Author(s): David Elliot

Children Fiction

Jess's father was lost at sea. Sometimes, far away, she thought she heard his old violin playing sadly, reaching out for her. Finally she could no longer bear waiting so she set sail in her little boat to find him. Drawn to the sound of her father's favourite tune, she and her boat are snatched from the sea by the scavenging giant Pigtails the Pirate. Reunited with her father, who is one of Pigtails' prized treasures, they finally earn the giant's respect, and he sets them free to return home.

David Elliot is an award-winning New Zealand author and illustrator. He won the Picture Book Award at the 2000 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards for Sydney and the Sea Monster and the same award in 2003 for Pigatils the Pirate. In 1991 he was awarded the Choysa Award for Dragon Tangle and the Russell Clark Illustration Award for Arthur and the Dragon. David is a graduate of the Christchurch College of Education, and holds a Fine Arts Diploma in Painting from the University of Canterbury. He has worked for many years as an art teacher, both in schools and in courses for adults. Pigtails the Pirate was created while David was the Children's Writer in Residence at Dunedin Teacher's College in 2000.