revealed to be the lure of the monster.

It was noted that the theme was revealed through actions and words of the characters. On the other hand, the tone of the story had a rather dark humor as it involved the misfortune of the pirates. In order to have laughter triggered by another’s misfortune, the victim must be seen to deserve the fate. For instance, the pirates were greedy thus deserved such a fate. Such books may not invite children to laugh at the misfortunes of others. Rather, they provide children a way to manage uncomfortable situations of the