Arrrrrrrrr, this review be easy to write.
OK, that's the one and only pirate joke I'll make in this review, else I'd be afeared that you, dear audience, would make me walk...
There is, truth be told, nothing outwardly piratical about the Story Pirates. There is, however, something slightly subversive about the group, which turns stories written by kids into sketch comedies (often with a musical number thrown in). They do this live and in schools (more commonly in the New York City and Los Angeles areas, but also nationally). They also perform a weekly radio on SiriusXM's Kids Place Live, and that's where this podcast is drawn from.
The format is fairly simple -- the host reads the story as sent in by the child, the troupe performs the story, and then the host talks to the author. The stories are what you'd expect from kids -- the ones from 5- and 6-year-olds are less fully-fleshed out than the ones from the 10- and 11-year-olds, but they all have an imaginative spark that let the comedian/actors go off in crazy directions. The subversive nature of the show -- that kids' ideas are worth exploring and celebrating -- is carried through the entire performance. I don't think the Pirates are changing a single word of the story sent in -- the dialogue is performed as written, even if it's not grammatically perfect. It's the performances, though, that keep the show entertaining for the parents and kids who are listening. The show could be very boring if it merely consisted of dry readings of brief, unedited stories from first graders, but there's a verve and zippiness to the affair.
The podcast is most appropriate for kids ages 4 through 10. The iTunes link for the show is here, although you can of course find it elsewhere (here's their hosted podcast page). Episodes are generally 10-20 minutes in length, released a couple times per month. Aside from asking for donations for their organization at the start and end of the show, the show is ad-free.
Story Pirates would be valuable just for its idea of treating the ideas and creative output of kids as worth exploring, but there's lots of valuable stuff that as exciting as a day-old loaf of bread. This is way better than a day-old loaf of bread, with laughter and heart to spare.
