The Man Whose Mother Was a Pirate

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Margaret Mahy's bestselling classic, The Man Whose Mother Was a Pirate, is reimagined with delightfully whimsical illustrations from Emma Collicott, the winner of the 2025 Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize.

Sam lives an ordinary life in a big city far away from the ocean with his mum. He wears an ordinary brown suit every day to his ordinary job in an ordinary office. But his mum is not ordinary at all - she is a pirate, and she wants to see the sea again.

Wonderfully fun and beautifully illustrated, this swashbuckling story about finding adventure and following your dreams is a timeless favourite.

Other Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize titles include:

The Boy with Two Shadows with art by Sarah Greig

The Boy Who Made Things Up with art by Lily Emo

There's a King in the Cupboard with art by Minrui Yang

The Witch in the Cherry Tree with art by Jessica Twohill

17 Kings and 42 Elephants with art by Alba Gil Celdran

The Great White Man-Eating Shark with art by Herb MacDonald

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Margaret Mahy

Margaret Mahy

Margaret Mahy (1936-2012) is one of New Zealand's most celebrated children's writers. She is the author of more than 150 titles, which have been translated into many different languages and sold around the world. Appointed to the Order of New Zealand in 1993, Mahy also won many global prizes for children's writers, including the Carnegie Medal and the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award.

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