Little Tom spends his days watching for pirates from atop a hill next to the village where he lives. When he spots a boat he shouts ‘THE PIRATES ARE COMING!’ and all the villagers quickly hide. However it soon becomes apparent that it’s just a little fishing boat, and not a pirate ship at all.

Undeterred, Tom climbs back up the hill and continues to watch the horizon. Each time he spots a boat he yells down to the village and everyone hides – but it’s always a false alarm.

But then one day he spots a very large ship with a pirate flag! He yells ‘THE PIRATES ARE COMING!’ but everyone ignores him. Tom is never right about the boats so they don’t think there’s any point hiding. How wrong they are! The ship docks and a motley crew of pirates disembark. The villagers soon realise their mistake and scramble to their hiding places…