Perla and the Pirate written by Isabel Allende, illustrated by Sandy Rodriguez - ADVISABLE

Perla and the Pirate written by Isabel Allende, illustrated by Sandy Rodriguez. PICTURE BOOK. Beach Lane Books (Simon & Schuster), 2025. $20. 9781665961028

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Perla the dog and her boy, Nico have a new neighbor, the Pirate! He is really a teenager in a rock band, but he wears a Pirate t-shirt. One day, Nico gets lost walking home from school, and it’s up to Perla, the Pirate, and Nico’s older sister, Liz, to find Nico again.

This is the second in the Perla series, and for the most part, it’s okay if you haven’t read the first book. I will say that I had forgotten who Liz was at the beginning, but then I figured it out. My biggest complaint (and this was also the case with the first book) was the magical elements that were sort of sprinkled through the book. The magic can easily be explained as the result of a child’s imagination, but for an adult, the lack of a logical magical framework is a little infuriating. All in all, a cute story about a boy and his dog, and how the dog is the hero at the end of the day.

Kiera, ELA teacher, #bookswithbeddes