Treasure Town — Doug Wilhelm

In this suspenseful and humorous story, three kids in Sandy Feet, Florida are determined to dig up the legendary buried treasure of the pirate Jean Lafitte. While on this adventure, they meet two comical gold prospectors who stumble off a freight train and realize Alaska is in the other direction. What happens next is hilarious and surprising. Adding up to much more than just a good yarn about searching for buried doubloons, this story has a strong learning to read value and includes the vocabulary, history, and geography of old time American pirates. The fictional tale is framed by a map, a word list, and a nonfiction report given by characters at the end of the story. A free Classroom Guide is available for download which provides an author-illustrator Q&A and a list of before and after reading activities.