The Sneakiest Pirates/The Heroes of Googly Woogly - Dalton James

In an adorably-illustrated set of tales following Pete and his father James, seven-year-old author and illustrator Dalton James paints a brilliant picture of adventure and fantasy in his two books, The Sneakiest Pirates and The Heroes of Googly Woogly.

In the first, Pete and James set out to sea to find the buried treasure of pirate Peg Leg Chuck and keep it out of the hands of the king. The father-son team quietly snatch the treasure as Peg Leg and the king are demolishing each other's ships; with their newfound wealth, James and Pete decide to leave the sea-faring careers of pirates and become rock stars.

Googly Woogly picks up where Pirates left off, this time following the pair in their desire to become astronauts. With a space refrigerator packed full of sweets, the pair jet off in a spaceship and arrive at Googly Woogly, a rectangular planet home to the SooDos and the SooDonts. In an effort to aid the SooDos, an alien race that helps the sick and unfortunate, Pete and James use their arsenal of gum to trap the SooDonts that are stealing the SooDos' spaceships. When given a trophy (shaped like wads of gum) made out of a mysterious substance (besilium ore), the pair decide to head back to Earth and become scientists to study it.

I may be nineteen years old, but I loved these books and can't wait for the next installment! James explores a world full of opportunities an imagination only as big as Googly Woogly could fathom. An excellent, out-of-this-world read for kids and adults alike.