Captain Jack is modeled after my son, Jack, a four-year old who is obsessed with pirates. Jack is friendly, likes to meet new people and include them in whatever hes doing, and hes very upfront about his food allergies. He likes to talk to anyone and everyone who will listen and that is exactly how I wrote the book. In the book, Captain Jack tells the children about his food allergies and then engages the kids with questions so that they relate with their own food allergies. Captain Jack loves adventure and is confident when hes away from home because he follows his Peanut-Free Pirate code, a set of ten simple rules that help keep any child with food allergies safe. He also has a sidekick Pirate Princess Phoebe (Jacks younger sister). She is not allergic to any foods, but she stays peanut-free so that Captain Jack stays safe. Its a lesson to both food allergic children and their non-allergic friends on how everyone can work together to be safe in the classroom, on play dates and travelin on the high seas.
Being part of the Peanut-Free Pirate crew is not only about being allergic to peanuts or nuts, but also about food allergy awareness in general. You might be allergic to peanuts yourself, or maybe your child, grandson, or best friend is allergic and you want to show your support of their condition. The more people we have in our Peanut-Free Pirate crew, the more crewmembers there are to spread the word of food allergy awareness. Safety in numbers is so true. The Peanut-Free Pirate crew is friendly, supportive, knowledgeable, confident and ready to chat with you if you have questions about food allergies. We support our food-allergic children and each other. We stay positive, advocate and educate!
Captain Jacks Food Allergies On the High Seas is written for children ages two to ten. I wrote it to be friendly, interactive and easy to understand for children with a bit of pirate speak mixed in for fun. The characters are pirates, but they are cute and relatable to children. The design is bold with bright colors and high contrast black and white, so the pages stand out when read to a group or preschool/elementary classroom. There is also a tear-out Peanut-Free Pirate Code that can be hung in a classroom or on a refrigerator, stickers to wear on a shirt, lunchbox or snack and tear-out treasure map.
When I created the Peanut-Free Pirate brand for Captain Jack, he embraced it immediately and wanted to wear it, show it, and make sure everyone knew what it meant. He was so proud of it. Inspired by that, I wanted to write a book for him so that he could share it with his preschool class. And that he did. He took it to school the very first morning and his teachers held three mini-group sessions with the class. After each reading of the book, his friends were asked to answer questions about his food allergies and Jack showed his allergy bracelets to everyone because the book touches on that. Now his friends knew about his food allergies and learned his Peanut-Free Pirate code, which taught them how to keep him safe. This was a huge step in food allergy awareness for my son and the people he spends time with outside of our home.
We are all about awareness. This all started so that our Captain Jack had something cool to share with his friends, which we knew would solidify the awareness of those close to him. And we think our Peanut-Free Pirate brand is just that: cool, unique and eye-catching, which is exactly what food allergy awareness needs. The logo and pirate theme is appealing to ages two to ninety-two. We have the childrens book for kids, our Facebook page for the adults and pirate gear for everyone. When we are out and about in the world with our bright red pirate t-shirts on, we get loads of compliments and every time someone reads our shirt or glances our way, thats one more person aware of food allergies. The larger our group becomes, the more people there are to spread the word. The more children in our Peanut-Free Pirate crew, the more they learn at a young age to become their own advocates with food allergies. We are on a mission to make food allergies cool for kids. We hope by giving them a cool and exclusive brand specific to food allergies, we will also give them the confidence to share it with their friends who will look at food allergies in a new way. If Captain Jacks generation grows up with great food allergy awareness and these kids can learn the importance of those ten simple rules of the Peanut-Free Pirate code, the stigma that sometimes comes with food allergies will become a thing of the past and the high seas become much safer for everyone.
The Book can be ordered through Peanut Free Pirates. For more information about this book and the Peanut-Free Pirates (Captain Jack, Pirate Princess Phoebe, Admiral Dad and Sea Queen Sarah) visit:Web: www.peanutfreepirates.com or visit Peanut Free Pirates Peanut Free Pirates Facebook Page
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Carla Burke author of My Name May Be Peanuts, But I say Nay to PB & J
Bridget Batson author of Jude the Dude The Peanut Allergic Kid
Amy Recob author of The Bug a Bees Friends with Food Allergies
Heather Mehra and Kerry Manama authors of The No Biggie Bunch
Ginger Carter Miller.htm Gluten Free in Georgia blogger
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Jeff Edner Owner Dairy Free Market
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