Neil Gaiman has dug out a story he first wrote on a scrap of paper more than a decade ago and turned it into a new book for “anyone of any age who likes pirates, cooking, swashbuckling and/or doughnuts”.
The American Gods and Good Omens author’s rhyming Pirate Stew, out in October, will be illustrated by the former UK children’s laureate Chris Riddell. Gaiman has previously collaborated with Riddell on titles including The Graveyard Book, Coraline and Fortunately, the Milk, with characters from the latter set to appear in the forthcoming book.
“Pirate Stew began in early 2009, when I scribbled a handful of lines of a poem about the sorts of ingredients that would go into a Pirate Stew down on a scrap of paper,” said Gaiman. “I kept the scrap of paper in my wallet as the years went by, and would look at it and feel guilty. And then my son was two, and I thought I should write a book I can read to him when he’s older. I remembered the scrap of paper, and knew that it was time to tell that story.”
He described the book as a “most piratical adventure” – it will feature a boy and his sister who embark on “a riotous adventure beneath a pirate moon” with one Long John McRon, “Ship’s Cook … and the most unusual babysitter you’ve ever seen”.
Riddell said:“What a pleasure it has been setting sail with Captain Gaiman on another of his amazing voyages. I loved assembling a pirate crew and enlisting some old friends from our previous adventure Fortunately, the Milk.”
Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, about a little boy raised by ghosts, is the only book to have won both the Carnegie and Newbery medals for children’s books. Riddell is the only illustrator to have won the prestigious Kate Greenaway medal three times, most recently for his illustrations in Gaiman’s The Sleeper and the Spindle.
