Books with author Douglas Rees

A badly spelled message in a bottle addressed to Uncle Pirate appears at Wilson’s front door, and Mom starts baking bad news pie—this can’t be good. Uncle Pirate’s formerly mutinous crew is marooned on an island! Though Uncle Pirate is loyal to his new crew at Very Elementary, he cannot desert his old shipmates and sets off to find them. But when he doesn’t return, it’s Uncle Pirate who needs rescuing! Wilson, Captain Jack the penguin, Ms. Quern the school secretary, and sneaky Principal Purvis set off in a blimp to save the day in this rollicking read that’s ideal for adventurous young readers.

January 1970. Lieutenant Ross Blackwood is grieving for his distinguished father, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Blackwood, who has been murdered in Cyprus. Ross is also disillusioned, believing there is no future for him in the Royal Marines, whose role has been diminished to policing and paperwork. But the loyalty and dedication of a Blackwood to the Corps sustain Ross from vicious guerrilla warfare in Malaysia, through the moral and political minefields of Northern Ireland, to the South Atlantic, and a conflict as bloody as it is unpredictable. And he learns, as every Blackwood has before him, that mere courage is not enough. Survival and victory balance on the knife edge of destiny.

January 1970: Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Blackwood is murdered in Cyprus. Disillusioned and grieving for his distinguished father, Lieutenant Ross Blackwood believes there is little future for him in the Corps. The Royal Marines have been reduced in strength, and their role in a modern world, after so splendid a tradition, is marginalized.But Ross’s loyalty and dedication to the Corps sustain him from vicious guerilla warfare in Malaysia, through the moral and political minefields of Northern Ireland, where one man’s terrorist is another’s patriot, to the South Atlantic, and a conflict as bloody as it is unpredictable. And he learns, as every Blackwood has before him, that jungle or moor, insurrection or invasion, mere courage is not enough. Survival and victory balance on the knife edge of destiny.

It's not every day that a pirate -- and his talking penguin -- show up at the front door! But that's exactly what happens when Wilson's long-lost uncle comes to live with his family. Desperate Evil Wicked Bob and his sidekick, Captain Jack, are not ordinary houseguests. They're not ordinary anything. Uncle Pirate is having a spot of trouble adjusting to life on land. And Captain Jack wants to go to school to learn to read. Unfortunately, Very Elementary is as far from shipshape and Bristol fashion as a school could be. Until Uncle Pirate steps in, that is.... Set sail for a classroom adventure from mollymockery to mathematics in this story of a boy who has what every kid wants -- a pirate for an uncle.