November 7, 2021 By Maria
A shadow sweeps silently down the hall. Tiny, quiet feet tiptoe down the stairs; their presence is only revealed by the second to last step’s distinctive creak. The ninja waits, but after a few seconds of stillness, he restarts his quest. The silent warrior continues on his way to the kitchen. A small gloved hand reaches up towards the plate of cookies, thoroughly undetected by the nearby tea-drinking and book-reading mom. Undetected, that is, until the triumphant giggle. This ninja needs more practice! It’s so hard not to giggle and maybe drool a bit when a stolen cookie is within grasp, right? Finally, the ninja attempts to escape with a screeching laugh but is caught in a hug and a tickle.
My kids love ninja stories. What kid doesn’t? My kids’ ninja obsession led to this post. They read ninja stories, dress up as ninjas, play with ninja legos, make ninja cookies, draw ninjas, and beg me to wear my ninja leggings or t-shirt. They even watch ninja shows and movies.
Hello Ninja, my kid’s favorite ninja show, is based on a picture book, which we read after picking it up through an interlibrary loan. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the book, so I collected our other favorite ninja books from the library and our shelves and started on this post. N.D. Wilson’s picture book, Hello Ninja, tells the sweet, rhyming story of a little boy dressing up as a ninja and going on fantastic ninja adventures through his imaginations. The book is reminiscent of Calvin and Hobbes, mainly because the boy goes on imaginary adventures with his striped toy cat. (Clues in the illustration lead me to believe it’s a toy, but my kids have hotly debated this a few times already). Forrest Dickison’s playful illustrations give lots of laughs when reading this book. My older son’s favorite part is when the little ninja surprise attacks the mailman, who ends up being, “A messenger who knows kung fu.” I love the childlike imagination displayed through the illustrations, which leads to more discoveries on every re-read. One of the last illustrations shows the inspiration of many of the adventures – a toy dragon, mountain blocks, and childish drawings pinned on the wall. My daughter and I noticed that the landscape outside the boy’s treehouse changes from a suburban town view to a misty mountain view when he climbs back down in his ninja suit. While writing this, I found that Wilson and Dickison teamed up on another book called Hello Ninja Hello Georgie last year. We look forward to reading it once it comes in at the library.
Ninja Bunny, by Jennifer Gray Olson, persists as one of our habitual library loans. This book shares a hilariously cute list of rules for ninjas. The readers follow a small ninja bunny, determined to learn the ways of the ninja, entirely on his own and without help. This leads to delightfully funny mishaps throughout the illustrations. Rule number four is very relatable because the little bunny’s ears and feet stick out when he tries to hide. It’s just like playing hide and seek with my four-year-old. In the end, the ninja bunny learns that the number one rule of being a super awesome ninja is friendship. There is actually a second Ninja Bunny book, which I just picked up from the library! My kids enjoyed Ninja Bunny Sister Vs. Brother. My daughter felt sympathetic for the little sister bunny tagging along with her big brother bunny. Besides getting to write about picture books, discovering new books while writing and researching remains one of my favorite things about this blog
If I had to pick my kids’ overall favorite ninja book from this list, Jack B. Ninja would probably hold that title. My five-year-old loves Jack B. Ninja by Tim McCanna. This book is a clever play on the classic nursery rhyme, Jack Be Nimble. Stephen Savage’s simple illustrations work well with the rhyming text of this book. We follow Jack B. Ninja as he completes a ninja mission and test. The young ninja faces perils, dangers, and opportunities to demonstrate his impressive young skills. However, my son’s favorite part remains when Jack’s mother reveals a special surprise at the end of the book. And don’t worry, Jack does eventually jump over the candle. A ninja story based on a nursery rhyme creates an intriguing twist and fits into the realm of fractured fairy tales. I appreciate fractured fairy tales because they challenge my expectations about classic storylines.
Another book on my ninja list also plays on a childhood classic, this time, it’s the tale of the gingerbread man. The Ninjabread Man, written by C.J. Leigh and illustrated by Chris Gall, stands out as another of my five-year-old’s favorites. A sifu at a hidden dojo concocts the ninjabread man, who accidentally escapes the oven and confronts the various animal students of the dojo engaged in training throughout the school grounds. The little panda like Sifu reminds me of Sifu in Kung Fu Panda (Another of our favorite movies, of course). Ninjabread man challenges and defeats each of Sifu’s pupils without losing a nibble until he challenges Ninja Fox . . . I’m sure you can picture the, ahem, crunchy end. This book inspired our purchase of ninja cookie cutters. We made our own ninjabread cookies and ninja sugar cookies. The kids love decorating their ninja cookies and, of course, gobbling them up too.
Like the cookie stealing ninja at the beginning of my post, I, as the mother of wannabe ninjas, definitely relate to the book Nighttime Ninja. Barbara DaCosta’s text starts off as a mysterious journey and ends with a mom stopping the nighttime mischief. The interesting textures of the cutouts and collage make Ed Young’s artwork perfect for this book. In a note at the back of the books, DaCosta writes that she was a bold nighttime ninja herself as a child, always sneaking out of bed to find cookies and the like. Any child who enjoys trying to outfox their parents will enjoy this book, as will any parent who flawlessly and regularly catches their own nighttime ninjas.
Continuing on the theme of parents and ninjas, Ninja Boy’s Secret by Tina Schneider stands out from the other books because it tells a very different ninja story. Published by Tuttle Publishing company, this book is part of their unique and extensive collection of Asian books. (I hope to research that company and their books after this piece). Tina Schneider intricately weaves her handwritten text right into her illustrations. It reminds me of how an art teacher once told me to find ways to mesh my signature into my artwork. Schneider tells the story of a ninja boy who does not want to do all the things a ninja must do, like climbing walls with ease and becoming invisible. Instead, Ninja Boy wants to play music. After failing his ninja school exam, he overcomes his fear of being different and shares the truth with his father. Ninja Boy wins his father’s heart with a beautiful violin performance. Full of musical information, Ninja Boy’s Secret even has musical definitions artfully covering its endpapers. Whether you are musically inclined or not, this book speaks well to any audience. It eloquently communicates the importance of being true to yourself even when it differs from the norm.
Being yourself and exploring your imagination remain important goals for us. The goal is still important even when that means that the five-year-old might be dressed as a ninja all day. The ninja obsession among the tiny people in our household truly factored into this post. My kids were delighted when I pulled out a stack of ninja stories to read before and while writing. My tiny ninjas definitely love to hop, chop, and belly flop, and they most definitely “scamper here and there”(Wilson, Hello Ninja). Sending nighttime ninjas back to bed remains a regular and sometimes exasperating venture. Still, I am sure my husband and I will be a little sad when those days end. So, enjoy your own nighttime ninjas and keep reading!
More Bookshelves Please 