At the Dankmarsh School for poor orphans, the children sleep four to a bed and exist on watery porridge. Teachers don't last long, and so when a new one arrives they are intrigued, especially since he has an eyepatch, a huge moustache and calls himself the Captain. Miss Scrubshaw interviews him for the post, though he and his cousin 'Mr Mate' seem most interested in the ancient map on her wall. The Captain introduces new lessons: compass use, swordcraft and biscuit identification. On a school trip to visit the Black Barnacle, a ship owned by an 'old pal', the Captain gives Miss Scrubshaw the slip and it dawns on the children that the ship has cast off, and they are the new crew! Bound, they discover, for Doom Island and a perilous quest for hidden treasure, at the mercy of the Captain and his dastardly plan.

 

This book is part of a book series called History Of Warts .

This book has been graded for interest at 7+ years.

There are 128 pages in this book. This book was published 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC .

Alan MacDonald lives in Nottingham. He writes both non-fiction and fiction as well as writing for radio and TV. He has a particularly good track record for writing page-turning and accessible historical books. Sue Mongredien has written over 50 books for children, which include some of the best-selling Rainbow Magic series. She lives in Bath with her husband and young children. Mark Beech is an exciting and talented new illustrator. Mark lives in London.