Ready for a swash-buckling adventure? The search for treasure and pirates? An exciting story with twists and turns that incorporates history and geography? Captain Kidd’s Gold: The True Story Of An Adventurous Sailor Boy by James Franklin Fitts is a pirate story that is worth the read!
Following his father’s dying wish, young Paul Jones Garry accepts a document that will lead to treasure buried 100 years earlier by the infamous Captain Kidd — while keeping the possibility of riches from spoiling his life.
Here’s a parting word, not that you need it, but it’s your father’s last advice. Be good as you grow up, learn to be a sailor, but never let sailors lead you into the bad ways of some of them; always remember that you have a God watching over you. You may never gain this treasure, but the treasures of an honest heart and a clear conscience you can always have.
Paul Jones Garry exercises patience, learns how to be a good sailor, and when the time presents itself, goes in search of the gold. (One scene will make this book difficult to recommend to young readers, but Mom knows best!)
A great tale with history woven throughout makes this a perfect book to add to the reading list. And it’s free!
Free eBook
Suggestions
- Learn about the pirates and privateers of the 1600s.
- Learn more about Captain Kidd’s buried treasure.
- Map the locations mentioned in the book.
- Bury a “treasure” and create a map or directions for someone else to find it. See if they can follow your directions.
- Add the author and/or book to your literature notebook.
Additional Resources
Brief History of Piracy (archived)
From the Royal Naval Museum.
Captain Kidd: Pirate’s Treasure Buried in the Connecticut River (archived)
Background on Captain Kidd and his treasure from the University of Massachusetts.
Captain Kidd (archived)
Information about his travels along the coastline from New Jersey.gov.
Treasure Hunt (archived)
Also from New Jersey.gov, explains all of the different locations he could have buried his treasure along the coast.
About James Franklin Fitts
Biography of the author from the University of New Hampshire Library.
Books
“The Real Captain Kidd”
Chapter from Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coasts by Frank R. Stockton describes the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Howard Pyle’s Book of Pirates by Howard Pyle
Classic in the public domain.
Unit Studies & Lesson Plans
Stephen Decatur & the Pirates
Part of our free history studies series.
Keep Reading
Stevenson, Robert Louis: “Pirate Story”
Three of us afloat in the meadow by the swing, Three of us aboard in the basket on the lea…. Poetry study.
Ships & Ways of Other Days ~ Free eBook
For someone with an interest in sailing ships, Ships & Ways of Other Days will be an engaging read. Free eBook.
A History of Navigation ~ Free Interactive
A History of Navigation is a BBC interactive that explains the era of exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries.