The Pirates of Nurserie

This is a picture book my sister and I made in 1984. I wrote the words and helped set up the shots, and she did most of the photography. My son, who was a toddler at the time, loved this pirate ship and these figures as much as I did. I had given names to all the figures before I wrote the story. In 1984 I wrote to Playmobile and asked if I could try to market the story as a picture book. They said no, so I never did. So think of this as fanfiction. Following the pages below you will see the text of the story.

Click here to read this book as a slideshow.

The Pirates of Nurserie

by Karen Deal Robinson

illustrated by Laura K. Deal

figures and ship by Playmobile

     The Pirates of Nurserie
       by Karen Deal Robinson
       illustrated by Laura K. Deal

The moon came in through the window
And the good ship Heart's Desire
Lifted her prow and sailed away
On a sea of silver fire.

Captain Gold was a pirate
But he'd never hurt a soul.
His hair was the color of sunshine,
His coat the color of coal.

Pete was missing a leg
And Micky, the mate, had lost an arm,
But Willie and merry Abdul
Had never come to harm.

They sailed in the wake of dolphins
Till Micky sighted land.
Then Abdul rowed the boat ashore
And they stood on the sparkling sand.

And there they met five castaways
Who had waited for a year:
Captain Brown and his bluecoat crew
From the wreck of the Brigadier.

Said Captain Gold to Captain Brown,
"What will you give to me
If I take you back to your own sweet home
In the land of Nurserie?"

"I'll give you four brawny sailors.
There's Neddy and Teddy, the twins,
And Ole, and Robin, my stout first mate
To bring your good ship in.

"And on top of that," he whispered,
"In a cave not far from here,
Is a chest of golden treasure
From the wreck of the Brigadier.

"I'll give you half the treasure
If you'll leave half for me
And we'll live like dukes or princes
In the land of Nurserie."

"I take three-fourths," said Captain Gold.
Captain Brown had to agree.
So the chest was lowered into the hold
And the ship was put to sea.

They sailed back through the window
To the land of Nurserie,
And the ship docked at the window-sill
By the shores of the silver sea.

Captain Brown invested
And a rich man came to be,
But Captain Gold spent a fortune
In a night of revelry.

So back he and the sailors went
On the sea of silver fire
In search of new adventures
On the good ship Heart's Desire

        ~~~~~~~

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