Salty Jack's bedroom is decorated like a pirate ship, and he is persuaded that he is the Captain and everyone else must do what he tells them. This is okay with his friends, Barnacle Bob, Scallywag Sanjay, and Nautical Norman, in the beginning, but the more bossy Jack gets, the less sure the others are about the game. When Millie the Mermaid (ie Mum) appears on the scene and Jack tells her she's the Cabin Girl and insists she goes down to make fish fingers for the crew, she says, 'Nope...Mermaids don't take orders' and disappears. Jack really loses it at this point and starts shrieking at his friends when they ask if they can use some of their own creative ideas in the game. 'Salty Jack bellowed...boomed, barked, blustered and brayed!' And his three friends go down the gangplank and home. Jack announces that this is 'mutiny', and sits down in a huff. When mum appears to ask what is wrong, he blames the problem on his friends. 'I was having so much fun. Then they ruined it.' Were they having fun, though, Mum wisely says, and Jack begins to think about that. The next day when he invites his friends back, he is still the Captain, but he allows their input and ideas too, and together they have a happy time. The imaginative illustrations in this excellent story about bossiness are first rate and deserve a wide audience. They are fun, too, in spite of the seriousness of the subject.